Olympic Glory!

I

 watched the beginning of the Olympics in the UK and the last few days in Italy. For some reason Italian TV seemed fascinated by synchronised swimming .

 For the record I thought the only disappointment of the whole games was the closing ceremony. What a mess. And George Michael!

 
David Cameron has clearly jumped on the positive band wagon and is hoping for a bounce in the economy from it. Whilst I think the country was in need of a happiness boost I think the potential for growth following on from the games is thin.

 No doubt we showed off what the UK construction industry could achieve on time and within budget which must be a positive marketing message across the world.

 However it is more likely this will encourage export rather than inward investment.

Unfortunately there is no evidence that any previous games has had a positive effect on the economy or made any impact to encourage investment. It will undoubtably improve the east end and the Olympic Park will be a fantastic legacy for the area. However, unfortunately this for me is not where the greatest need is in the UK at present. The regions are really struggling and need investment desperately to encourage confidence and growth.

 For me we should use the Olympics as a positive start and look at a number of new investment programmes to stimulate growth . Housing is a good way of pumping money into the economy at every level and would be a good place to start.

 The government also needs to get off the fence with education and needs to start investing again in school buildings.

 I don't think we will ever see things returning to how they were 5 to 10 years ago but the current paralysis in the markets needs attention.

 We know about the planned cuts but I don't see a plan for growth and unfortunately a few gold medals will not be enough!