Does the Olympics Help the Local Economy?

While much of the Eastern United States has been snowed in the last few weeks, the world has turned their eyes towards the Winter Olympics in Canada. When addressing the economic conditions of an Olympics it is imperative to note that not all cities benefit from the three week spotlight. Matt Yglesias states that even though there is fierce competition with regards to hosting the games, most cities reap a major financial windfall associated with the post games affect.
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/04/a_better_way_for_the_olympics.php
Ryan Avent believes that the games benefit the local economy:
“The games often get cities to undertake massive infrastructure investments, many of which have been in limbo for decades. London's program of transit expansion in advance of the 2012 games is well documented for instance. Now, London may lose money on the games themselves, and it may end up throwing some money away investing in soon-to-be underused natatoria, but the new transit capacity will be around forever, boosting the local economy. Hard to see how that expansion doesn't easily pay for the games in just a few years.”
http://www.ryanavent.com/blog/?p=1984
A third opinion by Andrew Rose states: "We conclude that the Olympic effect on trade is attributable to the signal a country sends when bidding to host the games, rather than the act of actually holding a mega-event."
http://papers.nber.org/papers/w14854
When the world removes their eyes from Vancouver in a few short weeks it will be interested to see which one of these economists have properly predicted the post Olympic economic outlook.

Charlie Gentles