Huffington Post has decided to start a sports section and I have been asked to be a contributor. Today the sports section officially launched, and with it, my first post appeared.
The post is titled “If You Build It, Nothing Really Comes.” The column addresses the recent decision by the state of California to suspend environmental laws so an NFL stadium could be built in Los Angeles.
Here is how the column begins:
Few states have been hit as hard by the current economic problems as the state of California. In September, the unemployment rate was 12.2% and the budget problems in this state have made national headlines. Most economists — as Gregory Mankiw notes — agree that when an economy is not at full employment, some sort of government stimulus can make things better. So it’s not surprising to see Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sign legislation that will create thousands of jobs.
A few weeks ago Schwarzenegger signed legislation that will allow construction of a new NFL stadium in the Los Angeles area. This stadium — according to developers — will generate 18,000 jobs and $320 million in salaries for residents. And the stadium won’t cost any tax money. All Schwarzenegger had to do is suspend a few pesky environmental laws, laws that were clearly holding back California’s efforts to rebuild the state economy.
With such bold leadership, one suspects that it won’t be long until the economy in California is back. There’s only one tiny problem in this tale. Read More at Huffington Post Sports…
Huffington Post would like one or two columns a week. It’s my intention to discuss the broader world of sports economics in that forum. For The Wages of Wins Journal, the focus will continue to be on the broader world of the NBA.
One should note that the list of contributors at Huffington Sports is fairly impressive. The list of writers for the initial launch includes Dave Zirin, Mike Lupica, Matthew DeBord, Arn Tellem, Paula Duffy, Jeff Ma, Peter Robert Casey, Eric Angevine, Chris Tsakalakis, Shannon Rowbury, Robert Abrams, and Wayne Winston. Given this roster, one suspects sports at Huffington Post is going to provide a different — and much broader — perspective on the sporting world than what one might find in other outlets.
– DJ
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Owen
November 11, 2009
Congrats David! Awesome news…
Sam
November 11, 2009
Nice post to start off, good luck with your new gig.
Tommy_Grand
November 11, 2009
Congrats professor. Now, please don’t sell out to Big Media…
Philip
November 11, 2009
Congrats. I’ll look forward to the new articles.
Tom Haberstroh
November 11, 2009
Congratulations. I think JC Bradbury announced he was a contributor, too. Quite the roster.
Italian Stallion
November 11, 2009
Congrats.
I enjoyed the article, but I do have to ask a question on this comment”.
“One must remember that sports are simply one potential part of a person’s entertainment budget. When a person chooses to spend more on sports, that person also chooses to spend less elsewhere. And that lost spending elsewhere will cost jobs.”
I totally agree with this statement, but I would ask another question.
Is there anyone out there that chooses to live in one city over another because it has a sports franchise and he/she is a huge sports fan?
My guess is yes.
If so, I think it must contribute in some way because it transfers their productive capacity and capital from one place to another.
Suppose I move from small town USA to NYC because I love the Knicks. I might invest my savings in tax exempt NYC bonds instead of the old ones, move my home business and buy my supplies there instead, hire a couple of people etc…
It just may be that the number of people is so small that it’s very difficult to isolate the impact from all the other factors impacting economic growth, employment etc… making it more or less meaningless as a reason to build the arena/stadium.
Of course, perhaps an equal or greater number of people are moving out of NYC because of the Knicks and then my idea goes right out the window. :)
Mike
November 11, 2009
Congrats!
reservoirgod
November 11, 2009
America loves stadiums & I think you like opposing Bill Simmons on sports issues (just kidding)
Andrew
November 12, 2009
Could this stadium help in the short term especially by helping the construction business in California which has been hard hit lately? Of course, that is not to say that they couldn’t have built something better with the same money.
Tball
November 12, 2009
Does this mean you’ve made the leap from blogger to journalist? Congrats.
Chicago Tim
November 12, 2009
I love HuffPost, and you are in great company on the new sports page. It won’t hurt your book sales, either. But I think you are going to have to pick more sensitive issues about popular sports personalities (like whether Kobe is overrated, or whether Favre is overpaid) to get a picture with your article.
ilikeflowers
November 12, 2009
/offtopic
Professor, how many NBA playoff tournaments would be required (for the same season) in order for the team that won the most of those tournaments to be considered as the actual best team (say 95% confident)?
Eric Angevine
November 18, 2009
Was I just mentioned in a list of impressive personages? There must have been some kind of mistake.
By the way, I’m with you. I love sports, but when I lived in Denver, I voted against the levy to build MegaCorp Field at Mile High Stadium. Pat Bowlen didn’t need my money then, and he still doesn’t.