A boost in tourism is meant to be one of the big bonuses of hosting the Olympics. There is never any shortage of pre-games rhetoric about the bounties – generally packaged as “Olympic legacies” – that the mega-event will bring hopeful cities and their governments. But Rio 2016, as with London 2012 and others before it, has shown that the reality rarely lives up to the promises.
On the eve of the Rio Olympic Games, host Brazil is struggling through one of the deepest crises in its history. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. In 2009, when the 2016 Games were awarded to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was on a roll.
Most of the headlines in recent weeks have focused on Brazil’s troubling political crisis. However, the country is also in the midst of a deep economic recession. The economy has been shrinking since the second quarter of 2014. It contracted by 3.8 percent in 2015 and is expected to shrink by a similar amount this year.
“Brazil’s young democracy is being subjected to a coup,” said Dilma Rousseff after the Senate on May 12 voted 55 to 22 to remove her as president and move forward with impeachment.
Is this really a coup, as Rousseff and her supporters believe? Coups usually entail the violent overthrow of a government or a trampling of constitutional rules and procedures. In Brazil, there has been no involvement by the military other than to keep the peace.
According to a report from Moody’s Investor Service, the Summer Olympics will yield some short-term economic benefits to Brazil, but little overall value in the long-term, as CNN Money reports.
The South American nation suffers through an ailing economy, while contending with a Zika threat that could spread as visitors from around the world congregate. Brazil spent over $7 billion in infrastructure projects in preparation of the Olympics.
While international media focuses on Brazil’s mass demonstrations against corruption, efforts behind the façade precipitate regime change, restoration of a pre-Lula order, and a struggle against the BRICS nations. The U.S. feels threatened by an era of multipolarity, which deeply implicates China, and other emerging economies.
In August 2016, Rio de Janeiro should host South America’s first-ever Olympic games, which were supposed to be its great coming out carnival, even amid campaigns against the Zika virus.
Compared to China or India, Brazil is a relatively small player in development aid. Yet it has managed to make a mark in Africa and globally, especially under the leadership of charismatic Lula da Silva.
From 2003 to 2010, Lula led an unprecedented shift in the country’s foreign policy towards the global South. He also helped elevate Brazil to the status of a global player.
Only a few years ago, Brazil exemplified the BRIC dream of rapid growth. Now it is coping with its longest recession, loss of confidence, possibly a lost decade. Dan Steinbock explains what happened, and how and when Brazil could restore to its growth.
In summer 2016, Rio de Janeiro shall host South America’s first-ever Olympic games, which were supposed to be a great coming out carnival. However, dark clouds hover over Brazil’s growth miracle.
Recent data suggests that Brazil’s economy contracted for the tenth consecutive month in December, and Standard & Poor downgraded the South American nation’s credit rating further below junk status, according to the New York Times. Brazil has suffered from lower commodity prices, including mismanagement on the part of President Dilma Rousseff, and a loss in investor confidence. Experts believe the country will shrink 3.0 percent in 2016.
Predictions are that as many as 4m people in the Americas could become infected with Zika virus this year. While the virus only causes mild symptoms in adults, it is suspected to have been behind a big increase in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads. The human cost of what is happening in Brazil is clear and undeniable. However, with carnival and the Rio Olympics looming, what of the economic costs of the virus?
To get a sense of how damaging Zika will be to the prosperity of these regions, we can compare its effects with those of other recent outbreaks.
