Was Athens in debt after the 2004 summer games?

Question

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I thought the Olympics Games generated revenue from all the media exposure, advertising, hotel bookings, tour attractions, increase transit.

Answer 1

yes i think greece is still in debt after the olympics and the irony is that we dont even use all those facillities anymore!

Answer 2

i don't know about athens' debt, but i think having the olympic games can be good for the economy and also put the place in debt.

probably the city or province or wherever the money comes from, made alot back from ticket sales and media exposure, but the tourism really booms also. the people of the city make alot of money, like taxis hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, all the merchants on the streets, everybody makes more money.

this causes what is called in economics the money multiplier, meaning basically, if you make more money, you will spend more money, whoever you give that money you spend to, will have more and spend more, etc... so something like hosting Olympic games can really boost your economy, and bring wealth to your city. though the government may be in debt and will need to pay it off over time in taxes.

so really it would be difficult to tell whether or not from an economic point of you you end up ahead from hosting the games, or whether you end up behind. i think economists can figure it out using the proper formulas and the such, but it's more complex than just looking at the debt.

my guess is the hosting nation or whatever has economists do predictions on how much revenue the tourism will bring back to the government as well as to the inhabitants of the city, and do all their factoring as to how long it would take to pay the debt and so on, and budget their olympics based on that so as not to put them into too much trouble financially. but i don't know really if they aim to make a profit, or if they're cool with coming out real short, or if they kind of try to break even. i guess it probably depends on the government.

Answer 3

Athens is not in debt, because the expenses did not come out of the budget of the city of Athens. All the expenses were covered by the Greek government i.e. the tax money of all Greeks, irrespective of where they lived. The income generated by the Olympics did go to Athens (mostly), so in a sense, Athens made a lot of money without paying a cent.

As for Greece, the budget still shows a deficit due in part to the debt incurred for the 2004 summer games, but then again Greece has always been in debt and nobody seems to mind terribly.

Answer 4

It still is! The current bad financial state of Greece is partly due to the expenses of the Olympics.