The economics of the Olympics

The City of Lights will be in the spotlight for the next few weeks as Paris serves as center stage to incredible performances and achievements of the human body, mind and spirit.

The City of Lights will be in the spotlight for the next few weeks as Paris serves as center stage to incredible performances and achievements of the human body, mind and spirit. However, hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games has become an extraordinary feat in and of itself — and a financially untenable one at that. The quadrennial summer and winter events come at a cost. And, especially in recent decades, the spectacle has been blemished by budget overruns, long-term debts, wasteful infrastructure, displacement and gentrification, political strife and environmental harm. The International Olympic Committee hopes to right the ship, starting with the Paris Games: The nongovernmental sports organization is aiming to take a more frugal and greener approach than in years past. “This will be the first Olympics, since Sydney, where the total costs are coming in under $10 billion,” said Victor Matheson, a College of the Holy Cross professor of economics who has researched the financial costs of the Olympics. “That’s because the IOC was running out of cities willing to host this thing,” he added. “It’s become pretty clear to cities that — under the old regime — these were real financial debacles for the cities involved, and wildly expensive with little hope to make money back in the long run.”