BC Output Gap and the 2010 Games

With the 2010 Winter Games just under a year away, and given that BC is currently experiencing a sharp slowdown if not an outright recession, I though it might be interesting to see how the 2010 Games might help to speed up a recovery. To illustrate, the figure below shows the BC output gap (actual GDP as a percent of potential GDP) with and without the 2010 games.
This assumes that the 2010 games add about 1% to BC real GDP in 2010 and that growth returns to a trend rate of 2.7% in 2011. Now, I know there are those that are not in favour of the Games but I don't think you could ask for a better stimulus plan - it is temporary, targeted, and the timing could not be better. Even more, the stimulus is a mix of of government and private spending and is spread across diverse sectors of the economy.

Whether the Games will have long-lasting impacts beyond 2010, or even if the money could have been spent better elsewhere are open questions, but as stimulus, it is hard to argue against.