Can’t help but wonder if the folks at the Charlotte Observer, where half the staff subscribes to my Twitter account, were inspired to write this after they read a very similar piece that was published on MeckDeck.com five days earlier.
MeckDeck hit the paper hard for an uncritical piece, “As Knights decision looms, study touts sports benefit for Charlotte” that they published on UNC Charlotte economist John Connaughton’s latest wizardry. Connaughton has a long history of producing positive economic impact studies that cheer lead for whatever project the politicians want to build uptown. These studies, as the MeckDeck piece pointed out, have a history of turning out to be half baked.
Kudos to them the follow up piece and editorial they did, which included honest, critical reporting on the real impact a new, publicly funded baseball stadium for the Charlotte Knights might actually have.
