Olympic Sized Problems

NEW POSTING SCHEDULE: After a brief sabbatical, I've returned and plan to keep up a more robust schedule. Since this weblog thing has been a lot fun I decided that I needed to put myself on a regular schedule. Starting today I will post on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Without further ado let's get on with it.

Two weeks ago the Wall Street Journal penned a story on all the issues the country of Greece is having post-2004 Olympics. Apparently the nation that brought us Plato, Socrates and unrivaled air pollution found that hosting the Olympics 2000 years ago was much cheaper than it is in modern times.

Not only is Greece billions of dollars in the hole, they are stuck with venues they can't use and they have suffered a loss (yes, loss) in tourism revenue. Also, the generous handouts they used to receive as the last country on the bench for Team European Union are being pared down excessively due to the fact a JV squad of countries (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Cyprus, etc) has joined the fold. Put those two together and Greece's economy is sliding further in the tank.

The Olympics are a phenomenal event that are unrivaled. Yes professionalism has spoiled it a bit but not even The World Cup captures the imagination of the world quite like the Olympics does every quadrennial. That being said, the hosting of the Olympics is a boondoggle. Country's become lackies and bobo's to the star-studded Olympic Committee in hopes their country will get picked to stage the Games. Country's feel that hosting of the Olympics is a historic opportunity that will bring them riches and wealth and catapult their nation into the hearts and minds of the world.

Only that is not the case. Budgets are overrun, facilities that will never be used again sit idle and suck off more taxpayer dollars (as an FYI, Motreal has still not paid off Olympic stadium after 30 years) and, most importantly, tourism does not go up.

This is where we get back to Greece. I've been to Greece and found it to be a magical place (outside of Athens, which makes New Orleans look like Geneva). Greece did not NEED the Olympics to give it relevance. The people and the land do that all on their own. However, when the first nation lost out on the 96 Games they were beside themselves. They felt that the centennial games could be held nowhere else but their land (and indeed today many Greeks feel every Summer Games should be held in Athens). They took it as a national quest to get the games back for 2004 and they stopped at nothing to make it happen. They got the victory they wanted but it was a hollow one.

Hawk's View: In the future nation's need to take the view offered by Great Britain's own Economist magazine. Earlier this year they begged the world to please not give the Olympics to the Island but give it to Paris instead. They argued that all the "development" that the Olympics would supposedly bring was not only false but was not even based on strong economic theory. In the end they argued that a country as great as Great Britain was better off without the Olympics. Yes, the Olympics are great but they do not warrant the heavy debt and burden that has become the price of admission for holding them.