SPORTS: The Chinese Olympics

From his perch in China, Paul Simon is ideally placed to follow the Olympics there as a socio-economic phenomenon. Host countries expect such events to bring prestige, tourists and money. This is often a miscalculation. The Winter Olympics sullied the excellent reputation of Utah. Paul writes: "There's a school of thought over here that the PRC may bankrupt itself putting on a big Olympic show. At the least, the 30 billion (and sure to rise) that they plan to spend will have to be robbed from somewhere: defense (not a bad idea), environment, SOE reform, pension payments, water projects for the drought stricken north, etc. Beijing may also suck most of the remaining water resources of North China dry in an attempt to greenify for the Olympiad, fear many environmentalists. The construction projects also will provide a massive opportunity for incredible graft, fear many Chinese.

In this context of every Olympic host city trying to outdo the previous one, one has to wonder if poor and developing nations are spending their money wisely when they bid on such an event. It's done out of hubris, many say and "pride cometh before a fall".

Ronald Hilton - 1/3/02