Casino Fair Economic Benefits of Casino Gambling

The wagering industry in the US has developed at lightning speed in the last two eras. More than 1,000 casinos both commercial and native proliferated in the country according to the statistics provided by the American Gaming Association.

Expansion and sanction legal framework for casino and online gambling are ambiguous and a matter of state policy. Legalizing, regulating and expanding this industry is still controversial and divisive. People advocate for this industry, suggesting the expansion of casinos will create more job opportunities, tax revenues and increase the overall standard of life. The other school of thought suggests this will cause more problems or addicted gambling and cannibalization of industry.

Economic benefits

Much research and studies have been performed to understand the impact on casinos on economic, employment and wages ground, at the US state level. Counting on various factors, the study revealed state-authorized casinos have better employment around 8% higher than states without casinos. The wage level is slightly on the upper side of these states.

State-level economic growth also gets an impetus from this industry. Another important socioeconomic and political benefit is tax revenue generated from casinos, both online and land-based. States with legalized gambling impose small tax percentages mostly at or below 5%, which subsidize other welfare activities. The state can use this revenue in various social, educational purposes which improves the image and efficiency of the government.

Problem gambling

On another side of the coin, researchers have established that the expansion of gambling is imputable to problem gambling. Addicted gamblers only constitute 1% of the population. If one gets addicted to gambling, the person develops many kinds of problems like; reduced employee productivity, financial hardship, bad debts, bankruptcy, committing a crime and asking money from family members and friends to gamble. But factually expansion of casinos is not a significant cause for the proliferation of problem gambling. The study revealed new or expansion of casinos in an area could be the reason for problem gambling, but for a very short period of time. But this problem subsides with time, as people get accustomed to casinos.

Study exhibits, the major reason for problem gambling is alcohol or drug addiction or other psychological problems. Thus literally it becomes impracticable to point the finger at casinos for the predicament of problem gambling.

Industry cannibalization

Casino reviewers argue that casinos will hamper the growth of other industries, which is referred to as “industry cannibalization”. In reality, any new business competes with their peers to survive and flourish; this is market dynamics. Existing business entities certainly do not like fierce competition, but an open and liberal market provides more opportunities and amenities for customers.

New casinos will give them more varieties of game, more bonuses and more opportunities, if one dislikes gambling, he would not spend a dime on it. In the state of Massachusetts, critics point out the casino will harm the lottery industry. Verified facts in Maryland contradict this point of view. On the factual ground, the establishment of new casinos has decreased the sale of lottery in Maryland by 2.75%, which is very negligible. To know more the economic benefits of casino log on to poker online sites about.

Source: africanexponent.com

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