I don't think staging the Olympics in Athens in 2004 brought Greece into bankruptcy but could be considered an illustration of why their economy went downward. Total debt of Greece is about $ 400 Billion and the Olympics which happened 6 years ago was estimated to cost only between $ 11 Billion to $ 15 Billion, which means less than 4% of total debt. It's government overspending and fiscal mismanagement which brought the small country to international headlines months back. Come to think of it, the city of Athens hasn't balanced a budget in 40 years. Even before the Olympics, public spending was rampant with the construction of feel good projects from light rail systems to new airports. The problem of Greece is what Spain, Portugal, Ireland is experiencing as well. Fortunately, they were bailed out by EU to the tune of almost US $ 1 Trillion. Iceland is already there.
Plus, since 1984 in Los Angeles, the Summer Olympics has been making a profit. Los Angeles, Seoul, Atlanta, Barcelona, Sydney, and Beijing which spent almost $ 43 Billion for the said Games. London in 2012 and Rio in 2016 will both make money. And also, the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is expected to be the most profitable ever with sponsors at this time already outnumbering that of South Africa. Brazil has so much new wealth right now, every luxury brand wants to enter the market from fashion to cars, from Prada to Ferrari. Luxury boutiques in New York right now makes it a point to have a Portugese speaking staff. Petrobras hasn't even drilled the billions of barrels of oil offshore yet. Rather do business in Brazil. Haven't even talk about the hottest women in South America yet.
