聽取這三項建議，一屆不賠錢的奧運會可以有嗎？

舉辦一場奧運會的成本至少要100億美元，實現(xiàn)盈利是不可能完成的任務嗎？倒也未必。

里約奧運如火如荼，每屆奧運成本花銷（the costs behind the Olympic Games）的討論不在少數(shù)。

經(jīng)濟學家羅伯特·巴德和維克托·馬西森進行了一個調(diào)查，得出以下數(shù)據(jù)（numbers are collated by economists Robert Baade and Victor Matheson）：

?Every host of the summer Olympics from Seoul in 1988 to Rio in 2016 has spent many billions of dollars on the games.

從1988年的首爾奧運會到2016年的里約奧運會，每一屆夏季奧運會的主辦方都在奧運會上投入了數(shù)十到數(shù)百億美元。

?The cheapest by some margin was Atlanta in 1996, which cost the equivalent of $3.6bn in today's money.

成本最低的一屆夏季奧運會是1996年亞特蘭大奧運會，花了相當于今天的36億美元。

?The most expensive was Beijing in 2008, a national vanity project that cost an astonishing $45bn.

最昂貴的一屆夏季奧運會是2008年北京奧運會，這個國家形象工程花費了驚人的450億美元。

?A reasonable assumption is that today it costs at least $10bn to host a summer Olympics—the last to be cheaper was Sydney in 2000.

合理的假設是，現(xiàn)在要舉辦一屆夏季奧運會至少要花100億美元——上一次成本低于100億美元的奧運會還是2000年悉尼奧運會。

Given likely costs of more than $10bn, an Olympic Games is all but guaranteed to lose money.A host city might expect roughly $4bn in revenue：$1bn from ticket sales, $1bn from sponsors, $1bn from local broadcast rights and $1bn as a share of the International Olympic Committee's global broadcast deals.

成本很可能超過100億美元，舉辦奧運會幾乎肯定是賠錢的。主辦城市也許可預期獲得差不多40億美元的收入：10億美元來自門票收入，10億美元來自贊助商，10億美元來自當?shù)剞D(zhuǎn)播權(quán)，10億美元來自國際奧委會（IOC）的全球轉(zhuǎn)播協(xié)議收入分成。

Fireworks are seen over the Maracana stadium in Rio during the opening ceremony

實現(xiàn)盈利是不可能完成的任務？到底如何能讓收支相抵呢？

除了“弄虛作假”（fudge them）外，英國《金融時報》專欄作家蒂姆·哈福德給出三項建議：

? First, make sure the games take place during a recession, so that the spending can boost aggregate demand.Rio did get this one right but, of course, nobody can forecast recessions eight months ahead of time, let alone eight years.

首先，確保在經(jīng)濟衰退時期舉辦奧運會，這樣舉辦奧運會的支出就能提振總需求。里約滿足這一點，但是，當然了，沒有人能夠提前8個月預測衰退，更不必說8年了。

? Second, be a hidden gem, so the games serve to spotlight your qualities and boost tourism for many years afterwards.Rio, London, Beijing, Athens and Sydney hardly qualify here but Barcelona did.

其次，想要舉辦一屆劃算的奧運會，舉辦城市必須是鮮為人知的寶地，這樣就能讓全世界看到這個城市的種種美妙之處，并在舉辦之后的許多年里持續(xù)提振當?shù)氐穆糜螛I(yè)。這一條里約、倫敦、北京、雅典和悉尼都基本不符合，巴塞羅那倒是符合。

National Stadium in Beijing

In 1990 the city was half as popular as Madrid with tourists but, by 2010, it had outstripped its rival.Utah, similarly, enjoyed greater success as a destination for skiers after the Salt Lake City winter games.

1990年巴塞羅那的旅游熱門度只有馬德里的一半，但到2010年，這座城市已經(jīng)超過了馬德里。類似的，在鹽湖城冬季奧運會之后，猶他州也吸引了更多滑雪者到來。

? Third, and most importantly, launch a cut-price bid in the wake of a disastrous games.Los Angeles in 1984 achieved the near-impossible and turned a profit because, after the ruinously expensive Montreal event of 1976, LA was the sole bidder for the games.They were hosted in the Los Angeles Coliseum, an ageing stadium that had been second-hand even when it first hosted the Olympics in 1932.

第三點，也是最重要的一點，在一屆災難性奧運會后削價申辦。1984年的洛杉磯奧運會完成了盈利這個近乎不可能的任務，就是因為在1976年蒙特利爾舉辦了一屆成本高昂得可怕的奧運會后，洛杉磯是那一屆奧運會唯一的申辦城市。那屆奧運會在洛杉磯紀念體育場中舉辦，那個年頭久遠的體育館即使是在1932年首次承辦奧運會的時候就已經(jīng)不是嶄新的了。

詞匯總結(jié)

aggregate demand總需求量;累積總需求

First, make sure the games take place during a recession, so that the spending can boost aggregate demand.

首先，確保在經(jīng)濟衰退時期舉辦奧運會，這樣舉辦奧運會的支出就能提振總需求。

all but幾乎， 差不多;除了…之外（都）

Given likely costs of more than $10bn, an Olympic Games is all but guaranteed to lose money.

成本很可能超過100億美元，舉辦奧運會幾乎肯定是賠錢的。

hidden gem隱藏的寶石；滄海遺珠

Second, be a hidden gem, so the games serve to spotlight your qualities and boost tourism for many years afterwards.

其次，想要舉辦一屆劃算的奧運會，舉辦城市必須是鮮為人知的寶地，這樣就能讓全世界看到這個城市的種種美妙之處，并在舉辦之后的許多年里持續(xù)提振當?shù)氐穆糜螛I(yè)。

outstrip[?a?t?str?p]

vt.超過，越過；優(yōu)于，勝于；做得比…更好；跑過，逃脫

In 1990 the city was half as popular as Madrid with tourists but, by 2010, it had outstripped its rival.1990年巴塞羅那的旅游熱門度只有馬德里的一半，但到2010年，這座城市已經(jīng)超過了馬德里。