Study: 2010 Winter Olympics an economic bust

[Newsjock]

Source: Seattle PI

Pageants, even those televised around the world, do not necessarily put people to work.

During heady days after Vancouver was picked to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Liberal Party government of British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell projected pre-Olympic tourism would add as many as "12,000 jobs" to the province's economy by the end of 2008.

A new independent study has lowered the figure quite a bit - to no more than 100 jobs, perhaps as few as 25.

"Hosting of the Games does not appear to have directly drawn a significant number of visitors in British Columbia and Canada," said the study by the Price Waterhouse Coopers accounting firm, commissioned by the B.C. and federal governments.

"Yes, 25 jobs," joked Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer. "At that measure, the Liberals could have generated the same economic impact by opening a good-sized fast-food restaurant.

Read more: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/184851.asp

[vadawg]

1. rofl 25 jobs, they have got to be kidding...

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. How is that even possible???

[vadawg]

3. i got no idea, but its got to be the biggest cock up in the history of the planet.

im still laughing my ass of at someone actually having to report the figure of 25 jobs created....

[BrklynLiberal]

4. This sounds like it comes from the Onion...

[David Zephyr]

15. It does.

.

[Prometheus Bound]

5. What is pre-Olympic tourism?

Who would visit a city two to five years before the Olympics were going to be held there just for that reason? It doesn't make any sense. The people who predicted 12,000 jobs are idiots.

[global1]

6. I Heard A Completely Different Story A Couple Of Days Ago.....

something about already being profitable to the tune of $800 million and 22,000 jobs brought to the area. I can't find where I saw or read that - but I commented on it to somebody here in Chicago that if we would have won the 2016 Olympics that it would have been a boon to the area - and cited the success in Vancouver.

[Prometheus Bound]

8. I guess those would be construction jobs.

Here they're talking about pre-Olympics tourism.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

7. Olympics and Hajj to Shut Down due to Swine Flu

http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2009/11/31445.php

[dysfunctional press]

9. not really...

"Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance is calling for the immediate
Shut-down of the Vancouver-Whistler (B.C.) Winter Olympics (Feb. 12-28
2010) And the Annual Al Hajj "

i don't see them as having much influence...

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

14. ...

[Loudmxr]

10. They paid too much for Celine Dion to Open the Games.

[sandnsea]

11. It would take 25 people just to provide "reporters" data

so they can write shit trashing the Olympics. This is just dumb on its face.

[fasttense]

12. I don't buy it. Construction jobs alone would have produced more than 25 jobs.

I don't trust Price Waterhouse Coopers. They are a very conservative firm and will do just about anything to make the liberals look bad. It probably is one of those hatchet reports, where they leave out a lot of information and rig the numbers, just to make an issue look bad. You know, like that Health Insurance report claiming premiums would rise 25% if congress dared to return to its citizens the right to live a healthy life.

[Spazito]

13. LOL, what a pile of codswollop!

I personally know TWO of those "25" people and know of others hired as well and they are directly working for the Olympics as opposed to construction projects, etc.

Seeing as the games have yet to occur why would there be any numbers attributed to visitors there because Vancouver is hosting.

A completely bizarre article and survey, imo.