Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

I got a dusty response from a couple of people a year ago when I wrote about the tasks ahead for the London Olympic organisers and ourselves in 2011.

"I think you should probably save this blog for another 12 months" said Dalgrush; and rjaggar added "18 months is a long time to be obsessing instead of just living life".

Thanks, guys - and I promise I haven't been obsessing.

Actually, looking back I think it set out the 2011 agenda pretty well: tickets, test events, One Year To Go and the

That doesn't always happen, as other posts reveal. I also reckon the broad point was valid that by now "there needs to be a keen sense of anticipation for 2012 - and the UK should be moving from passive support to active engagement with what's ahead."

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There was once a golden political scenario that featured the London Olympics.

It was that an incoming government in 2010 would have to launch a period of austerity, since all the main political parties accepted the need for spending cuts.

But by 2012 the pain would be starting to ease because growth would be powering away again, and some politicians believed the year in front of us could represent a turnaround in national morale - alongside a much rosier view of our economic prospects.

The latter thought seems to be disappearing rapidly. While the Eurozone crisis continues to simmer, the predictions for the British economy suggest we have a chance of being in recession again for a period of 2012.

says the UK economy could contract by 1.3% next year - when it was only March this year that the official government forecast was +2.5%.

There could hardly be a more uncertain macro-economic backdrop for these Games - and they will take place with many people in the UK worried about their jobs and the prospects for their families.

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