Betrayal

It was October 6, 1978, and the New York Yankees were trailing the Kansas City Royals 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning in Game Three of the American League Championship Series. I sat in front of the television set angry at the world, muttering about how the Yankees were going to lose on my 10th birthday. With a runner on base catcher Thurman Munson stepped up to the plate and hit a monstrous home run over “Death Valley” in left field to put the Yankees ahead. The blast was estimated to have sailed 475 feet before landing in Monument Park. It was the greatest birthday gift a young boy could receive. I thank the Lord for wonderful childhood memories like this because thanks to what I have seen since the collapse of our economy, I can no longer look at a Yankees uniform the same.

Unemployment rates rise each month as greater numbers of companies crash and burn. Jobless workers who cannot afford healthcare are forced to avoid doctors whenever possible. Credit card debt increasingly strangles Americans. Food prices haven’t dropped; yet according to a recent announcement Americans net-worth has declined 20%. Nevertheless, as the national economy continued to nosedive over the past year, the Yankees created their own stimulus package by handing over a total of $243.5 million to free-agent pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Although, the only people stimulated by these obscene payroll figures are the pitchers’ agents. Yes, I know the argument about players’ salaries: “Someone has to make the money. Wouldn’t you rather see the players make it than the owners?”

With our nation suffering as it is, it seems almost criminal for those glutinous amounts of money to be tossed around as a reward for tossing a baseball.

But my disgust does not end there. No, perhaps an even a greater insult to those of us affected by the economic crisis is the financing of the new stadiums for the Yankees and the Mets. Although both teams are paying for the building of the stadiums, according to a November 4, 2008, New York Times article, “the cost to the city for infrastructure — parks, garages and transportation improvements — has jumped to about $458 million, from $281 million in 2005.” The Times also adds that the state is contributing an additional $201 million. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/nyregion/05stadiums.html) If that does not boil your blood, then consider that the same article reports the two teams will receive “an estimated $480 million in city, state and federal tax breaks”.

Oh yes, and they also will not have to pay rent or property taxes even though the city owns the stadium grounds.

Just a week ago Mayor Bloomberg informed NY-ers that there would be layoffs of police officers, firemen, and teachers. Luckily for the mayor President Obama’s stimulus package will negate the need for the layoffs he warned of. But are we to believe that the mayor had no idea of the city’s looming financial problems when he cut these sweetheart deals with our NY baseball teams? That seems unlikely.

The final kick in the stomach to NY-ers is that ticket prices and parking will be so expensive that the average New Yorker should forget about spending a Sunday afternoon with his family at the new “House That City Hall Built”. Field Level Box Seats bought on game day will cost $400 per ticket, meaning that a family of four will pay more to watch a bunch of spoiled millionaires play one baseball game than I pay for rent in one month.

Let’s face it. These stadiums are not for us. They are for the corporate elite and they reveal a total lack of empathy for the average American’s plight. What I feel today toward the Yankees organization is not anger but betrayal. And for that the organization cannot be excused.

They have thumbed their noses at this long-time Yankees fan for the last time.

But at least I will always have my childhood memories.


Donald Tremblay

Greed

The Associated Press used a term today that aptly defines the corporate greed that sustains today’s Wall Street culture: casino capitalism. (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gOZTtahVNy4kICgeQueTNyWQybJAD93H9HL80) Simply put it is the practice of accepting whatever risks necessary, short of breaking the law, to earn substantial profits. It is an unfettered game of craps.

"The managers of big business took huge risks out of greed," said President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, whose economy is highly dependent on U.S. trade. "What happens in the United States will affect the entire world and, above all, small countries like ours."

In fairness it’s not just the U.S. who is at fault here. As the AP points out, big business across Europe is guilty of the same carelessness and greed:

“It's harder for European leaders to point the finger directly at the United States since many of their financiers participated in the recklessness. London was home to the division of failed insurer AIG that racked up huge losses on credit-default swaps, and many reputable European banks disregarded risk to load up on higher yielding subprime assets.”

Swaps, derivatives, you name it. All were recklessly created to bring big returns for investors. But there’s one thing about greed people forget: it cannot be sated. The more it gets, the more it wants. It is a ravenous beast.

Capitalism is the best economic system that Man has developed to-date. However, there are fundamental flaws with it. It is a lot like Nature in that when acts it doesn’t discriminate between good and evil, right and wrong. Free-market defenders will argue that the system works because as was the case with Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers, the market weeds out inefficient, unprofitable companies. And macro-economically speaking, they are correct. But at what cost is this done? “This Survival of the Fittest” mentality leaves financial carnage in its wake, and the victims usually are those who have nothing to do with the questionable business practices.

I remember studying economics when I was younger and reading that a company’s stock value rises after it lays off workers. I understood the math behind it: Fewer salaries means lowers costs which in turn translates into a better bottom line. But my first thought was that there is something wrong with a system that rewards a company for sending its workers to the unemployment line.

I still feel that way today.

Donald Tremblay