Stadium subsidies are bad deals for communities like St. Petersburg

It’s clear to economists and other experts across the country that the residents of St. Petersburg are being asked to make a bad deal to keep the Tampa Bay Rays in town.

To some extent, what’s happening in St. Petersburg is the same kind of thing that’s happened in city after city across the country, where team owners threaten to move the team with one hand while holding out wonderful promises of massive economic benefits with the other.