Chapter One : Direct / Opportunity Costs

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/beijing2008/story.html?id=5a9d7410-69b4-4583-b58d-fa74ab9d60a5

Summary
Now that the summer Beijing Olympics 2008 is over and done with, everyone is turning their attention to the winter Vancouver Olympics 2010. Anticipation for the winter Olympics is growing larger and larger especially since Beijing spent a massive sum of $45 billion on the Summer Games. Mayor Sam Sullivan believes in the great possibilities that could be brought upon our city because of 2010. "People will speak about Vancouver before 2010 and after 2010, and my goal has been to make sure that we are ready to take that opportunity." Even with the Winter Games nearing, the numbers set for the security budget is still yet to be finalized. Originally they came up with the figure $175 billion, but soon they had second thoughts worrying that it wouldn’t be adequate. Cleaning up the homeless people in the city centre is another factor that has always been near the top of the list. Citizens of Vancouver are concerned that the cost for this event may be too high.

Connection
This article is related to our text in that there are obvious direct and opportunity costs that are involved in hosting 2010 in our city. Evacuating the city centre clear of homeless people, by buying/building houses, so when the athletes and spectators come to Vancouver, they will leave with a positive image. Construction on the various sites to host the different winter games is mandatory to ensure the best facilities are there for the event. The Canada Line connecting Vancouver, Richmond, and the Vancouver Airport is well underway that by the end of 2009 it will completed and readily available for the Winter Olympics. These are just a few of the many direct costs involved in this event. Opportunity costs are usually neglected during the course of the consideration. If we were to spend even only half of what China had for the Olympics, it would still be $23.5 billion. Those billions of dollars could be put further in use if they were funding different areas of the nation. More money could be spent on Health Care to reduce the death rates in Canada. Despite the lowering unemployment rates, more funds could be used to opening classes for those unemployed to upgrade their skills/knowledge.

Reflection
There are always two sides to a situation. Some people may look at hosting the Olympics as negative, that’s why numerous times we’ve had people graffiti the Olympics Countdown Clock that is located just outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. But a lot of citizens are excited about 2010 just as much as I am. Having the Winter Olympics in the Lower Mainland could be very exciting and hectic. The US as well as Canada is starting to fall into recession, so with 2010 in Vancouver, we might have that extra something to keep our province and perhaps nation going. While most of the other cities are suffering recession, Vancouver will have a lot of tourists which could lead to more revenue that is coming into our province. So in this situation, even if the opportunity cost and direct costs are high, it wouldn't affect us too much because the extra capital that comes with having 2010 in Vancouver will keep our city and province out of the crisis. With that said, I think the bid for Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics was a very intelligent choice.