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September 11, 2009
"Very careful" in his numbers? What if Zimbalist had been cross-examined on the $6 billion lie?
Atlantic Yards Report
Sports economist and "expert" witness Dr. Andrew Zimbalist, whom Bruce Ratner hired to write the (hugely misleading) "economic analysis" for Atlantic Yards, has been steadily losing credibility ever since.
Remember, after a critical report on Andrew Zimbalist's report for Forest City Ratner was issued in in June 2004, the New York Times gave the "sports economist for hire" (to quote the Times hockey blog) the last word:
Dr. Zimbalist, for his part, said he had not seen the report and knew only what he had heard from reporters. Saying he was unsure whether Dr. Peebles or Mr. Kim had fully understood the economic issues, he added, "I was very careful in my use of numbers."But what if Zimbalist, whose credibility has taken a hit in four recent court cases, been subject to cross-examination regarding the $6 billion lie?
It might have had some elements of the debate in court yesterday about Zimbalist's consulting work for Jim Balsillie, the owner who wants to relocate the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton, Ontario, near Toronto.
The National Post was live-blogging the courtroom cross-examination:
...Goldfein, the NHL sharpshooter, is punching holes in Zimbalist’s “expert” witness tag. He says the expert has had testimony tossed out of courts on a couple occasions, and that one judge in a case involving NASCAR labeled his testimony as “incompetent.”
Zimbalist says that the case is under appeal. But if I was Balsillie I would be wondering why, exactly, I had paid this guy. That’s just me. And I am no expert.
Zimbalist is making at least $50,000 for his report. Here's some more criticism of it.
Posted by eric at September 11, 2009 3:52 PM