Casinos fail to increase revenue even though casino leaders continue to promise to the contrary, according to an article in the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky. Instead of generating new income to provide for education and other services, experts say casinos provide an unstable and unsuccessful base for revenue and caution against using them to fix budgetary problems.
This story in The Chicago Reporter chronicles the funding problems that have plagued the city’s education system. The article proposes that instead of buying lottery tickets, that give only 30 cents per dollar to the school system, Chicago’s children would be better served with contributions directly to the schools.
Better Odds- Money for lottery tickets could be better spent on education
According to this Washington Post story, a new report reveals that slot machines are manufactured to trick players. The machines often use positive reinforcement, in the form of celebratory sounds, to convince gamblers they have won when they are actually losing their money.
As part of their costly public relations campaigns to gain approval for casinos, gambling operators and their supporters commonly promote the narrative that there is little alternative to their proposal to “add” jobs to a region. “If not this casino,” they ask, “what else is there to put local people to work?” While there are no short cuts to building real prosperity in a community, there are much better options than the path of failure offered by casinos. Here is one: Economists James Heintz and Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, found that infrastructure investment spending in general creates about 18,000 total jobs for every $1 billion in new investment spending. This number include jobs directly created by hiring for the specific project, jobs indirectly created by supplier firms, and jobs induced when workers go out and spend their paychecks and boost their local economy. Below is their 2009 report.
Toronto Board of Health has released a new report that explains, in part, that “problem gambling is a significant public health concern … impacting upwards of 11,000 people aged 18+ in the greater Toronto area.” This disturbing statistic is among many that the Board finds, as the seriousness of problem gambling grows as casinos and online gambling expand.
Despite the promises from gambling promoters it would fund public education if passed, this Los Angeles Times story reveals the California Lottery provides only 1.3% of the state’s entire education budget. This shows, once again, that the claims casino supporters routinely trot out are unsubstantiated and are proven falsehoods.
California Lottery funding generally makes up 1.3% of the state education budget
In this article the relationship between neuroscience and internet gambling is explained. The article delineates how much of what we do online releases dopamine into the brain’s pleasure centers, resulting in obsessive pleasure-seeking behavior. Technology companies face the option to exploit our addictions for profit.
Officials in Niagara Falls, New York are preparing to mark the 10th anniversary of the casino, which opened with much anticipation and rave reviews on New Year’s Eve 2002. Casino proponents at the time said the casino marked a new era in the development of Niagara Falls. Yet after ten years, the spinoff development that some anticipated has yet to develop on a large scale, and some downtown business owners, including developer Carl P. Paladino, say the company enjoys unfair advantages by not paying taxes on its properties.
Casino bets that it’s time for change
According to the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling, about 4.4 percent of adults over 21 in Louisiana, or as many as 159,000 people, demonstrate problematic or pathological gambling. The problem is even worse among young adults. About 14.3 percent of adults between 18 and 21 have problematic or pathological gambling issues. That’s as many as 23,000 people.
Chicago-based WMS have created a slot machine that provides a ride-like experience for users. The idea behind this new wave of slot machine was that once you experience it, you will keep playing, reaching into your pocket, and putting in money to try to win this ride. Aladdin, being magical, was a seemingly perfect fit for the empty but enticing nature of slots.
