Did Customs & Immigration Cost US 2016 Olympics?

Embarrassing reflection of our administrative incompetency as a nation being  discussed at the NYT’s In Transit blog: Chicago’s Loss: Is Passport Control to Blame?:

“Among the toughest questions posed to the Chicago bid team this week in Copenhagen was one that raised the issue of what kind of welcome foreigners would get from airport officials when they arrived in this country to attend the Games. Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, in the question-and-answer session following Chicago’s official presentation, pointed out that entering the United States can be “a rather harrowing experience.”

Note that these are concerns I raised 5 years ago.

As someone who regularly travels both domestically and abroad, I have no doubt that this is a very serious issue of anyone wanting to visit the USA. We have the least user-friendly entry of any country I have ever been to. Cory Doctorow noted the insane fingerprints-and-photos regime at the US Border.

I do not know why Chicago lost, but I have no doubt that Customs & Immigration is at least part of the answer.

Ahhh, the Bush administration: The gift that keeps on giving . . .

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Previously:
Is the balance of scientific power shifting? (January 16th, 2004)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2004/01/is-the-balance-of-scientific-power-shifting/

Economics, Security, and the Decline of the US Creative Class (October 6th, 2004)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2004/10/economics-security-and-the-decline-of-the-us-creative-class/

Losing Our Intellectual Edge (December 22nd, 2004)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2004/12/losing-our-intellectual-edge/

Global Competition for Talent (June 5th, 2005)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2005/06/global-competition-for-talent/

U.S. dominance in science and engineering at risk (July 23rd, 2005)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2005/07/us-dominance-in-science-and-engineering-at-risk/

Source:
Chicago’s Loss: Is Passport Control to Blame?
MICHELLE HIGGINS
In Transit, October 2, 2009, 2:51 PM
http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/chicagos-loss-is-passport-control-to-blame/

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