Analyzing the Pros and Cons of the upcoming Paris Olympics!
The 2024 Olympic games will be held in Paris this summer. They are a long held tradition, all the way from 1806 in Athens and it is a prestigious event. Therefore, the hosting countries will pour high investments into the organization process. This includes new infrastructure for certain sports, such as stadiums, swimming pools, and in Paris’s case, the River Seine cleanup effort. However, there are also positives to hosting the games, such as employment opportunities, tourism and a general boost to the economy as spending will be increased in France. It is predicted that France will make a revenue of €10.7bn according to the Centre for Law and Economics of Sport (CDES) at the University of Limoges.
The Costs:
Opportunity cost
The costs for the French government for hosting the Olympics including the Solideo budget reached €8.8bn. Although the revenue is predicted to reach €10.7bn it is still uncertain, as well as in most cases for hosting countries the revenue generated is less than the investment and it goes towards maintaining the new infrastructure. For instance, for the winter olympic games (2014) in Sochi, the Russian government built new infrastructure that currently requires a $1bn annual payment to maintain it. The rather large cost can be put to, arguably, more relevant and urgent matters. Citizens in Paris are struggling with high costs of living. A 1-bedroom apartment can average between 1 000 € – 3 000 € per month. Assuming the average income before taxes is equal to GDP per capita, which is €65,000, then after taxes the average annual net income is €40,000, or €3,500 a month. Comparing this to rent, it is clear that there is a cost of living crisis, and with rising inflation, it is unlikely to improve.
Burden to the residents
A large number of people from all over the world will be traveling to Paris, meaning there will be traffic, congestion and possibly a short-term increase in crime rates. Traffic and congestion will not only damage the environment by causing air and noise pollution, bur residents will be late to work and it will result in less output produced by firms, meaning they will generate less revenue. The traffic may also cause other inconveniences, like late deliveries of supplies required for the primary and secondary sectors whether it is machinery parts, building materials or other raw materials. In fact, traffic is expected to be congested to the point that the Paris region president Valerie Pecresse recommended locals to work online during the period. Apart from this, building new infrastructure in a city means destroying established urban areas. When that happens, local populations and communities are often dispersed and displaced causing discomfort and a violation of peoples’ rights.
Environmental damage
Everything about the Olympics will cause environmental damage. Increased flights, car rides, and construction itself contributes to air pollution. For instance, the last two summer Olympic games were held in Tokyo, Japan and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They released more than 2.7 million and 4.5 million tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, respectively, which is equivalent to a total of 28.8 million hours of commercial flights. The pollution currently in Paris is 269.2 million metric tons (in CO2 emissions) in 2022 and with all the contributing factors above, it’s not predicted to improve. Additionally, the traffic will cause noise pollution.
The Benefits:
Economic Stimulus:
Hosting the Olympics can provide a significant boost to the local Parisian economy, generating revenue from tourism, hospitality, and retail sectors. The hospitality and housing sectors will largely benefit from the games as some hotels might specialize in catering for the influx of tourists and housing will also be built for the athletes to stay in, like in Beijing (2008). This will create a significant amount of employment in Paris which helps the 7.4% unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2023. More employment means more people are receiving wages, and they will spend their disposable income which will boost the economy. Furthermore, the government will receive more tax revenue as the working population increases. The investments can be used to subsidize local businesses, improve public education and healthcare. They can also be used to target environmental damage, by investing in public transport, for example.
Infrastructure Legacy:
The housing, the stadiums, and the clean river Seine can be utilized long after the Olympics. French athletes will be able to enjoy their training at specialized facilities and these opportunities will improve the sports industry, which will improve culture in sports and build a stronger national identity. The clean river Seine will allow Parisians to swim in the river for years to come, an increasingly desirable feature considering rising summer temperatures.
In conclusion, a more weighted opinion for the economic aspect, would be that hosting the Olympic games would be a disadvantage for Paris as the city by itself is already struggling from high unemployment rates, a slowing economy, extreme costs of living, and there is enough tourism as is. The benefits discussed above are mostly theoretical and are just predictions, or aren’t applicable in Paris’ case, like improving democratic relations, foreign investments, and especially increasing global exposure. Whereas the disadvantages can be deduced from trends of previous Olympic events and are more “real”. Therefore, unfortunately a prestigious event such as this has costs exceeding the benefits by a large scale.
Thank you for reading this article!
Here are the resources used:
-Paris 2024: Does hosting the Olympics boost the economy? | Euronews
-Paris 2024 Olympics: A Greenwashing Nightmare or a Genuine Effort to Save the Planet? - Earth Day
-Olympics Hosting - Pros & Cons - ProCon.org
-France: carbon dioxide emissions 1970-2022 | Statista
-Paris 2024 Olympic Games budget remains balanced - Luxus Plus
Written by Darina Utemuratova | Proofread by Amina Meiirkhan
