>>mall and sports stadiums and stuff are a joke
Have you read David Cay Johnston's book (it might be called Free Lunch... title has that in it)?
He points out that almost every one of these mall/stadium projects results in a net loss to the community - loss of jobs (mom and pops go out of business), loss of tax revenue (sweetheart deals for the new merchant, loss of straight tax from old merchant), etc. Typically, the only beneficiary is the mall or stadium owner and most of these projects would never have been economically viable on their own merits.
They are often rent-seeking schemes where the model is to convert tax revenue into personal revenue.
I wonder how much expiring sweetheart deals plays into all this.
