The Economic Impacts of Major Sporting Events Essay

The Economic Impacts of Major Sporting Events - Essay Example There are disagreements as well about the relevant economic factors that should be included in the measurements. This paper presents three extensively criticised, but widely used, models of economic impact analysis, namely, (1) social value, (2) economic multipliers, and (3) input-output paradigm. In order to explain the arguments more clearly the discussion includes research findings or case studies on previous sporting events, such as the World Cup and Olympics. Introduction Several economists observe sizeable economic gains from events occurring from the incentives they confer to businesses. State funding of sporting events, though they are unstable, is usually rationalised by the argument that the events generate economic gains for the areas, where in they are held, but that these gains are not completely supported by the economic feasibility of the event itself (Hall 1994). The financial evaluation of the effect of sporting events on the economy is at the root of contentious dis agreements among economists. According to Dwyer and colleagues (2005), arguments put emphasis at the same time on what should be assessed or calculated, and on the best technique for analysing the economic impacts of large-scale sporting events on the community that hosted it. It appears that there is frequently uncertainty between the economic productivity and economic effect of major sporting events. ... The Nature and Economy of Sporting Events Sporting event as a sector of the economy is huge. In the United States, sport was one of its biggest industries in 1995. Moreover, in 1996, the sport sector was measured to be around $100 billion annually, and forecasted to be worth $139 billion by 2000. In 1997, soccer was measured to be $10 billion in Europe (Forster & Pope 2004, 1). This appears likely to be a stark miscalculation when very few associations separately yield roughly $100 million yearly. In 1995, the British Sports Council calculated that it comprises 2.5% of global trade. This number comprises intangibles like royalties and revenues and physical commodities like facilities. There are additional statistics, all inherently incongruent (Forster & Pope 2004, 1). Sporting events yield roughly 1% of local ‘value-added’ and around 1 ?% of employment in the UK. The US Tennis Open in 2000 produced $699 million to the economy of New York (Forster & Pope 2004, 2). Howeve r, the dilemma is that these statistics merely provide peeks of different components of sport. According to Statistics Canada (Forster & Pope 2004, 2): ... the amount of sport data currently available is insufficient to provide a comprehensive profile of the nature, benefits and value of sport... the data that are available are difficult to compare due to conceptual and definitional differences. Sporting events are a branch of what is termed the ‘weightless economy’. For several grounds that are in conflict material physical production has dropped substantially as GDP percentage across the globe—thus the concept of ‘weightless economy’ (Shin 2010, 105). Alan Greenspan focused on the IT sector but a broad transition from

Humorous Wedding Speech Delivered at a Golf Club :: Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Humorous Wedding Speech Delivered at a Golf Club Firstly, I would like to thank Nick for his kind words on behalf of the bridesmaids and anyone else he mentioned. While I’m on the subject of gratitude, thanks also to Elite Golf Club and all the workers for a wonderful spread. Any chance of a golf membership? Laughter Before getting into things, I must say what a truly wonderful wedding it's been so far. Pretty church, glamorous cars, glorious flowers, magnificent food, a beautiful bride and an average groom. Naturally, Nick didn’t want any of this expense though. Being an accountant, his original idea for the dinner today was to pick up several family buckets from Kentucky Fried Chicken. He also suggested to Shimona that they have the ceremony at the PB garage to save on a camera man. But Nick's really quite well off you know, but this is the closest you’ll get to him boasting about it. In fact, you could spend the whole night in the pub with him and not realize he has a penny to his name. I don't know if you have noticed, but Nick has had actually had his suit specially designed for today, featuring shortened arms and extra-deep pockets. Laughter That’s the last of the accountant jokes †¦ I think the facts speak for themselves. In any case, I don’t think it’s valid to bunch all accountants into stereotypes †¦ Nick, for example, is a monotype! And I first met him at a party one New Years Eve, where a game was organized that required us to pair up and get into teams. Wanting to win the prize of four cans of lager - quite a trophy when you were sixteen - I approached the most athletic and intelligent guy there. But Keith Fletcher was already paired up, so I had to settle for Nick. And no, we didn't win the lager, but it didn't stop us from being pals ever since. He’ll be the first to admit that he’s never been the sportiest of blokes as doing any form of exercise seems to bring on a headache. But he does enjoy the odd game of badminton and is very keen on football, rather than play though, he prefers to stay in and watch games on the telly (TV). He loves watching the soap operas as well. In fact, if it wasn't for Emmerdale he’d hardly get any fresh air at all.

