Economic Costs of Gambling

[passwordnow]

Why is it that the negatives were only stated? Gambling is a big contributor a country's economy, think about Las Vegas, Macau and other countries that have been opened and known to be the gambling capitals.

Very true for those running a gambling business am without a doubt that this is a profitable business and to some players they have found a profitable way of playing their favorite games.

It is a profitable business that's why we see casinos keep on establishing themselves and there will always be the new casino that has been made. If it's not profitable then it won't be noticed by other businessmen. There's a strategy that those players who are making their lives through it and have already dedicated themselves to gamble as much as they can. There must be something that we don't know but if they're making their lives better from it, there's no need to question them if they're doing it legally.

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[uneng]

1. Gambling in fact has many negative externalities. If someone gets addicted, the likelihood is much higher to be depressed. Depression is factor, which leads to high costs for the society.

2. Gambling addiction leads to economic costs because of crime actions. Other market actors have to increase their security standards, which means higher costs.

3. Many gambling addicts go as a consequence to jail. Jail means EXTREMELY high costs to society.

What are your thoughts on this topic?

While I do mostly agree with the points you raised, the claims that you made are all fallacious, being a slippery slope.

Any addiction caused to a person has always its negative externalities, not just gambling. While gambling may be considered one of those addictions that are common, you must also consider those other addictions as they contribute to the costs in society.

In addition, while those negative externalities in gambling are present, you cannot escape the fact that gambling brings revenue to the government. The revenue garnered from these gambling establishments enable to government to construct infrastructures which bring positive externalities as a result.

It is thus, imperative to know where to draw the line on how to balance these negative and positive externalities. While the result of gambling addiction is detrimental to the society, we also cannot disregard the financial aspect on how it brings revenue to the government.

Short answer: OP is right and there is absolutely no way the tax raised from gambling could cover the costs society incurs due to gambling/addicts.
Long answer: it requires extensive and fundamental research to actually come up with concrete numbers.

Especially online gambling socially isolates the players. One could argue that the five friends playing poker in the garden having a barbecue is even a net positive to society because of the recreational effect. How recreational the effect still is to someone sitting alone in front of his screen, I don't know.

Anyway, the topic is certainly interesting and a very good idea to look at it from the angle OP brought up!

Since it takes extensive research to come up concrete numbers I think we can't say gambling taxes collected by the government aren't enough to cover costs with problem gamblers. This industry profits a lot of money. Most people will never see such amounts of money during their life, so it's even harder to have some notion about this huge income application.
It's also hard to have notion regards the number of gamblers who will create such issues for the society. There are many people involved on this market and only a minority of them will present negative behaviors. Moreover, many addicted gamblers are rich people who can't control themselves. I think it's unlikely they will start robbing people or stores around to keep gambling.

[YOSHIE]

What are your thoughts on this topic?

If you ask me about Externalities or the economic costs in gambling will have and will have positive and negative effects on gambling activities, directly or indirectly.

1. Negative externalities: any effect of losses in gambling and other adverse factors on gambling activities, both in the environment everything must be borne by the community and gambling addicts themselves, this will cause a lot of losses that will occur.

3. Positive externalities: if the economic activity of gambling is clear, then the payment mechanism in gambling will benefit, from the victims of externalities, based on the applicable rules by dealing with all the negative effects that are caused by minimizing them, overall these factors will claim the benefits of the individual gambling activities that have been agreed upon.

I think a system like this, if applied in the world of gambling, many people are against it, especially gambling entrepreneurs and individuals involved in gambling.

[ethereumhunter]

Why is it that the negatives were only stated? Gambling is a big contributor a country's economy, think about Las Vegas, Macau and other countries that have been opened and known to be the gambling capitals.

Very true for those running a gambling business am without a doubt that this is a profitable business and to some players they have found a profitable way of playing their favorite games.

It is a profitable business that's why we see casinos keep on establishing themselves and there will always be the new casino that has been made. If it's not profitable then it won't be noticed by other businessmen. There's a strategy that those players who are making their lives through it and have already dedicated themselves to gamble as much as they can. There must be something that we don't know but if they're making their lives better from it, there's no need to question them if they're doing it legally.

