Politicians love being popular. Much of their political survival depends on it. It’s no surprise, then, that they constantly try to associate themselves with popular things. It seems the more popular something becomes, the more politicians will try to subsidize it.

Take, for example, your hometown sports team. Its local popularity can help explain, to some degree, why we’ve witnessed such an explosion in public financing for stadiums across the country. This might also explain why many state and local governments are beginning to shower public funding on another popular American pastime: craft beer.



While this project is being heralded as a “win” for Virginia, with press conferences that include politicians toasting themselves and their new brewery, there is a much better way for cities to attract this kind of business without sticking taxpayers with the tab.

As my colleague Matthew Mitchell and I have argued, if politicians are really interested in fostering the current craft-brewing renaissance, they should shift their focus away from subsidizing select breweries and instead work to simplify the regulatory environment for all those hoping to brew their beer. In Virginia, for example, we found that starting a craft brewery is as difficult as starting a small business in China or Venezuela.

In the end, however, politicians will be politicians. They will continue to look for the easy wins without putting much effort into fixing the larger problems. But even the beneficiaries of these projects are beginning to realize the detrimental effect this sort of government favoritism can have.

