The 2008 housing market crash was one of the worst recessions in modern times. The housing and stock market crash was an incredibly difficult time that led to a shortage of money and subsequently large scale unemployment. This unemployment affected the economic growth of multiple countries and the overall job market became a dicey place. As a result of this, many people are still trying to recover from the financial ruin that was incurred during the two crashes.
Casinos, while initially considered immoral establishments that were corrupting the pious and the good, suddenly became a hail mary in this time of crisis and no more than 30 states in the U.S alone legalized gambling. Gambling offered a very high risk- high reward esque situation that appealed to the destitute. Many people used the last bit of their money to try their luck at casinos. It brought success to some, but not all. Casinos also helped with the broken economy by providing stable jobs, generating tax revenue, and boosting the local retail scene.
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Unemployment Relief
Casinos offer employment wherever they go because brick and mortar casinos are heavily dependent on manpower. The bigger a casino is, the stronger its need for manpower is. This labour comes from the surrounding area where unemployment is galore. Although casino jobs require some level of qualifications, the qualifications are not hard to earn. The local unemployed crowd gets employed by the brand new and shiny casino. This in turn reduces the unemployment rate of the area. As the unemployment rate decreases in the area, it starts to attract more and more businesses. These businesses invest in the communities of the area. This leads to the newly moved businesses hiring more people from the local unemployed crowd, thus further reducing the rate of unemployment in the region. So, casinos do not only provide relief from unemployment, but they also promote other businesses to move in order to easily reach new clients.
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Generate Tax Revenue
The tax revenue generated by casinos is to fund local and state programs. Supporters of the casino culture as well as state and local governments promote casino tax revenue as a benefit. While it is true that this revenue is a benefit for the recipients of the taxed casino revenue, this revenue is in no way meant to be new money. The tax revenues do not add new money to the existing economy and instead move money from one business to another. In this case, the casino owners’ money is transferred to local and state governments. From here this money is moved into the accounts of the program recipients. While the state government does try to do its best to distribute the tax revenue as evenly as possible amongst the programs that it is responsible for, a favoured destination seems to be the public education system.
Another factor that needs to be understood while talking about the economic benefits of casinos is the fact that the allotted money for a specific program may be taken out and given to a separate program while this program is funded using the tax revenue generated by the casinos.
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Boosting Retail
The boosting of the local retail scene due to a new casino in the area is dependent on a number of factors. Firstly, it depends on the type of customers the casino attracts. If the casino attracts a large population of non-local clientele then the local retail scene is impacted positively. However, if the casino attracts a large population of the local population then the local retail scene is very obviously negatively impacted. This is known as the substitution effect. If a casino attracts a large population of the local crowd then this local crowd is substituting other activities such as eating out with going to the casino. However, if the casino attracts a large population of the non-local crowd then these people would not be substituting recreational activities that boost the local retail scene with casino outings. They would go to the casino as well as engage in recreational activities that will boost the local retail scene.
A factor that needs to be considered while talking about boosting retail is the fact that most casinos offer a series of amenities within their walls. These amenities are taxable and hence hurt the local retail scene because the local community may be partly offset by an increase in retail sales activity in the casinos.
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Enhanced Tourism
Casinos serve as a huge attraction for many people who come from states where gambling is still outlawed. As a result of this, when these people decide to take a small vacation, they try to go to places that offer to gamble and have casinos in order to experience casinos to the fullest.
During the covid-19 pandemic, casinos have yet again managed to serve as hail marys. However, this time it was because of online casino hosting and gambling. During the various lockdowns the world went through, many people turned to online gambling as a way of making some extra cash on the side as well as combating boredom. MYSLOTKING emerged as the top online casino in Malaysia. This was due to the fact that it offers a number of casino games in a virtual setting.