You are right. Gambling as a profitable business attracts people who have a lot of money to create their own casino and each of them will have their own strategy to invite a gambler or more to playing gambling at their site. It does not just happen to online gambling, but it also happens in offline casino and will establish their reputations better.

It needs awareness from the gambler not to become addicting to gambling. They can play gambling anytime and in any casino they want, but they must always control themselves and leave the place as soon as possible before something worst happens.

[Lorence.xD]

Casinos are really big taxpayers in my country and I think I am not speaking for myself when I say that Asians love gambling because it is an industry here in my country. Plus, the tourism that it provides is also a big help as it bolster the tourism economy of the country which contributes to overall growth of the economy.

[bitterguy28]

Casinos are really big taxpayers in my country and I think I am not speaking for myself when I say that Asians love gambling because it is an industry here in my country. Plus, the tourism that it provides is also a big help as it bolster the tourism economy of the country which contributes to overall growth of the economy.

No doubt mate that Taxations from Gambling operations are indeed Huge , But what about the Money has been lose to their Bags .
How much is the tax and how much they are getting ?
for me it is not the amount that they giving is the important thing but how much they are gaining.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Casinos are really big taxpayers in my country and I think I am not speaking for myself when I say that Asians love gambling because it is an industry here in my country. Plus, the tourism that it provides is also a big help as it bolster the tourism economy of the country which contributes to overall growth of the economy.

Casinos have always been helping the country's economy. Firstly, they pay a huge amount of tax to the government, if the casino was illegal then the government would be deprived of this tax. Gamblers used to gamble by evading the law. Gamblers never stopped gambling. Secondly, we can keep an eye on Las Vegas. People from all over the world go here only for gambling. As a result, the government can earn more money from tourists.

[Lordhermes]

1. Negative externalities: any effect of losses in gambling and other adverse factors on gambling activities, both in the environment everything must be borne by the community and gambling addicts themselves, this will cause a lot of losses that will occur.

Yes you are right, the possibility of loosing property and other assets by the victims of gambling effects is sure and thereby this causes wrong thinking to the victims, the victim start thinking how to steal more property to survive in the society, there are so many awful reports out there caused by addicts there reducing the position standard of a community.

[slaman29]

1. Gambling in fact has many negative externalities. If someone gets addicted, the likelihood is much higher to be depressed. Depression is factor, which leads to high costs for the society.

2. Gambling addiction leads to economic costs because of crime actions. Other market actors have to increase their security standards, which means higher costs.

3. Many gambling addicts go as a consequence to jail. Jail means EXTREMELY high costs to society.

What are your thoughts on this topic?

This is the cost of any of the things considered "vice" not just gambling but actually it extends to me to anything that has an addiction factor.

So that is gambling, that is alcohol, drugs, but even what seems normal and accepted. Gaming for example is a huge addiction scene in Asia. I've known people stealing, killing, ruining lives, dropping out, lying, all to play more, buy more game points, etc. Suicide even has been reported in the news.

So it's not gambling that's the sole bad guy but companies that don't help people with addiction.

[ethereumhunter]

Casinos are really big taxpayers in my country and I think I am not speaking for myself when I say that Asians love gambling because it is an industry here in my country. Plus, the tourism that it provides is also a big help as it bolster the tourism economy of the country which contributes to overall growth of the economy.

No doubt mate that Taxations from Gambling operations are indeed Huge , But what about the Money has been lose to their Bags .
How much is the tax and how much they are getting ?
for me it is not the amount that they giving is the important thing but how much they are gaining.

It is no surprise that gambling contributes to big tax because gambling can attract many rich people to play gambling to make money. It can attract poor people to follow their step and test their luck. But unfortunately, not many people can win from gambling, but many of them will lose their money in the end. Maybe we do not know how much money they pay because they will not tell the public.

[swogerino]

Hi,

in this thread I would like to address a very important topic: Economic Costs of gambling.

