I usually enjoy the finding of unexpected causal chains which link between something which was universally recognised as a Good Thing & an outcome which is definitely unwelcome, thus demonstrating once more the existence of The Law of Unintended Consequences.
I think however that Robert Lea was stretching things in his Times Business column on Saturday when he blamed train delays in Britain on the decision to award the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing.
Yes, the Olympics gave an extra boost to the Chinese economy, but not anything like enough to be the sole cause of the inflation in world metal prices which is in turn stimulating gangs of thieves to go round Britain stripping metals from here, there & everywhere.
And it is surely pushing things to say that the Chinese economy has grown only because of that fateful award in 2001.
