Dr. Doom on London Olympics: Total ‘Economic Failure’
- Posted on August 6, 2012 at 11:01pm by
Becket Adams
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If you’re anything like us, and we know we are, you were somewhat taken aback by the British press‘ overreaction to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s comments about London’s Olympic security preparations.
“The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials — that obviously is not something which is encouraging,” Romney said during an NBC News interview, adding that the reported security issues were “disconcerting.”
Not long after making these remarks, members of the British press flew into a rage, spilled tea all over themselves, did a monocle pop or two,* and declared the former Massachusetts Governor a gaffe-prone “twit.”
But if British sensitivities were damaged by Romney questioning whether London was prepared for the Olympics, they’re going to be absolutely shattered by what famed economist and market analyst Nouriel “Dr. Doom” Roubini had to say:
Total “economic failure,” huh?
“The Games … were meant to boost tourism in the United Kingdom and in London in particular with an extra million visitors a day, but many shopkeepers have reported a drop in activity,” CNBC’s Antonia van de Velde reports.
“Warnings of enormous pressure on the city’s public transport network and overcrowding in the city’s busiest districts prompted many Londoners to book holidays or work from home during the Games, while tourists have shunned the West End which contains many of London’s biggest attractions,” de Velde adds.
As his Tweets indicate, Roubini holds U.K. politicians responsible for the ghost town-like appearance of London. He believes they have scared everyone off.
“Research group Experian said the Olympics appear to have adversely affected the number of people visiting shops in West London, with decreases week-on-week and year-on-year of 11.65 percent and 12.40 percent respectively on the first Saturday of the Games,” CNBC adds.
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*We presume, of course.
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Comments (80)
garbagecanlogic
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:52pmI would have sworn up and down that Romney tried to tell them they were not quite prepared. Of course that was before the mayor london got hung up on the hi-line and looking like a bloody idiot.
Praise Be To Obama. Psalm 109:8
The U.S. Out Of The U.N.
Report Post »The U.N. Out Of The U.S.
turkey13
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 4:34pmI laughed my arse off when the mayor got stuck – 15 ft in the air. Same idiots insulted when Romney tried to give advice, but gave him the finger. These loones must have been community organizers.
Report Post »Here was a man that had to step in and did a great job and made a profit. If the Brits ever get the Olympics again they will probably put a businessman in control.
LukeJohn
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:49amThe main reason that the British press reacted so strongly is that he “hit a nerve” and they knew that he was right.
Report Post »MIBUGNU2
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 3:03pmThey drove all the American TWITS away.. Sorry UK !!
Report Post »Magyar
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:25amAll it took was watching 3 minutes of the Opening Ceremonies to SCARE ME away from London and the Olympics!
Romney was correct–this will prove to be a finacial disaster for the country and for Londoners!
Great work!
>>>Socialism at its best!<<<<
Report Post »StanO360
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 1:58pmNBC coverage has been horrible. They have been much better in the past.
Report Post »soybomb315_II
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 3:39pmRomney was not talking about a financial disaster…he was talking about an organizational and labor disastor – both of which have not occured
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on August 8, 2012 at 10:35amG4S was a labor disaster. The government had to fill holes with military troops. The government overpaid & got substandard service.
Report Post »gr29az
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:55amf the olympics. i haven’t watched a minute of them. too p c
Report Post »nosharia
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:45amThis state of the Olympics is “disconcerting.”
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:58amWho in their right mind would want to go to London unless you were born there. Security cameras everywhere-even in bathrooms, gov’t goons with machine guns walking around loose, EVERYONE is treated like a potential criminal/terrorist, no common sense anywhere, minorities have more rights than native born folks, political correctness flowing like projectile vomit, etc. etc. It is no wonder to me that the joint is deserted.
Report Post »HuskerDave
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:25amPoliticians who fight to bring the Olympics to their cities always use tourism as a selling point. The truth is that only two Olympics in the modern era have turned a profit, (Los Angeles in 1984 and Salt Lake City). Other than that – the cities are always left millions of dollars in the hole. It’s just so expensive to build all the extra facilities, hire all the consultants, security, etc. I’m sure the IOC is making bank off the television rights – but I doubt any of that money finds its way to the city government of London.