From economic theory we know the concept of externalities:

In economics, an externality is a cost or benefit that is imposed on a third party who did not agree to incur that cost or benefit. For the purpose of these statements, overall cost and benefit to society is defined as the sum of the imputed monetary value of benefits and costs to all parties involved.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality



1. Gambling in fact has many negative externalities. If someone gets addicted, the likelihood is much higher to be depressed. Depression is factor, which leads to high costs for the society.

2. Gambling addiction leads to economic costs because of crime actions. Other market actors have to increase their security standards, which means higher costs.

3. Many gambling addicts go as a consequence to jail. Jail means EXTREMELY high costs to society.

What are your thoughts on this topic?

I think you took some extreme examples.The number of these bad gamblers is a really small one compared to the overall number of gamblers in total.Even if I take this in another context for example the murders as those who commit them go to jail and we pay taxes to feed the criminals,they cost a lot to society but they are part of it and part of life,the only country I have seen it has 6 number of murders for a year is Saudi Arabia which goes against human rights in many ways and it kills the murder and not put them to jail.

So from this perspective it cannot be avoided,we just have to accept it and associate a cost to it,just like everything else in life.

[aysg76]

When you become addictive to something you senses get out at that time and mind doesn't think about any loss going to occur which is the worst scenario.Same is the case with gambling if you become too addictive you put your financial,mental, social and economic life at stake which can be gone with only one single bet.So try to enjoy it as much you can instead of betting huge sums to get more profits becoming greedy or by getting jealous of others.You don't know this gambling well it's very deep so take out small portion of funds only maintaining your real life income.

[AicecreaME]

What are your thoughts on this topic?

Gambling is not good for addicts, people should not be addicted to gambling, the fact remain the more someone gamble the more the person will lose. Gambling should be for fun and not for profit or money making, if someone see gambling as a way to profit or make money, he will lose, that is just the fact, such people are the ones that are even getting addicted.

Gambling also have more benefit, it provides jobs for many people, this is the benefit many governments sees and not even bother about it because job creation does a lot to the economy. The best is to all the time tell people not to use the money they can not afford to lose to gamble because they can lose it while gambling, also people should not be addicted, but gambling contributed to economy development.

I guess you're being one sided here.

The whole story needs positive and negative side of it, or the advantages and disadvantages. Sure thing it gives job for people (who works for the casino and the one operating the whole gambling site) but it will never be a good source of income to people who are thinking about playing gambling to earn money. Besides, you can never dictate yourself not to be addicted in gambling, I mean, it will happen if it will happen.

If people wants to be addicted on gambling, it's his choice, and we make our own choices.

[Raflesia]

I guess you're being one sided here.

The whole story needs positive and negative side of it, or the advantages and disadvantages. Sure thing it gives job for people (who works for the casino and the one operating the whole gambling site) but it will never be a good source of income to people who are thinking about playing gambling to earn money. Besides, you can never dictate yourself not to be addicted in gambling, I mean, it will happen if it will happen.

If people wants to be addicted on gambling, it's his choice, and we make our own choices.

For workers at casinos or being a dealer they have nothing to lose, in fact they have a monthly salary that can be their income from working at the casino, another thing is different from players if this is frequent, of course, it will become a serious addiction, even though it is an option, still not for them. those who have less well-established economies, meaning that I will continue to maintain the existing finances.
A lot of gambling has become a problem of economic destruction due to their own mistakes.

[pawanjain]

I can think of only 1 thing how gambling would benefit the economic circumstances and I think the bad influence of gambling does more harm to the economy. For the time being the positive effects of gambling on the economy is below

The gambling casinos/websites earn a good amount of profits and hence have to pay more tax
The money received from tax is then again used for the welfare of the country.
But yeah, we can still debate with the fact that many casinos dont pay their taxes and many countries don't use the tax properly for the welfare of the country

[jaberwock]

Gambling addiction leads to economic costs because of crime actions. Other market actors have to increase their security standards, which means higher costs.

How does gambling gives rise to crime? That might be when one is addicted and again the same point applies, any addiction will bring more crime. The problem isn't gambling, it's the addiction be it of anything gambling, drugs, etc.

The negative impacts are surely higher than the positives that are associated with gambling but the truth is we do need some forms of entertainment and gambling is one of them, we cannot just emphasize on the negatives.

