Environmental Economics

Sometimes a once in a lifetime event happens twice

Warning: Unbelievable but true sports post ahead.

Channeling her inner Randy Johnson*, official oldest daughter of env-econ and number 1 pitcher for the local 12U travel softball team (that's her on the right, last year) unleashes a 70 mph fastball** in a tournament game this weekend.  From my signal calling perch in the first base dugout,*** I am distracted by a faint flutter out of the corner of my eye.  A misguided--and ill-fated--bird has launched an aerial attack on the unsuspecting neon-yellow softball.  In the ensuing split second battle, physics wins.  The 90 mph**** six ounce projectile launched from my daughter's hand slams into the side of the bird halfway to home plate.  The bird spins out of control and tumbles to its demise along the third base line.  The ball ricochets high in the air but it's 100 mph***** momentum lands the ball softly in the catcher's mitt.

Home plate umpire, clearly stunned and having no idea what to call, calls time out and confers with the field umpire. 

Final decision:  Ball 3. 

Right call?

The assistant coach and I approach the umpire to question the call but quickly realize we have no idea what to argue. So instead, we pick up the limp bird and place it gently under a nearby bush.

Slightly shaken, but still determined, official daughter of env-econ continues on and gets the win.

*For those who don't get the Randy Johnson reference, watch this.  For those animal lovers out there...don't watch.

**OK, it's probably more like 50 mph--I haven't clocked her recently.

***An upside down sunflower seed bucket

****50 mph

*****50 mph

The solution to a bursted housing bubble is more new houses? etc.

Isn't this the logic that got us in this trouble in the first place (House passes ...)?

[Kentucky] House and Senate leaders negotiated late Tuesday night $68 million in tax breaks for home buyers, new car buyers and active duty military members.

Non first-time homebuyers would be eligible for a $5,000 tax credit on the purchase of a home that has never been occupied.

The credit, which would be capped at $25 million, is intended to move homes that have already been built but have not been sold. If builders can sell some of those homes, they could begin building new ones, which would create construction jobs and increase the sales of materials, proponents said.

Also, the same budget process came up with $37 million in incentives to attract a NASCAR race to Gallatin County (between Louisville and Cincinnati). Last summer at the Hamburg sports mega-event conference I heard Rob Baade argue that mega-events, such as fast car races and important ball games, don't generate much of any economic impact (I also heard the same story where the measure was hotel tax revenue; Dennis Coates, 2008 SEA meetings). Sigh.

Race to the bottom

From the inbox:

OK, just between us, in addition to the noontime basketball best attitude award, you win the fastest environmental economics blogger award, beating out ... among others...

Friday Beer Post: A Cinderella Story

Every May/June, my current town of residence, Dublin, OH, hosts the PGA's Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, Jack Nicklaus' self-designed 'home' course.  Every tournament Saturday, friends of ours host a Caddyshack themed party at their house on the course, complete with costume contests and open bar.  Last year, I won for most authentic costume for my Dalai Lama costume. 

So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-galunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

Here's a write-up on the party at the PGA Tour's Website (Mother of All Theme Parties):

Yesterday at the NFSA Awards Ceremony

As you might recall, last year I won the award for Best Attitude. While nominated this year, I didn't bring home the big prize. Nevertheless, I didn't leave Mello Mushroom empty handed. I won the award for "Most Likely to Wear Kentucky Blue (and it is not Duke Blue!)" [click on the thumbnail if you don't believe the truth].

The certificate is signed by Buzz Peterson, who has his own Wiki page.

Bizarre paper link of the day

Here is a link to one of my (co-authored) working papers at Totalitarianism Today. Placed right after a post on "What is a violent militant extremist"

Demand change

On Friday Tim excerpted this:

Organizers of the Preakness Stakes, the second event in horse racing’s Triple Crown, want a tamer experience on Saturday for the 134th running of the race. Fans can no longer bring their own beverages to the infield. Sixteen-ounce beers will be sold for $3.50, and they will come in plastic cups instead of unopened cans.

...[Tom Chuckas, the president and chief operating officer of the Maryland Jockey Club] said infield ticket sales were down about 15 percent from this time last year, though he expected potential losses to be offset by the increase in beverage sales. The price of admission remains $50 for tickets bought in advance and $60 for those purchased on race day

On Monday Rick Bozich, columnist at the "hoity-toity, prim and proper, frilly hat wearing, mint julep drinking home of the Kentucky Derby" local paper, says:

What we learned on Saturday is the folks who usually pack the Pimlico infield are more interested in an outrageous party than a good race. Preakness attendance plunged nearly 31 percent from 112,222 to 77,850, the smallest crowd for the Triple Crown's second leg in 26 years. And last year's turnout was down 7.5 percent from the 2007 Preakness record of 121,263.

Even holding income constant in a recession year, the folks from Balmer really love a party and hate when they can't BYOB.

The recession hits the ponies

From the Courier-Journal (Churchill seeks ...):

Churchill Downs Inc. announced this afternoon that it is asking regulators to eliminate seven days from its current spring meeting because of a shortage of horses to fill races and a 20 percent drop in betting outside of its biggest days.

The track announced it will ask the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday for permission to go to a four-day a week racing schedule, from the current five, beginning May 20. The cuts will mean the elimination of Wednesday racing after this week and the Thursday, May 28. No Wednesday racing had been scheduled that week because of Memorial Day. ...

Churchill will cut purses for six stakes races by a total of $425,000, including reducing the biggest spring meet race it offers after Derby, the Grade I Stephen Foster Handicap, won last year by Curlin, will be $600,000 instead of $750,000. ...

Churchill officials and horsemen have cited various reasons for the shortage, including: new and tougher competition from tracks in other states where expanded gambling revenue supplements purses; the difficulty in filling races the week after the Kentucky Derby because owners and trainers shoot for Derby week races; and cutbacks at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky ["the summer home of racing in Kentucky"].

My analysis? A fall in income leads to less betting on horses, lower profits and lower purses.

Getting ready for the Kentucky Derby Party

In the 1932 Kentucky Derby, Burgoo King, little-heralded before the race, got to feeling his oats as he turned down the homestretch and overcame favorite Economic to win by four lengths. Burgoo King was the first horse to be adorned with the blanket of roses, the drapery given to the winner ever since.That early Depression-era race was perhaps the most national notice that burgoo, arguably one of Kentucky's signature dishes, has garnered before or since.

Source: Stirring up Burgoo's Past

More Kentucky Derby Fun here: http://www.courier-journal.com/kentucky-derby-fun

"A very famous sports economist" ...

... my ass. In the Winter 2009 Region Focus feature article "Ballpark Boom" (PDF) I'm described simply as "an economist" on page 27:

Bruce Johnson of Centre College in Kentucky has done some of that research. He worked with an economist to determine what people in Lexington, Ky., would pay for a new arena for the University of Kentucky basketball team and for a new minor league baseball stadium.

The last time I was simply "an economist" was around 1994. During that year I became known as "the economist who says and does silly things." This lasted for a number of years. Since March 15, 2007 I've been known as "a very famous sports economist."

The worst part is that Kentucky is not even in the Fed's 5th District:

The Richmond Fed is one of 12 Reserve Banks that, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System. Our region takes in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, the District of Columbia and most of West Virginia. Our offices are in Richmond, Baltimore and Charlotte.

I think there should be a Federal Regulation, the people who work for the Fed's magazines should only interview people IN THEIR OWN DANG FED DISTRICT.

Note: I'll relive the suffering of indignity in the next issue of my alumni magazine. I'm sure.