Scott Walker, standing up for billionaires

Apparently Scott Walker “signed legislation [last] Wednesday to spend $250 million from taxpayers on a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team.” You can read more about it here:

Scott Walker approves spending $250 million on Milwaukee Bucks arena

This article notes that “many conservatives … object to taxpayers subsidizing a professional basketball team owned by billionaire hedge-fund investors — especially at a time when the state has slashed funding for public education and the university system.”

In defense of his decision, Walker said: “The return on investment is 3 to 1 on this, so we think this is a good, solid move as a good steward of the taxpayers’ money here in Wisconsin … This is just simple mathematics.”

However, Paul Waldman at the Washington Post argues otherwise:

Scott Walker’s crony capitalism

“Walker’s justification — that ponying up for the stadium will be worth it because of the economic impact — has been disproven by just about every analysis of stadium financing. When taxpayers put out hundreds of millions of dollars for shiny new stadiums, they don’t make back the money in increased tax revenue.”

Waldman cites this article:

America Has a Stadium Problem

“Economists have long known stadiums to be poor public investments. Most of the jobs created by stadium-building projects are either temporary, low-paying, or out-of-state contracting jobs—none of which contribute greatly to the local economy. (Athletes can easily circumvent most taxes in the state in which they play.) Most fans do not spend additional money as a result of a new stadium; they re-direct money they would have spent elsewhere....”

The Wall Street Journal also makes an excellent point:

The NBA Dunks on Taxpayers

“[I]f this deal makes as much financial sense as Mr. Walker claims, he should have been willing to put the issue to voters.” The article advocates “letting taxpayers decide whether they want to subsidize New York billionaires.”