Managing Director of International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has suggested Greece to permanently host the Olympic Games arguing that this will boost the country’s economy.
Standing Qestions & Answers during the Aspen Ideas Festival, Lagarde said that such a move would help boost the Greek economy by attracting international investments and it will also provide an environmentally safe location to carry out the Games.
The IMF chief said that “the Olympic Games are a huge catastrophe for Rio De Janeiro” and argued that the International Olympic Committee’s selection process is rather complicated. Provided that there is the necessary transparency and administration, Lagarde estimated that such a possibility could be debated.
MS. BOONE: I’m now mortified. Okay here is my idea but I don’t know how to turn it into a question. Maybe you can say does this make sense, is it possible. The Greek economy is a disaster. The debt now is a huge question. Rio for the Olympic Games is a disaster. The IOC, the way they make decisions is really complicated. Could we please permanently install the Olympic Games in their home in Athens and give economy and tourism and strength and have one place that’s environmentally safe. You don’t have to build stadiums that have dust weeds right after the day and help Greece and help the world find a place in Europe that is a legitimate home for the Olympic Games. That’s my question.
MS. LAGARDE: I think it is a great out of the box idea. Thank you Kitty, thank you. To the extent that it’s going to create demand which is what this economy absolutely needs it would be great. How you combine the sort of single location with the multilateral, multicounty extraordinary sort of appeal that the Olympics can have too many countries around the world is something that needs to be thought through. How you could have a good governing body that would actually supervise, make sure that there is transparency, there is accountability, there is no funny business as has occurred in the past in some places. But is a very interesting idea and you’re right. The marathon was run the first time even in Greece and the Olympic is only called the Olympic because of Mount Olympus which is actually sitting in Greece and has hosted so many fantastic athletes which was part of the healthy principles that the Greek’s very much had.
“The marathon was run the first time even in Greece and the Olympic is only called the Olympic because of Mount Olympus which is actually sitting in Greece” – as well as the ancient city of Olympia, a sanctuary site for the Greek deities in Peloponnese where the first ancient Games took place.
Video from Lagarde’s presence in Aspen
International investment? Yes! Let’s construct new Olympic Games facilities because those for the 2014 Olympic Games have been left to rotten and dissolve into the particles they were made of.
Yeap! Let’s get another €8.954 billion to construct permanent Olympic Games facilities.
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games cost the Government of Greece €8.954 billion to stage. According to the cost-benefit evaluation of the impact of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games presented to the Greek Parliament in January 2013 by the Minister of Finance Yiannis Stournaras, the overall net economic benefit of the games for Greece was positive. The FinMin’s final verdict was that “as a result from the cost-benefit analysis, we reach the conclusion that there has been a net economic benefit from the Olympic Games.”
Too bad that some mean Greeks claimed that the cost of the “Olympic Games 2004” had helped push Greece into a fiscal black hole and that the cost of €7billion for the Greek taxpayer “did not include the cost of extra projects such as a new airport and metro system.” But that was an article in Bloomberg in 2012, before Finance Minister Stournaras final verdict in 2013: “as a result from the cost-benefit analysis, we reach the conclusion that there has been a net economic benefit from the Olympic Games.”
A painful story that has many Greeks reacting rather allergic to the idea of permanently hosting the games here.
PS What I find also interesting is that Christine Lagarde aims to restructure also the International Olympics Committee, although the IOC did not ask for that. 🙂
To keep it real old-school doping should be allowed again, just like it was back in ancient times, this will boost the pharmacy-sector and brings in new sponsors but wait, may be one should only allow the nature made dope from Kalamata that Lagarde smokes too much of every time in Greece
Not only should the Olympic Games have a permanent place in Greece, but we should revive several of the other ancient games, and use those as venues also. for appropriate athletic events. Perhaps some of the purely entertaining events could find a place in Rome.
I’m sure there are Greek historians, sport enthusiasts, etc who could formulate a proposal along these lines.
It is said that Lagarde has been SACKED from her job at the IMF.
Is this true ?
oh dear
No one country can AFFORD in monetary terms to hold the Olympic Games permanantly – it costs a fortune.
I can see how the other countries would like to exempt themselves from the problem & the expense.
I for one think it’s brilliant. Each country’s OC will fund a general fund to make it happen. Better that then every decade a host nation going broke. Many cities (see Boston,et al) pull out of hosting because they see what a disaster hosting has been on finances. Time to take the games back to their homeland.
This sounds pretty cool. Moreover, we should also allow athletes to compete totally naked as ancient greeks did, since greek people can’t afford to buy clothes anymore because of the economic crisis.
LOL. It might guarantee commercial success and massive tv rights fees 🙂