oD-Crowd predictions: Olympic Medals

21 June 2008

Erik van Zuylen wrote:

Euro 2008 has been quite a spectacle so far. Especially the teams of Spain, Russia, Turkey and the Netherlands have shown why football can be a work of art. Living in the Netherlands it's impossible to be unaffected by the collective emotion sweeping the country, while the television shows images of the orange mass that is invading Switserland and Swiss elderly people claiming 'they have never seen anything like this in their whole live'. Still, it's also interesting to see a poll in the same week, showing that people here are generally negative about mutual respect and solidarity within Dutch society. The contradictions of identity politics… At least the crowd seems to be impressed by the Dutch achievements so far, the team is leading the market with a substantive margin. Who will win Euro 2008?

The next prestigious sports event is already looming. Will China break the American Olympic hegemony? The crowd seems to think it might, we'll have to wait another two months to know the answer. What country will win the medal count in the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing?

Turkey's Constitutional Court is expected to reach a decision in September or October on the case brought against the governing AKP (Justice and Development Party) that could see the Prime Minister and President banned for five years. What's the actual likelyhood of this happening? What impact will it have on Turkey's move toward the EU? We want to draw on the wisdom of the crowd and find out at Will the Turkish Constitutional Court ban the AKP?

Saudi Arabia is reported to be increasing its oil output in July by 200,000 barrels a day. What impact will this have on oil prices around the world? The crowd is predicting $139/barrel by the end of the year. What do you think? Will it continue to rise? Bring your wisdom to bear on What will the price of oil be at the end of the year?

News that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wishes to put a freeze on all long-running trials for non-violent or Mafai crimes for a period of 12 months. Mr Berlusconi is facing a lengthy corruption trial in Milan which would be affected by any such a change to the laws. Traders are predicting that he will face 1 or 2 new trials this year in How many new cases will Silvio Berlusconi face? Too many or too few?

Al Gore this week endorsed Barack Obama for the presidency in an uncharacteristically lively speech. Wesley Clark is still the front runner in Who will be the Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee? but Hillary Clinton has dropped back to third in the aftermath of her conceding defeat, to be replaced by Field. Does Gore's speech put to rest the rumours and hopes that he would take the VP spot on the ticket or does it just make it all the more likely? Put your two cents in.

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