Report Post »TROONORTH
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:09amThe Olympics are an expensive and elitist form of entertainment that only the rich ( who don’t seem interested) or the connected ( liberal government drones) can afford to attend. As the games are funded by the tax payer and the inevitable debt assumed by that tax payer, it is time to stop these financial boon-doggles. If people who run, jump, swim and ride bicycles want to attend a huge event in their spandex costumes then let them raise the money to fund those games and stay out of the pockets of tax payers. It is an Olympian excess that out of work tax payers cannot afford.
Report Post »Kilmerfan
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:08amNo country has made money from the Olympics there is no money in it anymore. Even China lost money.
Report Post »HuskerDave
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:29amNot true. Two Olympics have turned a profit. Los Angeles in 1984 and Salt Lake City (Thank you Mitt Romney). It’s NOT a coincidence that these were American-held Olympics. Capitalism works.
Report Post »budzy1911
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:07amHuskerDave – quantify a profit. The venues may have made money but are you counting the billions of dollars the feds kick in to provide roads, safety, and just support? The olympics are like the Vikings. They descend upon a country, bleed it of its assets and then take off for the next target leaving the people of that country to pay off the bills and clean up the mess.
If the olympics never comes back to the US then we should celebrate.
Report Post »Kilmerfan
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:46amI did not know that Wow I guess made in America is the factor. I still have good memories about the 1984 Olympics.
Report Post »Safetymel
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:06pmBudzy1911 – So the roads were not there before the Olympics and the government built everything themselves??? Get a life. The Olympics were profitable in Salt Lake because people came and spent their money and paid taxes period end of story. If people don‘t come or if the government so overtaxes them that they don’t have any money, that is when it becomes UN profitable.
Report Post »Baja
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:00amWhat are the emasculated British blokes going to say when the UK becomes an Islamic republic in the the not too distant future?
Report Post »topperj
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:35amWhat, the Olympics are on again? Yawn.
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:02amI know, when they went to the 2-year intervals it took the majic out of it. When something is done for money only, not the spirit, you can see right through it like glass. It ruined it. All for $$$$. Pathetic.
Report Post »Jack of Hearts
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:22am@Mildot – don’t understand, the Olympics are every 4 years (it just seems more frequent)
Report Post »CLEttinger
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:56amSummer olypics and winter olympics alternating every 2 years.
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:06pmThat is what I am saying Jack. Every two years they milk some city and their citizens dry and leave them holding the bag. All for money. Winter/Summer blah blah blah. It is still every two years. Two years between soakings instead of 4. All for the money. Get it now?
Report Post »marybethelizabeth
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:08amAnother theblaze anti British story. It is not England’s fault that Mitt Romney is unprepared to be President. The British didn’t attack us. They reacted to a guy who no one likes that picked a fight.
Theblaze running anti-British stories just after declaring them our number one ally is
the same as Mr. Beck declaring “we’re all Catholics now” and then flooding the website with anti-catholic stories.
It’s all double speak. Theblaze, Mr.Beck, and his keys have no moral principles.
Report Post »marvlus
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:22amWhat? The truth hurts?
Report Post »yougottabekidding
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:29amAnybody that reads your posts say, “nobody can be that stupid”
Report Post »Yet here you are!
Jack of Hearts
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:31am@Marvlus
Report Post »If it did the Blaze would be harmless. No, lies can hurt – but not the inept sort this site uses.
RWCT
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:49amYes, of course, it is Americas’ fault. If it wasn’t for the U.S.A. the Brits would be goosestepping and saying Seig Heil! I am not an American, by the way, and have British/Euro roots.
Report Post »The ONLY ones who have success, are the organizers, who, many of, stuff their pockets[Athletes aside]
yougottabekidding
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:51amMeant for MB, JH is right there
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:06amEngland is one of the most totalitarian regimes on the planet. You have no privacy, no freedom of thought, no recourse, nothing but govt goons and cameras everywhere. That is not the fault of the USA. That is their fault. All that PC crap only 67 years after WWII. Geez.
Report Post »MIBUGNU2
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 3:26pm@Mary,Mary
Report Post »I think the Brit’s were a little UPATTY with Mitt…
Kinda’ like the AH in our White House today….
We’re all TWITS as far as these people are concerned..
linearnonlinear
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:07amI can tell you most Atlantan’s fled the city during the Olympics. Hotels in the mountains of Georgia, South Carolina and Asheville, NC area were full of people not wanting to be near the event.
Report Post »Individualism
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:38ampolice state repels tourism. they came to see the olympics and of course the town, not to see ugly cueball freaks armed to the gill to harass them and grope them.
