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*This is a free Adult School class. Click on the ticketing link to register.
America, so we are told, was built by capitalists in a free marketplace, putting everything on the line and facing ruin if they did not meet the needs of consumers. Why then has there been such an increase in public subsidy, both direct and indirect, of private businesses, with a particularly egregious example being the building of sports stadia in which millionaire athletes play ball on teams owned by billionaires? Throughout American history we have fought over the extent to which the government should aid business, including protection of “infant industries” and financing of “internal improvements,” countered by Jacksonian-type revolts against special privileges and rule by elites. We’ll see how U.S. taxpayers have also been subsidizing other businesses, including malls (like New Jersey’s “American Dream”), hotels, TV and film production, and Big Tech, and try to answer the question, “cui bono?”(Who stands to gain?) You need not be a sports fan to benefit from this discussion; the use of scarce public resources to fund ballparks involves vital questions of public policy, social priorities, urban renewal, and the ultimate issue of government’s role in “growing the economy.”
