The Dismal Science: Stadiums edition

The rather strong consensus of the academic literature shows that government subsidies to sports stadiums fail to deliver promised economic benefits. 

Massey's Sam Richardson, and co-blogger at The Dismal Science, has done the academic heavy lifting in New Zealand; most of the other bloggers syndicated at The Dismal Science have chimed in from time to time with our takes on things.

Close-Up highlighted some of Sam's work on stadiums; I popped up a bit but the serious work on this issue is Sam's. When Mark Sainsbury asked what Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee thought about the economic case for stadium subsidies, Gerry replied: 

"They say that economics is the Dismal Science. And you've found some really good exponents of that."

Indeed, Gerry. Indeed. 

I will be hitting some of the highlights of our collective prior efforts on stadium subsidies at The Dismal Science feed at SciBlogs. Enjoy the mini symposium!