Is it right for states to use public money to build football stadiums?
Dr. David Birks explores this question in his recent publication, “Sin, Tyranny, and the Metaphysics of Money,” featured in the January 2026 issue of Ethics. While the article discusses broader issues of public funding and coercion, it uses the specific case of stadiums—among other projects like churches, contraception, and abortion services—to examine whether it is justifiable for states to allocate public funds to large infrastructure projects like football stadiums.
Dr. Birks, along with co-author Ian Carroll, criticises and rejects this common liberal view. In the paper, they argue that the answer to these questions could depend on our understanding of what money is. They show that contemporary political philosophy rests on an untenable assumption about the nature of money. On a different theory of money, held by Immanual Kant, J.M. Keynes, and more recently, by proponents of Modern Monetary Theory, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the state can create money to pay for these goods, rather than coercing taxpayers to fund them.
This paper has radical implications for a fundamental debate on the role of the state and its duties to its citizens.
Two HKU students, Ida Hung and Angelica Bedaña, contributed as research assistants, exemplifying HKU’s commitment to research-led teaching.
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