Thursday, January 23, 2014

Russia returns to Soviet spending habits for Sochi Olympics

In just a couple of weeks, the 2014 Winter Olympics will commence at the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Russia's southwestern border. At that point, an estimated $51 billion will have been spent on preparing the city and its surrounding area for the influx of athletes, spectators, and ongoing tourism that is expected to follow. Such grandeur of spending and development, argues The New York Times, hasn't been seen in Russia since the pre-Gorbachev days of the Soviet Union, and the catalyst behind it all is predictably enough the country's leader, Vladimir Putin.

By way of comparison, the Times cites China's summer olympiad in 2008 as the nearest competitor, coming in at roughly $40 billion, but the real eyebrow raiser is when you compare...

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