Economic Rebirth or Social Suicide
Any mention of Las Vegas conjures up images of glitzy casinos with flashy neon facades; a city built by gangsters to feast upon the hopes of reckless tourists. Now Las Vegas is losing its singular claim to fame. State by state, the gambling industry has finagled its self to the brink of national prominence. Five years ago the only legalized gambling casinos were in Las Vegas and Atlantic City; 22 states currently have one or more.
Casino promoters, clever accountants and smooth talking public relations experts, deliver the great news of untold benefits to the community: economic revival, reconstruction of a downtown area, and slashed unemployment rates. These are just a few of the enticements promised to local governments by the Gambling industry when it sets its sights on a location for new development. Casino proponents and politicians eager to pad their tax base emphasize the multiplier effect: new jobs that inject money into the local economy, and new money means new businesses that will spur further economic growth. Has the community asked why would a gaming company invest upwards of 300 million dollars in this town? There are definite answers to these questions.
Gambling proponents point out there are very few industries that can have such an immediate impact on a community. Casino giant Resorts International conducted an economic impact study during the 1980 s when Louisiana was debating the legalization of gambling. This study predicted a huge influx of tourists, the creation of 69,000 jobs, and a 4.3 billion-dollar industry that would provide the city with a substantial increase in revenue. The owners of the Casino Queen, a riverboat casino in East St. Louis, Illinois, point out that gambling taxes paid by the boat, funded a new Police station, the hiring of 22 police officers, and the purchase of 13 police cars (Richter 3).
The Essay on Casino Gambling Approaching Rural America
Since the dawn of casinos, casino gambling was located mainly in Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada, and in Atlantic City, New Jersey. But now newer casinos are spread out across the United States, from Connecticut to California. Most are located on Indian reservations and the rest in rural areas of the United States. The Foxwoods Casino in southeastern Connecticut is one example where casino gambling is ...
New Jersey, casino supporters boast that between 1977 and 1992, employment in the service industry employment grew 608%, new construction projects grew 95%, and the creation of 600 transportation related jobs (Reed 18+).
The standard pro-casino rhetoric is full of misleading information and never includes the negative economic and social impacts of gambling. Despite the 1986 New Orleans study that claimed an influx of casino bound tourists, a recent survey found that only 7% of casino visitors were out of state tourists (Reed 18).
When the gaming industry conducted their study, the New Orleans tourism committee hired an independent accounting firm to conduct another. The New Orleans study determined the number of jobs created would be less than one tenth of the total suggested by the gambling proponents. The study also revealed the gambling industry would generate $870 million or one fifth the amount touted by the casino builders. What the community does not realize is that a dollar spent in a casino from a member of the community is a dollar taken from the community. Last year Missouri casinos reported $1.2 billion in revenue, of which more than 90% came from the local community (Richter 4).
Documented evidence clearly demonstrates that placing faith in a study conducted by the gaming industry, on the economic benefits of casinos, is comparable to allowing the fox to guard the hen house.
In spite of all the prosperity promised to the community of Atlantic City by the supporters of gambling, evidence proved otherwise. New Jersey s Small Business Bureau reports over 900 of Atlantic City s 2100 small businesses have closed their doors since the casinos opened theirs. Within the first five years of casino operations, 30 retail stores went from profitability to closure. The bureau also reports the number of restaurants has declined from 243 in 1977, to 146 in 1987 (Wienberg Nov 93).
The Term Paper on Pestel Analysis Of Gambling And Tourism Tourism Essay
... R. (1984). The Casino Gambling Industry: A Study of political Economy. Gambling: Views from the ... city in USA where casino gambling was legalized. (Appendix 1) In comparison with Nevada, Atlantic City is known as the gambling city ... of the main difficulties problem gamblers have experienced in their inter- ... • Effects on productivity and employment • Crime (theft, court cases and imprisonment) • Personal ...
Economists have a term for the damage caused by casinos on the local businesses; it’s a phenomenon called cannibalization. The economists seem to have hit the nail squarely on the head. Despite approximately 6 billion dollars in private investment, Atlantic City has become virtually two cities. One, a city of extravagant casinos, staffed by a largely outside workforce. The other a city of boarded up buildings, of a predominantly minority population that suffers large scale unemployment, and has been given easy access to gambling (Goodman 61).
