Curriculum The Economics of Mega-Events
The Economics of Mega-Events
Are Olympics, World Cups and summits worth hosting? What makes a mega-event, the winner's curse of bidding, why budgets explode, white elephant stadiums, Delhi's 2010 Commonwealth Games, Barcelona's success, Qatar's spending, tourism crowding-out, infrastructure legacies, India's Olympic ambitions and hosting the G20.
- What Makes a Mega-Event? What counts as a mega-event, why cities and countries compete to host them, and the promised benefits versus the typical economic evidence. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Winner's Curse of Bidding How competitive bidding to host events leads the winning city to overpay, and how the IOC changed its bidding process after cities withdrew. 📄 Read-aloud
- Why Olympic Budgets Explode How research found every Olympics since 1960 exceeded its budget, why mega-projects overrun, and the planning fallacy behind it. 📄 Read-aloud
- White Elephant Stadiums How stadiums built for mega-events often sit unused afterwards, the costs of maintaining them, and examples from Athens, Rio and South Africa. 📄 Read-aloud
- The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi How Delhi's 2010 Commonwealth Games faced huge cost increases, delays and corruption scandals, and what infrastructure legacy the city gained. 📄 Read-aloud
- Barcelona 1992: When Hosting Worked How Barcelona used the 1992 Olympics to transform its waterfront and become a tourism hub, and why its success is hard to copy. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Economics of Mega-Events: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on mega-events, the winner's curse, budget overruns, white elephants and Delhi 2010. 5 questions
- Qatar's World Cup Spending How Qatar spent vast sums on infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, the migrant worker controversy, and whether the spending achieved its goals. 📄 Read-aloud
- Do Mega-Events Boost Tourism? Why mega-events often bring fewer extra visitors than expected because regular tourists stay away, and what the evidence from London 2012 and others shows. 📄 Read-aloud
- Infrastructure Legacy: Metros and Airports How mega-events can speed up useful infrastructure through fixed deadlines, and why the value depends on whether projects serve long-term needs. 📄 Read-aloud
- India's Olympic Ambitions Why India is seeking to host the 2036 Olympics with Ahmedabad as the proposed host city, the costs and benefits, and the questions critics raise. 📄 Read-aloud
- Diplomatic Mega-Events: Hosting the G20 How India's 2023 G20 presidency held meetings across many cities, what it cost, and how summits create different benefits from sports events. 📄 Read-aloud
- Should Cities Host Mega-Events? A checklist for judging whether hosting a mega-event makes sense, and a recap of the module. 📄 Read-aloud