Massacres and Profits: A Brief History of the Olympics
Filed under: Control, Corporate Crimes, Corruption, Financial, Winter Olympics 2010
Source: no2010.com -
Those who promote the Olympics are interested in power, prestige and profit.
Developers and construction companies stand to benefit from the public money spent on road construction and new sports facilities. Politicians get to preside over a large-scale spectacle. But what will the rest of us get from the [three-year] lead up to the Olympics? What will be the real legacy of the Olympic games?
Politicians and business leaders are quick to promise that the Olympics will not lose money, and that people will not be pushed out of their homes by rent increases, but we can see from the experience of other cities that these promises have not panned out — they are simply a strategy to try to co-opt those opposed to the Games. Read more
Olympics, Inc: $6 Billion for the International Olympic Committee and years of loss for the cities
Source: Business Insider.com -
Hundreds of thousands of people have descended on Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Three billion are projected to follow on TV and 75 million more on vancouver2010.com.
And people around the world are learning to love obscure sports like curling and biathlon for a couple of weeks.
But before you get too caught up in the sports, remember that the Olympics have little to do with sports. They’re mostly about money. Read more
DATA SNAP:US Jan Jobless Rate Falls To 9.7%; Payrolls -20K
Source: NASDAQ
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly declined in January, but the economy continued to shed jobs and revisions painted a bleaker picture for 2009, casting doubt over the labor market’s strength.
The unemployment rate, calculated using a household survey, fell to 9.7% last month from an unrevised 10% in December, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast the jobless rate would edge higher to 10.1%. Read more
Surprise rise in US job losses
Source: BBC News
US employers unexpectedly cut 85,000 jobs in December, but the unemployment rate held steady at 10%, official figures have shown. The number of job losses was surprising, particularly after November’s figures had been revised. The US Labor Department had initially estimated that 11,000 jobs were cut in November, but now says that the economy had in fact added 4,000 jobs. Read more
Federal Reserve makes record $52.1bn profit
Source: BBC News
The Federal Reserve made a profit of $52.1bn (£32.2bn) in 2009, a rise of 47% over the previous year. The sum allowed the central bank to pay a record $46.1bn to the US Treasury last year. That was the largest amount ever paid by the central bank since its creation in 1914. Read more


