Gambling

The lottery boom of the 1980s in the USA spawned a $15 billion-a-year business operated by 37 states by 1990.

Increasingly, state legislatures are considering various forms of gambling to revive sluggish local economies. The growth of state lotteries has encouraged municipal governments to seek supposedly painless sources of new revenue. For example in Deadwood, South Dakota, USA, with a population of 2,200. Before legalizing casino-style gambling in 1989 (but no bets over $5), Deadwood's name summed up its economy. A year later tourists swarmed the streets, and more than $35 million in private capital poured in. Tantalised by the prospect of tourists flocking to new hotels, many more cities started to consider to experiment with everything from horse racing to riverboat casinos and bingo by satellite.

1. Gambling industry becomes popular because it generates cash without the political pain of taxes.

1. 1. "There are two situations in which a man should not gamble; when he can't afford to and when he can." (Mark Twain)< 2. Increased traffic, street crime and corruption are the social costs of gambling.

   3. The pay-offs of gambling are inflated by its advocates. For example in Atlantic City, gambling industry generated more than $2.5 billion in tax revenue for the state of New Jersey and created 41,000 new jobs between 1976 and 1990. Yet Atlantic City remained a slum-city whose housing stock and population shrunk by about 20% in the same time. The new workers are bussed in.

   4. The lottery advertisements are aimed primarily at blue-collar whites and poor blacks.

   5. One advertisement for the lottery in Washington, DC, featured Martin Luther King and the slogan: "His vision lives on / Honour the dream - DC Lottery".

1. Gambling on the internet

1. Gambling