Dear Pen-ers, Not that long ago there was a discussion on the net of the relation between public expenditure on professional sports facilities and urban welfare (I forget how defined). A PhD student came to me today to ask about formal models of urban economic growth with respect to professional sports teams as "infrastructure" for a "world class city". I argued that, in fact, professional teams tended to be *negative* externalities relative to amateur teams which is the opposite of which the city and the (right-wing) provincial government argued when they wasted 30 million supporting the Winnipeg Jets for the year before the private owners negotiated the best price to sell (Interestingly, the owners transferred legal ownership out of the province to a numbered company in Quebec during the time so they could avoid paying capital gains taxes on the transactions.) But all of this is perhaps irrelevant. Our student wants to know, what is the litterature about urban models of sports (cultural) expenditure on subsidies and/or infrastructure on economic growth (welfare?). He is interested on the concept of "externalities" in the provision of sports (cultural/recreational) teams/facilities rather than the more usual multiplier effects of such expenditures. You may reply to me privately at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or, if you think this is of more general interest, to the list. My (and Our student's thanks), Paul Phillips, Economics and Labour Studies, University of Manitoba. Winnipeg, Manitoba. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
