London in Trouble?

In late 2008, the then Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell questioned whether London's bid to host the Olympics would turn out to be a costly mistake because of the deterioration in the world economy.

"Had we known what we know now, would we have bid for the Olympics? Almost certainly not," she said.

On the one hand, the £9.3bn spent on constructing and hosting the Games is a Keynesian-style boost for the economy. 98pc of the facilities for the Olympics have been built by British companies through contracts worth £6bn.

The £300m already spent on tickets also means the economy is guaranteed to grow by 0.1pc during London 2012, while surveys say overseas visitors will spend around £700m.





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