JERUSALEM (MarketWatch) — As London basks in its flawless management of last summer’s Olympics and Rio de Janeiro prepares to host the 2016 Games, jockeying for the 2020 venue, to be decided next year, is well underway.

Left with a short list of three bidders, the International Olympic Committee would do well to reject Madrid and Tokyo and choose Istanbul, the metropolis of minarets, skyscrapers, Byzantine monasteries, Ottoman-era markets, and 15 million people who linchpin Europe and Asia.

A passenger ferry transport people between European and Asian sides of the city in Istanbul on Sept. 1, 2012. Reuters

Hosting humanity’s most expensive event demands three things: cash, skill and inspiration. And since money is at this moment the last thing associated with Spain, Madrid’s candidacy should be dismissed outright.

The Spaniards say they already have most of the necessary facilities intact, and will therefore manage the games on a minimal $2.4 billion budget. That’s less than a fifth the cost of the London and Athens Olympiads and an even smaller fraction of the extravagant Beijing Games.

Sounds nice, but set against the backdrop of Spain’s financial crisis, this kind of brave calculus seems eerily reminiscent of the frivolity that brought the Spanish economy to the brink of catastrophe. Chances are that once nominated, Madrid would discover that it had underestimated the games’ costs and the European Union would be called to the rescue.

Such a scenario would be bad for everyone: Spain, Europe, and the Olympics. The IOC would therefore do well to tell Madrid to follow the example of Rome, which has withdrawn its candidacy due to Italy’s financial crisis, even though it is not as severe as Spain’s.

Tokyo: enthusiasm lacking

Tokyo should have no difficulty financing an Olympiad no matter how many new stadiums, arenas and accommodations it may require, and the Japanese have all the managerial skill with which to conduct the games impeccably, as both they and the Spaniards have already done in the past.

However, back when Japan and Spain hosted the games, they brought an enthusiasm that reflected a national state of mind they now sadly lack.

Japan of 1964 was a nation in the midst of an astonishing postwar recovery, eager to shed a fascist legacy and refashion itself as a bastion of peace, tolerance, and creativity. And indeed, when Yoshinori Sakai, a runner born in Hiroshima the day it was nuked, stepped up to light the Olympic cauldron and Emperor Hirohito declared the games open, the world was inspired, as all understood they were witnessing something larger than sports.

Similarly, when King Juan Carlos opened the Barcelona Games in 1992, his post-Franco kingdom’s freedom, prosperity and optimism embodied a sudden era of good feeling, highlighted by the disappearance of political boycotts from the Games while former Soviet domains competed as independent republics and the two Germanys fielded a unified team.

Today’s Japan and Spain offer no such spirit of optimism, as one is economically stagnant, the other is nearly bankrupt, and both seem politically disillusioned and socially depressed.

None of this applies to Turkey.

Growth, diversity and confidence

In a global economy beset by a lack of drive and vision, Turkey shines as an example of growth, diversity and confidence.

No longer dominated by farming, though its produce can now feed its entire population of 75 million, Turkey’s economy is modern, with a developed financial sector, one of the world’s largest automotive industries, an electronics sector that produces most of Europe’s TV sets, and shipyards that produce more vessels than any other country after China, Japan and Korea.

The quest of the republic’s founding father, Ataturk, to eradicate illiteracy has been nearly fully realized, and total gross domestic product, at $1.2 trillion, is three times its size a decade ago and almost equal to Canada’s.

Turkey, in short, has fully undergone the industrial revolution, the first such feat anywhere in the Islamic world.

An oil tanker passes through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea in Istanbul on Sept. 1, 2012. Reuters

Obviously, the Turkish economy has its problems. Unemployment is 8.2%, inflation is 9%, and the current-account deficit is 10% of GDP. This reflects a so-called hot-money problem, whereby foreign investors focus on financial assets that are prone to be shed on the spur of the moment, as opposed to making direct investments in businesses.

Even so, Turkey has displayed economic resilience and fiscal responsibility, most notably in slashing inflation to less than 10% from 65% a decade ago, and nearly halving public debt to 40% of GDP from 74%, while keeping a minimal budget deficit of 1.4% of GDP.

All this happened when over-spending and over-borrowing became the norm across the very EU that for half a century had had the audacity to reject Turkey’s bid to join the EU, preaching to Ankara, among other things, that its economy had yet to mature.

Fallout from killing of Libya envoy

For that alone, Istanbul should host the 2020 Olympics, so the whole world would see who has and who hasn’t been prudent, industrious and responsible. This, of course, besides the fact that with all its industrial achievements, Turkey can be expected to organize the Games no less efficiently than neighboring Greece did eight years ago.

True, Turkey would be a politically problematic host, particularly compared with exceptionally peaceful Japan. While Istanbul can host the Games before its problems with Armenia, Syria and the Kurds are resolved, the Olympics will not arrive in Turkey before it ends its conflict with Cyprus, where Europe sees Ankara as the aggressor.

Even so, an Istanbul Olympiad would be an inspiration. It would salute a rising power that gives hope for harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims, and it would set an example for a turbulent Middle East that is in bad need of a mercantilist spirit like Turkey’s.