Report Post »johnjamison
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 7:21amI thought that had already been established the olympic always end up costing way more to the tax payers than it makes in the private sector. The olympic in atalanta ended up costing tax payers over 2 billion when all was said and done. 5 times more than the revenue it brought to the city.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:47amJohnjamison, you’re absolutely correct and Atlanta was years before 9-11. It has to be way more costly now.
Report Post »Displacedsoutherner
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:04amI lived through the Olympic hype in Atlanta, dire warnings of 15 minute commutes taking 2 hours, requiring restaurants and stores to take their deliveries at 3 AM to avoid making the predicted traffic snarls worse…a ghost town except within a block or two of Olympic Park in the middle of downtown.
Restaurants were grossly over stocked for customers who never came, Olympic souvenir vendors who’d already been fleeced by the city with exorbitant stall rentals, that interestingly enough had to be paid in cash, sat idle and watched their life savings worth of inventory collect dust.
The whole Atlanta Olympic operation was an insider’s gold mine and a bust for virtually everyone else; sounds like London used the same planning guide with the added burden of post 9/11 concerns to keep even more people away.
Report Post »linearnonlinear
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:13amThe Utah Olympics were the last one’s to stay out of the red. Hummmm lets seeee….Why would that be….
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:23amSoutherner, I think they hired Bill Campbell as a consultant!
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:35amYou guys above are correct. It is just another form of a shakedown. The goons and their cronies get all the cash. The taxpayers are left to pay the bills. It’s just another scam on the people.
Report Post »MIBUGNU2
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 3:43pm@linearnonlinear
The Utah Olympics were the last one’s to stay out of the red. Hummmm lets seeee….Why would that be….
O’Blamer….” Romney Didn’t Build That” !!
Report Post »soybomb315_II
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 3:43pmspot on individualism…Nobody around here seems to understand that the heavy hand of the government repels freedom. There certain amount of police/military presence that becomes unatural in a free society….These olympics are proof of it
Report Post »Josh2007
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 2:08amSo what they’re saying is now would be a great time to visit?
Report Post »Sol Invictus
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:49amYes, a great time to visit the West End of London where visitor numbers have fallen. That’s of course because the Olympics are in the EAST end of London where there are several million visitors to the new venues which opened for the event. Love the made up Mickey Mouse economist – famed economist and market analyst Nouriel “Dr. Doom” Roubini – yeah, right.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:51amThe most popular new born boys name in Great Britian is……..Mohamhed. NUFF SAID…..LET’S PLEASE AVOID THAT HERE…………….thanks.
Report Post »Sol Invictus
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:46amNo, that Daily Mail story was a lie. The top name is Oliver, followed by Jack. Just out of interest Mohamed was 35th! Nice try though.
Report Post »Apple Bite
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:46amThe Queen was not very pleased during the opening ceremony.
Report Post »Get the hell off her lawn, you socialist pigs!
vtxphantom
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:42amMust be that socialized medicine that kept the people away
Report Post »Andy Cooper
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:10amSo Romney was right, how about that.
Report Post »sillyfreshness
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 1:21amYou’ll never hear about it in our “chosen people” controlled Marxist Media though.
Report Post »wynnsjammer
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 5:30amYes Andy, Romney was right but the “Main Stream Media” will never let anyone know that either.
Report Post »Want our country back
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 7:19amLogic tells me, they hate Conservatives, so given a choice of asking Mitt Romney, who actually turned around a failed olympics into a VERY successful one or asking BO who has never actually run a business and has ruined our economy, they would have asked BO out of spite. Sorry old boy, you deserve what you get. We still have a chance to vote for a successful man, a man who made his own fortune, a man who has lived an honorable life. GO MITT.
Report Post »saranda
Posted on August 8, 2012 at 5:57pmWhat has romney been right about? He said that London did not seem prepared…….no problems that I have beard of. He said the security did not appear enough……no problems as of today.
You cannot keep saying he was right whennothing he commented on has proven to be right.
Report Post »Verity58
Posted on August 6, 2012 at 11:51pmCouldn’t happen to a more deserving group, may the British Zionists reap what they have sown.
Report Post »vadale
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 7:50amBritish Zionists???? You guys are morons…Everything is the Jews fault right? JEWS, JEWS, JEWS. If it’s supposed to be the money grubbing jews doing everything, how come all we see is the jew hating socialists running all of Europe into the ground. You moron.
