
How the Olympics rotted Greece - markmassie
http://www.politico.eu/article/how-the-olympics-rotted-greece/
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notatoad
The Olympics wrecked Greece like Gordon Ramsay wrecks the restaurants he
visits on kitchen nightmares.

If you're struggling and you plan a big flashy show to save your economy, and
it doesn't work, all your problems don't suddenly become the fault of the big
flashy show you planned to fix them.

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ebt
> like Gordon Ramsay wrecks the restaurants he visits on kitchen nightmares.

What's the evidence for this?

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notatoad
Every couple months it seems like I see another Facebook or Reddit post with
the stat that 90% of the restaurants featured on kitchen nightmares go under
within a year of their episode airing. As if a show that focuses on failing
restaurants is somehow to blame when those restaurants fail.

It seemed like a good comparison for Greece and what they tried to do with the
Olympics.

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seizethecheese
The article states that greek debt is $349 billion and that the Olympics
totaled around $7 billion. The premise of this article is flawed.

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caminante
Agreed.

Also, the author's sub-headline asks whether to blame the IOC then points how
the olympics costing doesn't include incremental infrastructure projects --
which likely would've happened without the olympics, just not as fast, as is
the case with most olympics[1].

From what I remember, Athens was one of the best executed, efficient olympics
ever. Unfortunately, attendance was low as the timing of the Iraq War made
travel undesirable.

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Olympics#Costs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Olympics#Costs)

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chmaynard
> The IOC could solve the problem of where to stage its increasingly costly
> Games (and provide a helping hand to Greece) by putting the Games
> permanently in Athens.

Not a great article, but I totally agree with the conclusion. The Summer
Olympic Games should be held every four years in Athens. Why move it around
the world? Greece is the perfect location.

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mistermann
I honestly don't understand why any country would want to hold the olympics,
unless they already have the vast majority of the infrastructure in place,
it's just such a mind-bogglingly expensive proposition.

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ebiester
Why, again, would Boston want 2024?

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beedogs
Poor leadership tends to make bad decisions.

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stefantalpalaru
Here's a relevant chart:
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/HellenicOecon...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/HellenicOeconomy%28inCurrentEuros%29.png)

