Excellent points were made by Lorne Talbot [Letters, November 20-27], but according to Christopher Shaw’s intriguing book, Five Ring Circus: Myths and Realities of the Olympic Games, Lorne may have been far too modest in his estimates. Vanoc gave the ridiculous figure of $180 million for security, which, of course, everyone would just double, but, Shaw points out: Turin Winter [Games] was $1.4 billion, Athens Summer [Games] was $1.5 billion, London estimates $1.7 billion—so we can expect a bill for security alone of over $1 billion to start with.

Lorne’s coworkers “laughed” and said “the cost would be recovered when all the tourists come to see the Games.” A group of economists on [the Newshour With] Jim Lehrer Monday agreed that this recession may well deepen through to 2010 and beyond. Lehrer asked what industries besides auto would suffer the most. Their response: tourism, travel, airlines, hotels, cruise industry, ski resorts, and international sports championships.

What does this mean for the Olympics? It is possible, and perhaps even likely, that many of those who actually bought even high-priced tickets will, in the end, decide to cut their losses when they realize they can’t afford several thousand more dollars to travel to and stay in Vancouver. What does this mean to all those Vancouverites who voted for these games? Hold off on buying tickets—it is likely Vanoc will have to give them away just to fill the seats for the TV audience.

Talbot’s estimate of 10 years of debt are likely lowballed as well. If Shaw’s numbers are close, we could be paying the multibillions off for at least 30 years like Montreal ’76. Get ready for those longer hospital lineups and larger class sizes thanks to Jack Poole, Jim Furlong, David Podmore, the Campbells, and all the rest of those who should be run out of town on a rail come the final tally.

> Lance Read / vancouver