One negative impact a casino has on a local economy is the use of free alcohol and meals to promote gambling and then allowed to write-off these so-called business expenses against profits. This business expense is a plain and simple tax loophole. Last year alone, casinos spent millions of dollars on promotional meals and alcoholic beverages. Why would people gamble and leave for a meal when the casino will provide wine and food for free? Most people frequenting a casino do not leave for food.
Social costs are another negative impact brought on by the lure of easy money. The possibility of striking it rich is more than some people in society can bear. A study conducted by the University of Michigan concluded that 5% of the adult population is either potential or probable compulsive gamblers (Goodman 62).
Another study conducted by the University of Illinois in 1990 estimated the costs of each pathological (compulsive) gambler to be $52,000 a year. That figure includes $23,000 in lost productivity (gamblers habits affect their work), and $29,000 in abused dollars –money obtained legally and illegally to pay debts instead of basic needs. Numerous studies indicate the majority of gamblers reside within a 40-mile radius of the casino, so it stands to reason the majority of the problems associated with the compulsive gambler remain in the community.
The Term Paper on America’s Gambling Gamblers Casinos People
... of winning money are habitually disappointed.As casino crime lord, Meyer Lansky's universal gambling truth states; 'Gamblers never win, the house never loses'2 ... that could be used to finance schools, police, and city services. So by forcing voters to make a quick ... consequences of the gambling industry are the hidden social costs imposed on the gamblers and on their families. Gambling is an addicting ...
Crime is another of those social problems not discussed by the supporters of legalized gambling. Gambling s association with organized crime is nothing new, but it is gamblers committing crimes to pay their debts that concern law enforcement officials. For instance, in the first year of legalized gambling in Atlantic City, the crime rate jumped 25%. Thereafter, total crimes have risen 60%, with larceny and theft jumping 125% (Reed 18+).
Nationally, studies have shown compulsive gamblers commit 30-40% of all white-collar crimes.
On the surface, casino gambling is a seemingly easy solution to a sluggish local economy. Casino proponents lead the populus to believe gambling will greatly increase tax revenue, attract tourists, and jump-start dead economies. However, the impressive revenue increases and economic booms are proving less profitable than envisioned. Cities are finding the magnitude of gambling difficult to control. Big casinos are gaining leverage in the community and are demanding tax rate concessions as profits begin to taper off the highs of the initial boom. Furthermore, cities are finding themselves unprepared for the large social, civic, and physical costs associated with gambling. Charles McLean, President of Casino Free Future summarized the problem; Casinos strain the very fabric of a community s ability to manage its problems — from infrastructure repairs and upgrades to the provision of social services. Communities expected tourists flocking to the casinos accompanied by hordes of cash. What they are getting is something totally different. Their residents are flocking to the casino and leaving the hordes of cash normally destined for local businesses. They are also reaping the unwanted results of the social ills that accompany casinos: crime, compulsive gamblers, and prostitution. Gambling is close to becoming to American communities what the Ku Klux Klan is race relations. Every attempt should be made to prevent the proliferation of casinos throughout this country.
Works Cited
Goodman, Robert. Legalized Gambling as a Strategy for Economic Development. Online: AOL. April 20, 1998.
The Essay on Crime is a Social Construct 2
Crime is a social construct Discuss. This composition will look at crime and its different criminological interpretations. Crime is an umbrella word which covers a diverse range of issues and is dependant upon the theoretical stand point of the writer. Although the wordings of the explanations differ, the implications are consistent (Newburn, 2007. Doherty, 2005). Mclaughlin et al (2006) seems the ...
Reed, Betsy. America s New Addiction: How the Gambling Industry is Seducing the States. Dollars and Sense Magazine. July/Aug 1994: 18+.
Richter, Jonathan D. Its a Gamble St. Louis Post Dispatch
26 Feb. 1995 3-4. Online: AOL. April 20, 1998.
Wienberg, Lee S. Distressed cities increasingly bank on casino gambling.
USA Today. November 14, 1993, 3.
