The Economics and Psychology of Gambling
As gambling around the world continues to increase, governments are starting to see these often self-destructive habits as a way to get money from their residents. Gambling has been seen as immoral and manipulative on the part of casinos, as well as pitiful on the parts of the people that gamble all their money away. It is seen as immoral and a “lazy way” to make money that isn’t even assured to get you anything. So what keeps bringing people back to the card table or slot machine? There are many theories about why someone would continuously gamble any money that they make to the point of landing themselves in debt.
In many cases, the gamiling becomes an addiction, though many professionals have reservations on calling it that, that gets increasingly hard to kick. It is irrational for someone to continuously lose money and keep going back only to lose more. Or is it? The utility that some get out of gambling may feel like spending the money is worth it. As far as recreational gambling goes, it could just be that people are spending money on a service, like going to the arcade. You don’t really go play games in order to get anything out of it, except for maybe bragging rights.
Problem gambling, on the other hand, can cause a lot of issues. A lot of problem gamblers end up spiraling into a pool of debt that they have little hope of paying off. About 2 million people in the United States meet the criteria of a pathological or problem gamblers according to the National Council on Problem Gambling. The rush that someone gets when they gamble can cause a lot of issues for not only them, but the people around them.
Many people in the U.S. have started fighting for the gaming industry to take more responsibility for their part in “teaching children how to gamble”. Is the game industry responsible for how the children that play their games turn out as adults? Is this a social or more personal problem? What can we as a society do to deter people from spiralling out of control? Should we try to stop them at all, or just let people do what they want, even if it is self-destructive?
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What I find interesting is that some cities' and even countries' economies are completely dependent on the gambling and casinos industries. Las Vegas is the obvious example to us Americans but places Monaco and Macau in China actually make more money from casinos than Las Vegas does. Its strange that a businesses that can be so immoral and corrupt has become ingrained into the structures of how millions live and make money.
ReplyDeleteIt is super interesting what gambling has become in America and even across the world. Like Alec said earlier, some countries really do boast their gambling activities. In many countries such as Thailand, gambling is illegal but it is done anyway underground. Like drugs, I feel like any addiction really always has a demand that is waiting for its supply. People addicted to gambling are more likely to find more ways to gamble if it is illegal. In America, it is not illegal to gamble. In fact, it embraced like in Las Vegas. Gambling could actually do the government good, although addiction is quite detrimental. In 2007, ten states collected more than $1 billion a year in gambling revenue, and another seven states collected more than $500 million a year. Gaming revenue represented 2.1 to 2.5 percent of states’ own source revenue each year from 1998 through 2007. This goes to show how much gambling does for our economy and government. Evidently, it is up to the government to try to prevent addiction and other catastrophic events as a result of gambling because they have the power to limit the industry, but it is highly unlikely since they are benefitting from it.
ReplyDeletehttps://icma.org/articles/article/gambling-good-economic-development-bet
I think that gambling has become a problem in gaming, especially for children and teens. Although gambling is not technically allowed for minors, many gaming companies are able to get around gambling with the concept of loot boxes. Loot boxes allow players to pay for essentially a mystery item which is revealed upon purchase. Different items have different chances of being revealed, and the rarest ones become extremely desirable, leading many players to keep purchasing boxes until they get the item they want. This economic model directly targets children and teens, the games' target audience and a vast majority of the player base. This introduces these minors to gambling very early on, and in some cases, gets them hooked onto it. I think that this system is very dangerous to the malleable brain of a minor and that there needs to be increased regulation on how companies are able to market such products in their games.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/loot-boxes-gambling-video-games-ftc-look-it-n941256
This article is interesting because although gambling is considered immoral by many, an entire industry runs on people gambling large amounts of money. Although the government has tried to crack down on gambling and does have rehab for gamblers, it's clear that the billion dollar industry contributes a significant amount to the US economy, with annual revenue from Las Vegas casinos alone at $127 million dollars. While it would be good if people stopped gambling, it would be interesting to consider the effects that the loss of gamblers would do on the casino industry and the US economy as well. Due to the uncertainty of the outcome and the addictive nature of gambling, the casino industry likely won't be disappearing anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting to think about who's "fault" it is when people fall into gambling habits and who's responsibility it is to teach people about gambling. I think with recent technology gambling is more easily accessible which could help make the issue even worse because people don't need to drive somewhere or go to Las Vegas to gamble, they can go online and play even more gambling games then in a casino.
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