States across the country are expanding legalization of commercial casinos in what many frame as a no-lose proposition. Writing in The New York Times, Paul Davies makes the case against the expansion of casinos in New York State.
In this time of shrinking tax revenues due to the economic slide, casinos are increasingly seen by municipalities and states across the country as an easy path to revenue growth and job creation. Davies, however, paints the larger picture of what is to be lost or gained by casino legalization.
"The casinos might create jobs and generate revenue for state coffers, but those gains would come at a cost that casino supporters ignore or play down. Various studies, including research by the economist Earl L. Grinols at Baylor University, have shown that casinos produce little to no economic spinoff and in fact divert spending away from surrounding businesses like restaurants, movie theaters and live entertainment....Casinos are nothing more than a regressive tax that extracts wealth from the very citizens who can least afford it."
Read the full story: New York’s Bad Bet
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