With the current labor dispute going on in the NFL, I got to thinking about the impact to the economy and country that no football season would bring....
Originally Posted by dirty dog
Dirty Dog:
This concept of lost of payroll to a community is discussed in Macroeconomics text books. It goes like this:
Point 1:
If a community loses a basic manufacturing company, such as a steel mill or general motors; the loss to the community is at least 10 times to 14 times. This is because every dollar of payroll from a basic manufacturing company is spent that many times in the community. The mfg. worker buys food, and the grocery clerk, gets a haircut, the barber buys food and so on. At each stage of spending the government takes a share as income tax and sales tax, etc. For the city of Kansas City MO, if it doesn't cross the state line the take is 10% to 14% because it takes 1% from each level of income. Got it so far?
Point 2:
However, if a new McDonalds comes into town the turnover of money is about 3 to 4 times. Therefore a fast food place is not worth very much to the community.
Point 3:
A sports team has a payroll turnover of about 2 to 3 times so it really is not worth much to the community, and the community will not feel any loss if they leave, or just go under.
Point 4:
Politicians do not look at the value of the payroll from a sports team; they look at the press and all of the enthusiasm (pride in the community) that sports teams bring: that press helps them get elected by getting attention.
Point 5:
Most people in the USA just don't get it when the value of basic manufacturing is discussed, because our schools don't usually teach this until graduate school. However, the Japanese and the Chinese understand it and they support industry with state dollars: they understand that it will come back to the government in the end. They did not laugh at Reagan's trickle down economy theory; they knew it worked.
Conclusion:
If the USA would support our industries like we support our sports teams, the economy (the production and consumption of goods and services) would be better.
JR