I believe you also know it since you too promote a gambling site .

[iv4n]

OP shared only negative aspects of gambling, not so much about gambling itself as it's about people who lose control and start losing big money, and money they don't have... of course, that will create some problems!!!

Economic cost mainly depends on the country where you live! It's not the same to open a casino in Las Vegas or Nigeria... except for different laws and taxes, it's definitely not the same to rent a building in the center of London and some god-forsaken place! Don't forget the paychecks, while here in my place people will work for $400 a month, you can't find that cheap labor in Berlin! I hope you get my point!

In the end, people who like to gamble will do it, as I do it... why shouldn't we have a place to do it?! Some negative shit happened and let's ban everything and anything!?!? Haters and hypocrites everywhere around... why don't you start looking at your own business and let us be?!

[Slow death]

1. Gambling in fact has many negative externalities. If someone gets addicted, the likelihood is much higher to be depressed. Depression is factor, which leads to high costs for the society.

One of people's problems is that they always create high expectations when it comes to something that involves making money quickly, even though they know there is risk and losing everything, they create high expectations. Just look at the lottery, hundreds of people buy tickets with the hope of one day winning and why don't they give up every time they lose? because they created high expectations and is hopeful that one day they will win. I agree with you

2. Gambling addiction leads to economic costs because of crime actions. Other market actors have to increase their security standards, which means higher costs.

I don't know what the number of gambling addicts is, but I think it shouldn't be a very large number, the biggest problem is not the addicts (I know that addiction is not a good thing, but I don't believe the number of addicts is too high ), the biggest problem is the number of people who lose money and still usually take money that was supposed to buy things in the real world and go to gambling and lose everything

3. Many gambling addicts go as a consequence to jail. Jail means EXTREMELY high costs to society.

I honestly never saw anyone get arrested because they were addicted to gambling

[Fortify]

1. Gambling in fact has many negative externalities. If someone gets addicted, the likelihood is much higher to be depressed. Depression is factor, which leads to high costs for the society.

2. Gambling addiction leads to economic costs because of crime actions. Other market actors have to increase their security standards, which means higher costs.

3. Many gambling addicts go as a consequence to jail. Jail means EXTREMELY high costs to society.

What are your thoughts on this topic?

It seems that in countries with effective laws, regulations and enforcement that it is possible for venues that allow gambling to operate without too much harm to the vast majority of society. There will always be people who push the limits and spiral out of control, but they will find ways to do that if gambling exists or not. As long as it is seen as fun and people are educated enough to understand that mathematically they will never beat the house in the long term, then it should be allowed. However, the authorities will always need to stay vigilant because it can attract criminals in various forms - from conmen to organized mafias. In countries that have poor legal frameworks and weak institutions it is probably advisable to avoid allowing gambling, because the vast flows of money are easy to abuse and can seed corruption in all sorts of places.

[acquafredda]

I found a study on estimating the social costs of problem gambling in Italy. As a reference year, based on available data, 2014 was analyzed. In that calendar year, the collection related to public gaming was 84.5 billion euros, of which 7.9 billion euros went to the Treasury. All this against winnings of 67.6 billion and a total expenditure of players of 16.9 billion(Agency of Customs and Monopolies, 2015).
The estimate of social costs obtained in the study amounts to 2.7 billion euros. (Estimated cost per player was €2,211).
Now, imagine what could be done what all that money.

Very interesting! Could you please share the link to the paper? I am very curious how the study design was in this case. It is nearly impossible ti measure all negative externalities 100%, we are dependend on studies like this.

It really gets interesting if we also consider secondary effects, e.g. if a family member gets addicted to gambling and as a consequence you get a depression and so on. So assuming the 2,7 million don't count this into their estimations, we can multiply it with a factor X.

https://www.federserd.it/index.cfm/I-costi-sociali-del-Gioco-d'Azzardo-problematico-in-Italia/?fuseaction=skdnovita&id=192
There you go!
You can easily have that translated into English or any language via Google Translator. The complete PDF is a the bottom of the page. I do not know what you are looking for but that is what I based my previous comment on. Would be interested in knowing if you find something more around it while playing with data.
Drop me a DM in case