To each his own, but I respectfully disagree: Remember how the depression was eventually overcome? By the government creating all kinds of projects for the people to do. A pro Chicago decision would have a similar effect in that it would create lots of jobs for all kinds of people to get on with the construction and improvements of the existing infrastructure. I attended a convention of professional project managers this week and they were all psyched about the prospect of getting the Olympics. Not that they were such sports fans, but they clearly understood the immense amount of work coming to our city. Granted the timing is a bit off with the decision only in October, but make no mistake, this will be a tidal wave of projects and jobs coming into the city. And it will go on at least until the games are over in 2016 and by then even the worst pessimists no longer see our country in a recession.
And who/what caused the 'Great Depression'? We're on the verge of an even greater one now. And so far no federal work projects to give people jobs as was the case during the Depression. Is the 800 billion or so bailout that Obama is proposing really going to help the little guy?
Bit of a loaded question, don't you think. The short answer is lack of a governmental finance policy. It was the Great Depression that jump started the great economic thinkers like Keynes and develop economic models and monetary policies. One of the reason why we will not have a great depression again. We were on the verge of having one when the financial system was about to collapse, but thanks to George W (who screwed up a lot in his 8 years, but was formidable in 2008) the 700 million bailout averted that. It is intended to. Obama is also working on his tax cut (as promised in the campaign) and the numbers I have seen would really only help the little guy. But We're drifting off the topic faster than an Airbus down the Hudson.
Not really,all these bailouts $$ are coming from taxpayers after all so it's all related to the original thread title ,isn't it?
Obama's tax cut is not a cut but a further redistribution of wealth. When you cut taxes for those who do not pay taxes it will not stimulate the economy. According to the IRS the top 50% of tax filers accounted for 94% of all income taxes. So if you give a "tax" refund to everyone, including those who filed a tax return but did not pay any taxes it is income redistribution. The massive government spending in infrastructure, pet projects and redistribution will not work this time, as it did not work with Roosevelt. The US finally shook off the great depression because of World War II. Also the Bush bailout has not really worked. Banks have not loaned all of those funds because they were needed to meet required capital requirements. As loans get downgraded, banks are required to increase their capital reserves. Banks are buying other banks because it is cheaper to buy assets (loans) already discounted than to make the loans themselves. When you can get a commercila bank loan, the bank is charging a "liquidity premium" (we have heard 150 basis points) for loans over 3 years! This is yet another example how we do not want the government further taking control of business. It just does not work, no planned economy has every worked. The free market cannot be managed by politicians. If it could Russia and China would not have changed.
Gerry..How ya doin? Your comments are spot on IMO, but too late as we now have Dems in power and their mantra is "government knows best". The solution to every problem is more $$$. I think we are in for a wild ride and anyone with just a bit of business-economic savey will be fine. Cheers!
Back on topic now: IMO I would rather see my taxes go to the Olympics instead of Springfield spending them on give-away programs. If Illinois is going to get into deeper debt, might as well do it with the Olympics. In the end, Chicago will build more modern and long needed public transportation and revitalize the shore.
Finally somebody else sees the light. A makeover of the CTA subway would be a nice addition. Anybody who ever travelled in a Euro subway must be embarrassed about our own system. I once wanted to take some pictures, but CTA personnel stopped me. I guess they were afraid I could show them to the world. The decision has already been made months ago about building the Olympic Village south of McCormick. This will eventually become some nice real estate right on the Lake front. The harbor will get expanded, which will offer lots more anchor places after the games. And then there is the new main stadium seating something like 80k spectators.
Doin good. Almost finished with replacing all of my fuel lines, fuel pump, accumulator, and fuel filter. A few issues still need to be solved. Next is a brake flush, oil change and replacing my brake hardware. Hope to be all done in about a month.
Yep, waiting on my fuel hoses to show up. Also plan on looking at the coolant thermostat. I think it opens way too early (160F). Now back to the regullarly scheduled thread topic.......
I don't think so. I saw only a conceptual drawing and that looked rather permanent. It is near the current United Center.
I love Chicago and this was a great post. That said, I could do without the Olympics coming here just because I personally don't find the games all that relevant in the sporting world. Now if we could get F1 to come out here and race on LSD that would get me excited.
I guess it all depends on somebody's definition of a "relevant sport". But the Olympics have two strong arguments for them: a) World records are often established during the Olympics b) The Olympics are THE most watched sporting event on the planet. F1 is the only sport that beats TV viewership of the Olympics during the 3 years the games aren't on. So you're not that far off with your comparison.
