Hi folks,
These types of events (Olympics, World Cup, etc.) tend to leave host countries billions of dollars in debt. They even built a stadium in the middle of a jungle for this event. Wasteful? People who analyze the financial aspects of these events don't know how much longer they can continue. We may be witnessing the end of these types of events, including the Olympics.
I don't know in other countries, but from personal experience I can state that Winter Olympics in Turin was a fabulous opportunity of rebirth for the city. The event has channeled billions of Euros to the city. Even today, eight years later, you can still feel the effects with the increase in welfare and infrastructures that have remained available for citizens.
Bye 
Nico
Hi Taras,
Yes, that may be true. Turin is located in Piemonte. Traditionally, it was always Italy's industrial heart (the "Detroit of
Italy"). Fiat's headquarters and assembly plants were located there for decades. Just like Detroit and the rest of the USA's "rust belt", Turin fell on hard economic times. I'm sure that it needed a "shot in the
arm".
But these things can sometimes backfire. For example, look at the G8 summit in Genoa,
Italy in the Summer of 2001. Genoa
had fallen on hard economic times too. It was very dependent on the shipping and cruise industries. The hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship (whose
home port was Genoa) in the 1980s dealt a severe economic blow to the city of Genoa. It needed an economic "shot in the
arm", so it was chosen to host the G8 summit in 2001.
As you probably know, my paternal grandparents came from the Genoa
area. To this day, my cousin
Maria still lives in downtown Genoa, and we communicate regularly. Right now, her biggest concern is that
Italy must get off the
euro currency just to survive, and many Italians agree with her. But, back then, in the Summer of 2001, she gave me an earful. Berlusconi advised the people of Genoa to not hang out their laundry (both literally and figuratively). She also described "Berlusconi's fascist police dressed in black". These are people who
had no law enforcement background and no training at all. Berlusconi basically deputized them, and they dressed in black. And they roamed the streets of Genoa beating up numerous people (including priests) for absolutely no reason - just because they "felt like it". Numerous people got beat up, for no apparent reason. It was a disaster. She was so scared that she didn't leave her apartment for several days. As you probably know, people converged on Genoa from all over the world, led by protesters from Seattle. Well, you know what happened next. By the time the summit was over, the city was in flames. And the protesters
had caused billions upon billions of dollars in damage to the city of Genoa. Not only did Genoa NOT get the economic "shot in the
arm" that it needed, but the protesters almost destroyed the city.
Meepzorp
