British Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne's desperate efforts to put an Olympic shine on Britain's economy are failing to get off the starting blocks.
As they postured on the sidelines, the world saw the reality of an economy teetering on the brink of an unprecedented triple-dip recession.
Asset management company Schroders chief economist Azad Zangana believes gross domestic product (GDP) will rise by 0.5% this quarter due to the Olympics.
But he reckoned a renewed eurozone crisis will hammer Britain back in recession ― it will experience two successive quarters of negative growth ― by spring next year.
Rating agency Standard & Poor's has reaffirmed Britain's AAA credit rating. But recent official figures revealed that Britain has been in the longest double-dip recession since records began.
The nation's economy shrank by 0.7% between April and June ― the biggest quarterly drop in GDP since the height of the financial crisis three years ago.
Bosses of big global firms in town for the games have thrown Cameron tough questions over the stagnant economy, saying he needed to change course.
[Abridged from .]