Yeah it's really a subjective thing. Baseball is gone from the Olympics and that's a huge part of American sports, even more so in Chicago where we have two MLB teams (though the IOC can still bring it back for 2016). In Chicago our sports teams have incredible followings that would be equal/greater than the followings of the Olympics by other countries so I really don't mind if Chicago gets passed. Now I can't stop thinking about Hamilton (Fcar driver by that time) racing downtown, I'd gladly pay more taxes to see that.
That would be nice,as long as they would race Hummers or Baja type race trucks ,since F1 cars would not make even a 100 feet on our wonderfully smooth Chicago streets.....
And quite frankly I'm happy it is gone. There are a few other sports that shouldn't be part of the Olympics too: Basketball, tennis and soccer come to mind (there are more). I'm no fan of sports in the Olympics that aren't truly global (how many more nations play e.g. baseball on a really competitive level?) and of sports that have already their own established venues (like World Cup Soccer). Part of the idea in the Olympics is to see sports and athletes from around the world competing in events you normally would not have any exposure to. PS: Welcome to Ferrarichat! You sure are right about F1 being a no go for Chicago, but I always fantasized about an IRL/CART race on LSD. Never gonna happen, but would have been neat. BTW: They fixed Northern LSD last summer and it is better than ever. All I care about...
I may not be fully up to the minute on this, but as I understood it, the stadium was to be a temporary affair with demountable grandstands enclosed by a fabric scrim onto which superscale video images would be projected to give it "pizazz" from the exterior. (Imagine mega bleachers, sort of like the Northwest Vista seating area at Indy) All toilets and concessions are to be outside the stadium in clusters in the surrounding park. After the games the thing is to be dismantled and replaced with a 10,000 seat permanent venue. Again, I may be wrong.
I think you are right. I read a blurb about it last week and they did mention the projected video images. There was an artist's rendering and it looked permanently to me (what probably was fabric), but I thought the same thing when I saw the buildings of the Chicago World Exposition.
But the Great Depression led up to WWII. A lot of the works projects fed the war effort and utilized a diminished labor pool due to the number of soldiers enlisted. Also, it's 2009. If we're still in need of a recovery program 5 years from now, we'll have bigger fish to fry than the Olympic Games. They're psyched because they're drooling over the prospect of jamming their hands in the cookie jar. Olympic construction in Chicago will reset the bar on corruption, patronage and general pay-to-play dealings. And as far as the "common man", the Games would actually displace most people like that. Tickets are pricey, the town crowded and prices over-inflated.
Good point on sports with established world championships, baseball now has the World Baseball Classic and I think the NHL players are pulling out of the next winter Olympics to setup a similar world cup style tournament. That said, I think the Olympics are also about watching the best amateur athletes perform which is what you saw back in the 80s with basketball and hockey. An amateur going for gold is probably more motivated to perform than a pro with a eight figure bank account. As for F1 in Chicago, theoretically couldn't we use the $$$ from the Olympic bid and do some road work? I have no idea what the cost is to setup a street course in the city but would it be more than bidding stadiums?
That gets rid of the winter olympics altogether. No sports, except for maybe track and field and swimming, are truly global.
We'll get the games in October, that's the starting point for many of the projects. Not in 5 years. First I haven't seen any pricing yet, so I'm surprised you make that comment. And AFAIK play off games for any of the Chicago home teams aren't that cheap either. I don't buy the "common man" argument, just look towards Washington now and tell me how those common men and women got there? And we're in a recession right now. 2016 we're way out of it. You heard of the Jamaican bob sled team, right? If you define truly global as "done by every nation participating in the Games" then you're right. I define it as "done by a majority of countries". Sports like Baseball or Basketball are done by a handful of countries and IMHO shouldn't be part of the Games. Why else is the gold medal for the US basketball team a foregone conclusion or a major disaster if it doesn't happen? F1 doesn't happen in Chicago NOT because of the street surfaces. That could be easily fixed. But there are a dozen reasons for why it will never happen here. For starters I recommend you look up the discussions we had on FChat for why ANY USGP is a pipe dream right now.
My 05 World Series tickets were expensive and that was only for the upper deck, I can't imagine but a few events garnering more than half the price I paid. Sounds enticing, do you have a thread title or link to anything specific?
In a nutshell, if Obama's economic plans go through, and as an aside Chicago gets the Olympics, we are doomed to statewide bankruptcy(if not nationwide bankruptcy). Think about it!
