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The Economic Impact of the Olympic Games

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The Economic Impact of the Olympic Games

With the Olympic games being held in Sydney this year, I wondered if perhaps the performance of the economy was being affected in part by the fiscal stimulus provided by Olympic construction in Sydney and other parts of the country. Australia's economy has been performing well recently, suggesting that there might be some effect. Over the last five years, growth in Australia's gross domestic product has averaged 4.35%, almost a full point above it's thirty year annual average of 3.5%, and the unemployment rate is near a ten year low. According to one estimate, the Olympics will tack on an additional six and a half billion dollars, about 1.6% of the GDP, to Australia's GDP over the 1994-2000 …show more content…

In addition 2,200 jobs were created outside North South Wales over the same period (Arthur Anderson/CREA, 1999, p3).
It is also important to highlight the indirect benefits that the Olympics will bring. Indirect benefits will also come from increased exposure to Australia as host of the millennium Olympic Games. Austrade is driving the Government's Australia Open for Business campaign, which takes advantage of the heightened global interest in Australia at the time of the Olympics. A global promotion for Australia as a prime business destination is supported by a number of new business programs, which capture new interest to turn it into export and investment revenue. The key program under Australia Open for Business is Business Club Australia. Also, managed by Austrade, Business Club Australia connects Australian exporters with overseas buyers and investors through a global networking club, which also shares the excitement of the 2000 Games.
Many economists have warned the Australian public not to exaggerate the benefits of the games because of past experience in other host countries.(Dabkowski and Ketchell,1999 Gittens,1999 and Mules,1999) According to the early graph, it seems as though the host countries' economies have not been as robust as prior to the Olympics, when the bulk of construction expenditure was being undertaken. However, many poor results in the

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