Other peoples money

"But Auckland University professor of economics Tim Hazledine said the gain to tourism and the effect of visitor spending has been overstated. He controversially estimated hosting the cup could end up costing taxpayers more than $400 million. Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully dismissed Hazledine's analysis as pathetic and contended: "The idea that we should assess the costs of infrastructure that we will enjoy in perpetuity against the direct economic return from a 45-day tournament is ridiculous.” The benefits of the tournament in the years following would "run into billions of dollars", McCully argued.

But Hazledine has had his supporters. New Zealand Institute of Economic Research principal economic Shamubeel Eaqub said people had blown the event out of proportion. He had studied other major events and found the estimated benefit typically fell to about a tenth in post-event analyses, and the rise in visitor spending was mostly invisible on graphs." - NZIM


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