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Topic:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? [Locked] |
Ashmaele  Title: Pastor of Muppets
Posts: 1,809
Registered: 2002-1-15 08:30:50
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? |
Are casino gaming/sports betting/etc harmful to an economy strictly wrt the economy? (Please ignore the debate about the role of government and if they have the right to tell you what to do with your money.)
For example: Bob earns $4000 a month, every month with decent job security. After taxes and expenses he has say $1000 left per month as disposable income to spend/invest however he wishes.
Out of this $1000, Bob loses $400 every month to sports betting (imagine it was legal where you live if it is not currently legal). He never loses more than $400, but never less, either. Sometimes he turns the $400 into $1500 or so but never cashes out/spends it and always ends up losing the $400 and all profit before the month is over. It is an amount he limits himself to and has strong willpower but doesn't want to quit gambling for whatever reason.
Anyway, given this, is society worse off economically than with him spending that $400 elsewhere in non-gambling endeavors? e.g. $400 on nice restaurants, on nice food at the supermarket, on clothes or baseball cards or whatever?
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Sin_of_Onin Posts: 1,307
Registered: 2005-6-29 08:21:12
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? |
Addiction harms the society. The guy who is simply gambling for entertainment... not so much.
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ZigmundZag Title: Grammar Nazi
Posts: 1,211
Registered: 2002-3-25 23:03:00
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? |
Your for-instance is a lot rosier than your typical casino gambler.
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Ashmaele Title: Pastor of Muppets
Posts: 1,809
Registered: 2002-1-15 08:30:50
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? |
ZigmundZag posted:
Your for-instance is a lot rosier than your typical casino gambler.
Actually it isn't. You are considering worst-case scenarios and applying them to the population as a whole.
Problem gamblers do exist, but they are not nearly as prevalent as you might expect. And the rate of problem gambling is about the same everywhere whether or not gambling is legal or illegal.
Anyway, my question was more on the strict economics behind the spending than the ancillary behavioral issues.
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I had a dream. It was an incredible dream. When I awoke, I had a huge mess to clean up.
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eodoll Posts: 1,028
Registered: 2002-2-14 12:35:42
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? |
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gambling as an entertainment venue is prob good - casinos can be seen like a nightclub, bar, hotel, etc..
addiction hurts the economy.
so it depends on the clientelle- addicts bad. people coming in for healthy entertainment- good.
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Elocism  Title: Pseudonym
Posts: 787
Registered: 2002-5-3 01:50:00
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? |
all the people employed by him dropping $400 a month probably think it is good for the economy
high level it doesnt really matter where he spends the money
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Brother_Tempus Title: Patriot
Posts: 985
Registered: 2001-1-9 08:07:00
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? |
no, Las Vegas is a great example of how gambling grows an economy.
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ZigmundZag Title: Grammar Nazi
Posts: 1,211
Registered: 2002-3-25 23:03:00
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? |
Ashmaele posted:
Anyway, my question was more on the strict economics behind the spending than the ancillary behavioral issues.
Then you're fishing for an answer you already know.
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"Take the cheese to sickbay!"
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? |
ZigmundZag posted:
Ashmaele posted:
Anyway, my question was more on the strict economics behind the spending than the ancillary behavioral issues.
Then you're fishing for an answer you already know.
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Moe_Nox Title: In Moe We Trust
Posts: 1,962
Registered: 2007-2-4 12:17:56
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
From a purely economics point of view, does gambling harm a society/economy? |
I can go on for pages on this subject after watching it closely for 15 years.
The bottom line is, Casinos will stretch the distance between economical classes even more than they are currently wherever you are talking about.
The lower levels of society are already in a fragile balance of getting by financially, some paycheck to paycheck.
Casinos will feed off of people that have addictive personalities and that do not make good decisions. This is more often than not lower lifestyle people.
Their bread money will become the grease that turns the gears.
Meanwhile the profits will benefit owners and shareholders. The surrounding community will prosper both from taxes and from charity initiatives from these dollars.
The stable elements of the community will all elevate a small bit and the unstable will spiral into bankruptcy and homelessness.
In the end I am pro casinos.
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