5 Economic and Social Effects

 5

Social and Economic Impacts

Legal gambling in America has seen a rapid rise in recent decades. This is due in large part to the acceptance of gambling as an acceptable form of recreation and the promise that the gambling communities will reap substantial economic and tax revenue. While legalized gambling has been a boon for some communities, it's clear that problem gambling has caused economic and social problems. The key question from a public policy standpoint is which of the two is larger and by what amount. To address these and other policy issues, it is important to consider the economic and social consequences of pathological gambling in relation to the wider impact of gambling on society.

These benefits can be seen in reports such as higher employment and income, tax revenues, improved tourism and recreational opportunities, and rising property prices (e.g. Eadington (1984); Filby and Harvey (1988); Chadbourne et. al. (1997), Oddo (2000)). American Indian communities on reservations and in the United States have reportedly seen positive socio-economic effects from gambling that "far outweighs the negative" (Cornell and al., 1998,iv; also see Anders 1996; Cozzetto 1995).

This chapter discusses the impact on individuals and families as well as communities. These costs include traffic congestion and increased demand for infrastructure or public services (roads. Schools. Police. Fire protection. Environment, displacement of local residents and increased crime. Pathological gambling can lead to bankruptcy and other bad debts that increase the economic cost of credit. The term "costs" refers to the negative consequences of pathological gamblers on their immediate social and larger communities.

We said that the key policy question is whether there are more benefits than costs and how much. This can be determined theoretically using benefit-cost analyses. This analysis can be complicated by the fact that economic and social effects can be hard to measure. This is especially true when it comes to intangible social cost, such as the emotional and financial pain experienced by the family of a problem gambler or the productivity losses of employees who gamble. As with costs, benefits can be hard-to-measure and can vary in their type and magnitude over time and gambling venues (e.g. lotteries and riverboat casinos), bingo, parimutuel gambling and offtrack betting.

The benefit-versus-cost principle should be considered for every form of gambling. It should consider such economic factors like real costs versus economic transfer, tangible and intangible results, present and potential future values, and gains and loss experienced by different groups in different settings (Gramlich 1991:229). Additionally, pathological gambling's costs and benefits must be considered in relation to the wider effects of gambling on society (Gramlich 1990:229). Convenient Options For Gambling and Minting MoneY