Don’t let the ‘C’ in NASCAR stand for cronyism in Chicago

June 23, Robert Lawson, Jerome M. Fullinwider chair in Economic Freedom, SMU Cox School of Business, along with Scott Niederjohn (Concordia University) for a commentary lamenting that NASCAR may be dabbling in cronyism by collaborating with Chicago authorities on a street race in July. Published in the Chicago Tribune under the heading Don’t let the ‘C’ in NASCAR stand for cronyism in Chicago: https://tinyurl.com/ymn69me2

We are free market economists who share a passion for car racing. One of the things we like the most about racing is that it still embodies the spirit of free enterprise — unlike the other major sports.

Almost all racetracks are privately owned by entrepreneurs trying to make a buck. The race car teams are private firms. Sponsors may be wealthy individuals with a passion for racing like the comedian David Letterman or companies like Menard’s that see the marketing value in their association with the sport.

However, if the other major sports can slop up billions of dollars from the taxpayer trough through publicly financed stadium deals, for how long can the two premier racing series in North America — NASCAR and IndyCar — resist the urge to join in the feeding frenzy? The answer, sadly for NASCAR at least, is that they can’t.

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