Report Post »RetiredAmericanNavyTaxpayer
Posted on August 6, 2012 at 11:46pmI say, old chaps, I believe you’ve shot yourself in the foot again.
Stiff upper lip and all that. You’ll do better next time.
Report Post »oicu814me2
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:06amRotflmao
Report Post »Sol Invictus
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:51amHey don’t give up the day job. Although from the picture, you could do Gabby Hayes impressions.
Report Post »RetiredAmericanNavyTaxpayer
Posted on August 8, 2012 at 12:29amGee, thanks SOL, my very first flame. Sorry if I don’t take offense and flame back but frankly, old fellow, your snide little reply was just sooo very amateurish and predictable. :-)
BTW, I stand by my original statement. Perhaps you misunderstood the context. Thanks to all the publicity about extremely heightened security to prevent terrorist attacks etc. many seats were not filled and tourists were avoiding England during the Games, resulting in the loss of many millions of £’s. The planning committee/government didn’t quite make a total hash of the whole thing but it could have been worse. That‘s what I’d call shooting ones-self in the foot.
Yes, I am keeping my day job (16 years and counting) as it’s actually fun as well as profitable. Hope you’ve having as much fun as I have.
I’ll pass on the Gabby Hayes schtick, not fun enough. However, the beard is part of the persona as the old fiddler, which earns me $2000 – 3000 a season in chump change playing with a Civil War band (note the Union cap). How unamerican, getting paid to have fun.
So, old chap, I’ll sign off with a smile and the reminder that your attempt at a flame left you S**t Outta Luck. :-p
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on August 6, 2012 at 11:28pmWhat if Dr Doom became a Democrat, would he be a Doom A$$?
Report Post »JACKTHETOAD
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 5:38amLOL! I wonder if Dr. Octopus is an independent.
Report Post »woodyl1011fl
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:36amDr. Doom is a democrat!! The letter “D” that identifies democrats as an operative or elected member of anything as well a member of the US Congress stands for what they truly are “Demonic, Demagogues, Deceivers, Death mongers, Doom makers, Diabolical liars, Destroyers, Deceitful and Dumb and Dumber.”
Report Post »loneindividual
Posted on August 6, 2012 at 11:28pmit’s all about exporting wealth by force.
Although I suspect Masons have been faced with an insurmountable task with saving the world.
Americans are not Promethean characters. They want each and every individual to discover the spark of their own soul and make their own fire. Why? Cuz slavery and human sacrifice results in any other case.
Report Post »handsmcml
Posted on August 6, 2012 at 11:23pmRomney was not the only one who said that London was not ready for Prime Time. He was also speaking from first hand experience. I am not surprised that London, with the exception of the Olympic tourists, is virtually a ghost town. If I lived there, I would not stay there during the Olympics.
Report Post »Chancellor
Posted on August 6, 2012 at 11:23pmMade your bed and your own people making you lay in it……….
But not unlike our Compulsive Liar in the WH you will never hear them admit they “Blew it”!
Report Post »Chancellor
Posted on August 6, 2012 at 11:21pmIt really sucks when your do stupid things Huh? England?
Funny how the British never get over themselves!
Report Post »subic
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:03amYo Limey’s, you guys aren’t as smart as you think you are. Why ya think we had to issue you tyrants a beatdown back in the day?
NBC sporting a brown nose is also an epic fail! They want that brit market bad & are selling us out to get it.
Report Post »Sol Invictus
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:54amSO glad we deported all the undesirables to the colonies. Pure jealousy after the disaster of the Atlanta games.
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:15pmYEah right SoL, we are jealous of Britain-haaaaa! You guys can’t even take a crap without a security camera looking up your ass. Don’t talk your British crap to us. You guys live in a dictorship and point your fingers at us like we are worse than you. Nobody is worse than the totalitarian regime in London. You don’t even have freedom of expression anymore. PC is flowing like projectile vomit from a drunk. Arresting people for daring to speak out about the minority and muslim invasion. It goes on and on. But, one shining star among the crap is your military. Truely brave professionals. The rest of you are mindless PC programmed serfs.
Report Post »Jack of Hearts
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:45pm@ Mil dolt
Report Post »Only in Beckworld dear, only in Beckworld.
rcguy
Posted on August 7, 2012 at 4:57amBrilliant!
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