Friday, December 03, 2010

Economic benefits of the World Cup? Yeah, right. Pull the other one.

Bid hysteria, populism and self-delusion.

So Russia won the 2018 World Cup bid and all we're left with is the comical display of Britain's populist rags pulling their hair out in OUTRAGE.

Blame the lefty BBC! Change the rules! It's all a fix! Russian crooks! We were the best! From the Daily Mail to the Sun and from Masturbating Daily to the Express, it's all rage rage rage.

But the best demolition of World Cup-related populist delusion comes from this excellent article at Macondo Sunsets. Try this snippet for starters:
"If you think these big events give economies a boost, think again. [...]
Bread and circuses don't save the day. Just ask a now-bankrupt Greece. The Athens Olympics were only six years ago. And although the Olympics served to temporarily tranquillise them and make them forget the state of the economy, they soon woke up again. The British will too. Good luck to the Russians-they'll need it once Blatter and his partners are done chucking all the sacks of roubles into the truck..."
Down pat.

1 comment:

socialist sam said...

All those whinos moaning that Russia is so corrupt and a 'mafia state'. What were they doing for the past twenty years? Are they not the same smart asses celebrating Russian democracy and a new era and the fall of evil Soviet Union? Where they not the ones more than happy to prop up Eltsin first and then Putin?