- A University of Chicago economist says Antarctica or Guam would be better places than Chicago for the upcoming G8 and NATO summits, now scheduled for mid-May in the Windy City.
Economist Alan Sanderson often questions large scale government subsidies for sports venues like Soldier Field for the Bears and U.S. Cellular Field for the White Sox. In the case of the NATO and G8 summits, Sanderson says there’s a lot of downside for the city’s reputation and little upside in the way of economic development.
“It’s just a potential disaster,” Sanderson said. “Again, I hope it’s not. I hope things go really well and the city gets a real positive spin from it, but if you were betting in Las Vegas, you’d bet that’s not going to be the outcome.”
So since we and our readers have been saying this for over a year now, are we all that much smarter than a University of Chicago economist professor?
And this is amusing:
- The city says security precautions will cost $65 million, to be picked up by private donors and the federal government.
"Private donors?"