Circus Maximus

By Andrew Zimbalist,

Book cover of Circus Maximus: The Economical Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup

Book description

The numbers are staggering: China spent $40 billion to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing and Russia spent $50 billion for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Brazil's total expenditures are thought to have been as much as $20 billion for the World Cup this summer and Qatar, which…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked Circus Maximus as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Olympics organizers love to produce economic impact assessments claiming that hosting this mega-event will boost the local economy by astronomical amounts.

Andrew Zimbalist is an economist who painstakingly illustrates why this is never the case. Circus Maximus is written for a lay audience, rather than an academic one, and is easily read even by us non-economists.

He clearly and methodically demonstrates how and why the Olympics and World Cup have never made money for their host cities, and likely never will. 

Want books like Circus Maximus?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 81 books like Circus Maximus.

Browse books like Circus Maximus

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in soccer, the Olympics, and economics?

Soccer 66 books
The Olympics 37 books
Economics 395 books