Frankenstein and Blade Runner Essay

Blade Runner’s Eldon Tyrell proclaims the company’s motto as ‘more human than human’. How has the notion of humanity been explored in Frankenstein and Blade Runner? Thesis: The nature of humanity is progression, when we progress too far we play God and lose basic traits of humanity. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein draws on concerns from the romantics era to illustrate the instinctive and greedy appetite for progression that is part of the nature of humanity. Furthermore Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner touches on Shelley’s notions of danger in human enterprise and the uncontrollable drive of scientific evolution. These texts critically inquire into the follies of greed, and moral corruption. Despite there being over 150 years between their compositions these texts similarly represent the consequences of playing God, and in turn the loss of humanity that goes with it. The common thematic concerns of these texts are explored through the use of camera angles, imagery, tone and metaphor. Both Frankenstein and Blade Runner portray how the ambition to break through human limitations in an act to play God is bound to result in failure. The religious imagery used when Frankenstein grants the â€Å"spark of life† upon the Creature in his effort to â€Å"pour a torrent of light into our dark world† helps us come to the conclusion that the Creature is the very embodiment of the monstrosity that humans are capable of creating. The metaphor of light in, â€Å"until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me† conveys Victor’s instinctive awakening to the possibility of creating a perfect being impervious to diseases. Such an unmentionable act trespasses the realm of the godlike providence, signifying the beginning of Frankenstein’s blindness. He is quick to realise that he has created a monster, as shown by the regretful tone in, â€Å"I beheld the wretch – the miserable monster whom I had created. † This depicts that untamed human ambition can lead to the inadvertent creation of the ‘grotesque’ when playing a human God. Similarly in Blade Runner, the dystopian world demonstrates the aftermath of humanity’s desire to create a better society when playing God. The opening panoramic shot portrays a decaying city dominated by industrial buildings. This decaying city works in conjunction with the recurring motif of artificial neon lighting and eerie sounds to create a cold dark ambience. Blade Runner’s shadowy atmosphere is symbolic of the lack of warmth, affection and family which has been created by the human need of progression. Such technological defeat indicates humanity has gone too far, resulting in complete destruction of nature. Furthermore Tyrell’s malicious need for god like power over the replicants he creates is shown when he states â€Å"If we gift them with a past, we create a cushion or a pillow for their emotions, and consequently, we can control them better. † The incessant need for supremacy displayed depicts an obvious intention to play God and appropriately, the human beings in this alternate future seem artificial and lacking humanity. Both texts warn the audience about the dangers of human ambition to progress in science which holds the capacity for not only devastating the environment but also humanity itself. The two texts comment on mankind’s loss of humanity. Shelley depicts this theme through the dichotomy between the creature and Victor, his creator. The creature is able to show basic human instincts as it relates to â€Å"the pleasant showers and genial warmth† of nature on it’s pilgrimage through the wilderness. In contrast, Victor shows â€Å"insensibility to (natures) charms† while creating the creature by containing himself in a â€Å"deep dark deathlike solitude†, this alliteration is metaphoric of Victor’s inability to relate to nature and display basic human qualities which the creature can. This directly relates to the romantic era, when Shelley wrote Frankenstein and that the appreciation of nature was considered inseparable from the human experience. Therefore, this dichotomy is metaphoric of mankind’s loss of humanity. Scott reinforces mankind’s loss of humanity through the execution of the Tyrell Corporations motto â€Å"more human than human. † The loss of humanity can be seen in the contrast between replicants and humans. Pris is wearing a bridal gown while hiding from Deckard; this is metaphoric of the replicants ability to feel emotions of love and familial belonging, a basic human instinct which the humans of this world are unable to feel. J. F Sebastian’s ironic dialogue â€Å"I make friends, they’re toys, my friends are toys† shows that humans no longer have real families and have lost the ability to develop relationships naturally. Contrasted again by Batty’s howl of pain at the death of Pris, this is symbolic of the familial bonds and relationships formed between replicants. Not only does this comparison establish the motto â€Å"more human than human† as a truism, it is symbolic of Scott building upon Shelley’s original depiction of mankind’s loss of humanity thus reinforcing her warning against the amoral pursuit of science and technology. Shelley and Scott draw upon the concerns of their times; the characters warn us that overstepping our boundaries and unrestrained scientific advancement comes with a consequence. The texts critically inquire into the human ability to commit monstrous deeds in the name of ‘progression’. It is evident that despite their contextual differences, both texts are linked through their common concerns about our inherent readiness to abandon that which distinguishes humans from all other species. Perhaps the underlying message of these texts is that despite the things we create being a reflection of ourselves and our societies, it is ultimately our creations that mould us and who we are. This is illustrated by Winston Churchill’s words â€Å"we shape the things we build, thereafter they shape us†.

Switching Ideaologies during the Great Depression - 934 Words

During the Great Depression era, many presidents found themselves sliding between political ideologies. They would identify with one, but also enact policies that fall unto the other side. They slid back and forth between being Liberal (or more Democratic) and being Conservative (or more Republican). The ideologies for each side bore a massive difference. The Democrats would favor help from the government while the Republicans chose to go with the attitude of it’s up to the people to make a difference - hard work and no help. The two presidents of this era, Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had different policies abiding to their different sides. While these policies differed from the expected ideologies, they fall closely into what one would expect from today’s political parties. Herbert Hoover, a Republican, followed the path of less government and went directly against Roosevelt and his liberalism. Hoover considered himself a Republican with liberalistic views. During the 1932 election, Hoover ran the campaign against Roosevelt saying that with Roosevelt’s idea of combining government and business is false liberalism (Document 1). This political ideology most closely identifies with a Democratic view point, which is why Hoover also believed he belonged in every group. (Document 1). Although he identified with Republicans, he tended to slide towards the other half as well. However, during the actual depression, Hoover sided with the Republicans more. During