Forbes published for 28Feb05 has a great op-ed piece by William Bladwin on the "public funding dangers" of convention centers, stadiums, etc.  The argument against such endeavors utilized one of my favorite economist (even if he is French) – Frederic Bastiat.  If you have never heard of Bastiat, then you should read "The Law."

Anyway … this is a great paragraph …

"Bastiat has been dead for 155 years, but he knew all about multipliers.  His acerbic take on the matter is called the Broken Window Fallacy.  In this parable a mischievous boy breaks a shopkeeper’s window.  That provides work for the glazier, who puts the money back in to circulation, and the money keeps going around and around, to the point where the townspeople are all but rejoicing at the vandalism.  Bastiat points out the fallacy: You’ve forgotten that money spent on the window is money the shopkeeper might otherwise have spent at the cobbler.  Breaking windows does not enrich the town."