London has "won" the right to be bankrupted and disrupted by a bunch of athletes and their fans. I watched all of the cheering, and couldn't figure out whether it was because they had gotten the bid, or because France had lost it. I have mixed feelings on the matter, because while having an Olympics is one of those things that I'd wish on my worst enemy, the French (particularly in Paris) seem much too unhappy about it for me to truly feel angst about their "loss."

Unsurprisingly, at least one poster at Samizdata is quite unhappy, as he so eloquently expresses.

In Atlanta, they passed special legislation capping rents on private residences. So the Olympic crowd could make plenty of cash, but the private folks forced to foot the bill were denied the opportunity to make a buck. Oh, yeah, and then that asshole Samarach got all pissed because (by some form of accounting or another) the Atlanta games made money.

* * *

I was very glad indeed when San Francisco lost out on the chance for the 2012 games at the USOC level.

I worked at Georgia Tech during the Olympics here in Atlanta. Tech campus was the site of the Olympic Village so I had to go through mountains of very bad security (this was pre 9/11) to get to work. We did 36 hour shifts and slept in the office just because getting in and out was so much of a pain.

So yes, I wouldn't wish an Olympics on my worst enemy. But the resulting economic development is quite a boom for any economy. If I had the money I'd build a nice real estate business just following the Olympics around.

My best advice? Leave a week or so before and go on a very long vacation. You won't even miss it.

But the resulting economic development is quite a boom for any economy.

Really? Net? At whose expense? What better things might have been done with the money?

This sounds like the broken window fallacy to me.

This sounds like the broken window fallacy to me.

Indeed. Olympic Stadium in Montreal was a joke while the Expos were losing games there, and now it sits vacant with the Nationals having moved to DC. Even Olympic Tower isn't all that much to look at, and is in dire need of repair. How many other specially-built Olympic stadiums and parks are still being actively used for any sort of profitable venture?

Heh. A few years ago, a group in Houston was trying to get the USOC to pick Houston. Yeah right! Who wants to go have the Olympics in that hot, humid, smoggy place that I used to call home?

How many other specially-built Olympic stadiums and parks are still being actively used for any sort of profitable venture?

Even if they are, to what even better use could the funds that built them have been employed? Sometimes you can make lemonade, but it would still have been better to have planted oranges.

The real shame is that, if here, it had to be London. Birmingham and Manchester are past candidates, and Newcastle could have been an excellent location, but the past failures there meant that it was "obvious" the only city that could host the Games was the capital. And as soon as London became the official bid, well, the Goverment would move heaven and earth to support it...

It's an interesting example of the slightly irrational pre-eminence given to London here, as much as anything else.

G'day,

Crikey. What a bunch of whingers. As a Sydneysider I can say our Olympics were fantastic! The Olympics are the planet's biggest party a celebration of life and joy. If we had a second chance we would jump at it.

ta

Ralph

This thread is amusing considering that media and marketing support for events like the Olympics consitute the most promising avenue for substantial private sector revenue flows into human spaceflight, in the near to intermediate term.

Take away the potential for commercial sponsorship as is done with professional sports and the Olympics and we are looking at tax revenues as the primary funding source for humans in space for the foreseeable future.

And as for X-Prize, I mention Volvo, 7-UP and was it Skittles or M&Ms?

This thread is amusing considering that media and marketing support for events like the Olympics consitute the most promising avenue for substantial private sector revenue flows into human spaceflight, in the near to intermediate term.

Which has nothing to do with picking taxpayers' pockets to pay for it.