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Originally Posted by sevenarms
Except that bridges, parks, and hospitals are rebuilt ever 30 or so years.
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Another important distinction is that bridges, parks and hospitals aren't profitable to build and therefore wouldn't be built by the private sector if left to their own devices. These PUBLIC goods, goods that are beneficial and valuable to our society but do not provide private returns due to their nature or to our current policy frameworks, need public funding support to exist.
An arena is not a public good because it's would be profitable to privately provision. The alternative to us not funding a walking bridge over the Bow is that the bridge would not be built. The alternative to us not funding the arena is that private forces would fund it to be built.
Now obviously it gets a bit murky because owners will say it would not be built privately because they could get a better deal in a different city. This race to the bottom mentality is a real concern in negotiations and does imply the need for some government involvement. With that said, unless municipalities start acting accordingly and take the first step to ending public subsidies to sports team owners this dynamic will not change.