[joemaffei]

"a disgruntled populace just wants it all to go away." The same thing happened in Brazil. Back to back Olympics and World Cup, billions spent on single-purpose, once-used infrastructure, while the economy was in shambles. No one but the government wanted any of it - okay, maybe the World Cup, but definitely not the Olympics.

[salt-thrower]

Doesn’t this happen in almost every country that hosts the Olympics? If my city were proposed as a site for the games I would oppose it as much as possible.

[pasabagi]

In England, everybody remembers it as a success.

I was actually living in London at the time, and I remember it being pretty shambolic (the buildings weren't ever finished, for example), but if you have your national media on side, I think Olympics can work for you. Hardly anybody actually goes to the event itself, so public perception is basically dependent just on how critical the media is.

It also worked out well for China.

[petermcneeley]

The poor complain; they always do But that’s just idle chatter Our system brings reward to all At least all those who matter.