[bsullivan01]

On top of my head: not all is lost. So if it costs $50 Billion, a lot of it is recouped via jobs, taxes, infrastructure that would have been built anyway, tourism etc. Some is lost but that's life. There's the "Made in Japan ...USA, China" brand and other geopolitical benefits as well. So money might be lost or it will be lost but so what? Greece has no business in doing them but Japan, China, USA, Russia and countries alike can afford to lose a (relatively) little bit of money for indirect benefits. Sometimes people buy a Lexus when a Toyota does the job just as well, or eat a $100 per head restaurant instead of a $7 Chinese buffet. Are they dumb?

Politicians also win, there's euphoria in Japan right now and those involved will see some benefits, just as those been seen during the opening ceremony, medals etc.

[psutor]

Although economically true these days, I found "Greece has no business in doing [the Olympics]" ironic.

[bsullivan01]

I meant to say that bigger countries can absorb a loss, smaller ones like Greece might even go down (at least faster) because of Olympic losses.