Have not we got enough problems? Can’t the $10 billion needed for the games be used for other uses? Do we have world class athletes to make use of this opportunity? Can we pull it off?
All questions are valid and are hard to answer.
First the utility value:
a) Olympics can revitalize the tourism industry and bring billions in direct and indirect income
b) It will improve trade and investing, as foreign investors have historically shown more bias towards countries that have hosted an Olympics (since Olympics committee has hard filters, a country that has gotten through it must be a stable, strong economy).
c) Remember how many times Beijing and China appeared in the world media in the run up to the Olympics? Such positive media attention and presence in world conscience can be helpful in us establishing a world presence and make major business and political deals.
d) It can revitalize our infrastructure and force our bueracrats to clean things up.
e) It can revitalize India’s sports and give our athletes a chance to face the home crowd.
But utility just answers a part of the question. There is an answer far beyond money and power.
Continue to Part 2 >>>
[...] do we need Olympics? – Part 2 3 10 2009 In Part 1 we saw the utility value. But, it is not merely numbers and [...]