Brazil’s to Do List

Brazil will host the World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016. The cost of building the infrastructure to support both events is expected to be astronomical—over $31 billion for both events. Moreover, the history of mega sports events indicates that the costs are hard to recover. Brazil needs to develop its infrastructure, which may not benefit from spending that kind of money on sports. In addition, says this sobering report: “…the biggest concern for Brazil is beginning and finishing the myriad construction projects that were part of the World Cup and Olympics bid proposals. The obstacles are severe:…labor shortages, bureaucratic encumbrances, political corruption, legal entrapments, insufficient funds, incompetence, and inadequate infrastructure.”

http://www.americasquarterly.org/zimbalist