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The Economic Impact Of The Olympic Games Essays

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The Economic Impact of the Olympic Games
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With the Olympic games being held in Sydney this year, I wondered if perhaps the performance of the economy was being affected in part by the fiscal stimulus provided by Olympic construction in Sydney and other parts of the country. Australia’s economy has been performing well recently, suggesting that there might be some effect. Over the last five years, growth in Australia’s gross domestic product has averaged 4.35%, almost a full point above it’s thirty year annual average of 3.5%, and the unemployment rate is near a ten year low. According to one estimate, the Olympics will tack on an additional six and a half billion dollars, about 1.6% of the GDP, to Australia’s GDP over the …show more content…

This is estimated to generate an additional two and a half billion dollars in tourism exports (Arthur Anderson/CREA,1999, p 2). The Olympic games have also provided an important boost to employment. The Olympic Co-ordination Authority(OCA) estimates that more than 35,000 people have worked on Olympic Co-ordination Authority construction sites since the first project at Homebush Bay was started. It is estimated that since the Olympic Co-ordination Authority was formed in 1995, over twelve and a half million hours have been worked on Olympic related projects. There will also be multiplier effects. According to the Olympic Co-ordination Authority, every job created on a construction site created two more off site for suppliers, material producers and transport workers. (Olympic Co-ordination Authority,1999, p5.) The Olympics also boosted North South Wales’ employment by 5,300 in an average year of the 12 years representing the Olympic period. In addition 2,200 jobs were created outside North South Wales over the same period (Arthur Anderson/CREA, 1999, p3).
It is also important to highlight the indirect benefits that

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