London Olympics Economic Boost Failing to Materialise

Graham_Devon

A._Badger wrote: »

You could say the same for the Jubilee, a royal wedding, or any other national occasion. And we've already established that the economic benefits of the Olympics are nebulous, at best. Indeed, only Salt Lake City (under Mitt Romney, ISTR) didn't wind-up with a huge debt as a result of hosting the games.

The rest is meaningless, happy-clappy, fluffy nonsense.

Right, so all that listed, you don't count as good things to have happened, due to the olympics?

bankhater_1965

The_White_Horse wrote: »

i reckon saving the banks gave more people joy than seeing a few people throwing sticks and running around.

saving the banks basically stopped armageddon. most people would have lost everything. no payments, no savings etc. bad bad news.

ur avin a laff

pqrdef

A._Badger wrote: »

But why is it good for the country?

It's like brushing your teeth. It won't improve them, but you have to do it to stop them deteriorating.

We're in the business of managing decline. We should be aware of that, but we must ignore those impatient go-getting types who can't wait to rush ahead and get on with everything, even declining.

bankhater_1965

RenovationMan wrote: »

Because it's GOOD FOR THE COUNTRY!! How many times! Jeeze! You're not listening!

It's like trying to get blood from a stone, getting a straight answer from Devon.

its not good for the country, its costs £millions that the country simply could not afford, the tickets are well down people cannot afford to go , whats good about that!, no one is going to invest here because its a minus non growth economy that come over here whilst the olympics are on !!
the airport customs is a mess with waiting times, everyone down there have increased prices over the 2 week period for a quick greedy profit ,which clearly is going to backfire haha and not to mention the massive costs of the botched up £millions for security

A._Badger

bankhater_1965 wrote: »

its not good for the country, its costs £millions that the country simply could not afford, the tickets are well down people cannot afford to go , whats good about that!, no one is going to invest here because its a minus non growth economy that come over here whilst the olympics are on !!
the airport customs is a mess with waiting times, everyone down there have increased prices over the 2 week period for a quick greedy profit ,which clearly is going to backfire haha and not to mention the massive costs of the botched up £millions for security

Who is pausing to count the lost productivity due to the games? I know companies in London that have virtually written-off two to three weeks of fully staffed operation due to transport worries. The cost to the base economy will be vast.

And these are real producers of wealth not market stalls or rows of children waving flags somewhere in the West country.

olly300

A._Badger wrote: »

Who is pausing to count the lost productivity due to the games? I know companies in London that have virtually written-off two to three weeks of fully staffed operation due to transport worries. The cost to the base economy will be vast.

And these are real producers of wealth not market stalls or rows of children waving flags somewhere in the West country.

Long term if played correctly you will get even more tourists into the London. (The weather this week has helped a lot.) Barcelona is now a major tourist attraction because of the Olympics in 1992. I know very few people who haven't been to Barcelona in my circle of family, friends and acquaintances. Unlike some other former European Olympic cities because it has other things i.e. museums, architecture, a beach, a theme park, large football stadium that is of interest to tourists, tourists aren't disappointed going there.

Long term it will also enable the dump that is that part of London to be redeveloped. They had to clear up loads of junk to put the Olympic village there.

The government is using the Olympics as a way to get UK businesses to engage with overseas countries who need infrastructure and other projects done in their countries.

We will lose out economically in the short term due to hosting the games, but due to hosting the games in one of the least productive parts of the year due to school summer holidays for a lot of industries, the loss economically won't be as bad as if they were hosting earlier or later in the year. (The Queen's jubilee happened at a bad time of the year.)

BTW by long term I mean more than the term this government has.

A._Badger

olly300 wrote: »

Long term it will also enable the dump that is that part of London to be redeveloped. They had to clear up loads of junk to put the Olympic village there.

The government is using the Olympics as a way to get UK businesses to engage with overseas countries who need infrastructure and other projects done in their countries.

We will lose out economically in the short term due to hosting the games, but due to hosting the games in one of the least productive parts of the year due to school summer holidays for a lot of industries, the loss economically won't be as bad as if they were hosting earlier or later in the year. (The Queen's jubilee happened at a bad time of the year.)

BTW by long term I mean more than the term this government has.

Nope, I'm not convinced. Barcelona was a cultural centre before the Olympics and London has hardly lacked tourist attractions!

The dump that was East London before the Olympics will revert to being a dump afterwards (have you seen the mess that is Stratford?!) and tourists will continue to come for the theatre, music, art and (of course) business long after the Olympics have been forgotten.

If you want to see the real Olympic legacy, remember Wembley circa
1980 or look at some of the other cities that have been conned into hosting this corrupt beanfeast in recent decades.

Generali

The Olympics are basically going to be a three week long party. Yes, it's expensive but like any party you can either stand about moaning how crap it is or get yourself to the punchbowl and enjoy it.

As for the legacy, if you knew Lee Valley before it was done up, anything would improve it including inviting the Luftwaffe back for one last hurrah.

Have fun, be nice to the visitors and celebrate the medals that are won.

Fella

I think the biggest factor in favour of hosting it is not the direct bottom line, it's that it reinforces the image of London (& the UK) as a major city/country which can only help to attract businesses.

IMO it's a kind of country-sized version of having good shops on a high street. People often judge an area by it's shops & it's a powerful attraction/deterrent. You see a high street full of quality brand shops it's infinitely more attractive than one filled with charity shops & poundland. And once the good shops start disappearing & the cheap stops start appearing it's generally a one-way path to an area becoming a dump (something I've witnessed a few times in areas that used to be nice & are now naff). Still being able to host the Olympics was a major coup in that respect. I can't imagine we'll ever host it again.

homelessskilledworker

Well I am just having my coffee and breakfast and then off to London. The Globe theatre at 1pm to see Taming of the shrew and then off to see the opening of the Olympics.

This is a great great day for Great Britain and massive honour, I am so happy and excited and hope it all goes well.
For those that keep looking at it from a pound sign point of view are just not getting the point(but I do undestand their anger sometimes).
We will get so much from this that money does not come into it, even though we will get our money back, even in ways that are difficult to explain on this board.

Not every thing in life is about making money and profit, for people who cannot see that I feel sorry for them

Have a good day to everyone:)