More of the same, tbh. (Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images)
Policy, politics and progressive commentary
Although the economic impact of the Super Bowl is typically overstated, and the public cost typically understated or ignored, civic leaders in cities work hard to land a Super Bowl. It’s exciting. It gives the host city lots of friendly publicity. It’s fun.
But in Las Vegas, hosting a Super Bowl isn’t just a one-off special event. It’s the symbolic culmination of several years of policies, enthusiastically embraced by Nevada state and local politicians of both parties, to “develop” the economy, chiefly by bowing before and/or publicly subsidizing private sector enterprises that don’t need public subsidies, in the hope of attracting shiny objects.
Inasmuch as Nevada has an economic policy, one way to describe that policy is “land the whale.”
Coddling mining in the state constitution. The quickie divorce capital; First state to legalize gambling; Giveaways to Elon Musk; Giveaways for football and, now, baseball stadiums. The thankfully failed Blockchains fiasco. The initially failed but sure to return hare-brained scheme for a giant handout to the film industry…