Introduction
The casino industry has experienced unprecedented growth during the nineteen nineties especially in cities such as Nevada, New Jersey and Atlantic City. This growth was enacted by the latter cities in the hope that there might be economic independence and growth in those areas. However, there is overwhelming research and statistics to indicted the contrary. The details shall be examined below.
Opening a casino in Cleveland can degrade the economic strength of the city
If Cleveland were to open a casino, then chances are that it would follow the same economic route that other casino towns have followed. For instance, a case study carried out by Professor Goodman in South Dakota found that the more casinos there were in this City, the lower the number of clothing stores, service stations, auto dealers and business services. The latter findings were also supported by studies carried out by Timothy Ryan in New Orleans. He claimed that there were approximately sixty two million dollars lost from all of the latter mentioned businesses. In the City of Atlanta, it was found that there were heightened cases of homelessness in these areas. Besides that casinos also diminished the amount of revenues entering restaurants and retail stores. (Wolf par 34)
Most casino supporters tend to overemphasize the positive effects while setting aside the negatives that may emanate from such ventures. The truth of the matter is that there are a series of social and economic problems that can come out of such ventures and it can therefore be said that the same effects would enter Cleveland as a whole.
A casino in Cleveland would eventually affect the taxpayer because he has to bear the brunt. Experts assert that the ratio of tax contributions compared to revenues earned is 3:1. The latter declarations were made for the City of Florida and they can also be transferred to the City of Cleveland. In fact, it was asserted that the following areas begin reflecting these changes;
- High infrastructural costs
- Heightened social welfare expenditure
- Criminal justice costs
- Higher regulatory costs
If the City of Cleveland were to begin opening up a casino, then it would begin unbolting up a vicious cycle in high gambling centers would increase in this city. This means that it would become like other cities of the nations that have been controlled by casinos. A state such as Florida has been controlled by casinos through the political contributions that they have carried out in this state. Aside from that, they have also possessed the ability to change the way the State deals with its taxes and also its economic policies. The city of Cleveland would therefore loose control of its policies if it were to allow establishment of casinos. (Wolf par 48)
There are a number of social welfare costs that could emanate out of such a venture. It is a known fact that where there are a number of poor people within a state, then chances are that their living standards or their state of poverty would substantially reduce. This is because the number of social welfare issues prevailing among this category of people would be amplified through casinos. Experts assert that disadvantaged groups have a tendency to gamble more than the non disadvantaged ones. This is largely because of a number of social or psychological reasons. For instance, some individuals may tend to gamble because they are so frustrated with their situations and they therefore hope to get rich quickly through such endeavors. In other scenario, some people may opt to gamble because of lack of a more productive thing to do usually when they are unemployed. It is also quite alarming to find out that the latter disadvantaged groups not only tend to gamble more than other people, but the portion of their incomes dedicated to this activity is also much higher than in other categories or groups. (Worthington 13)
Studies indicate that if casinos were not introduced within a certain area, then those people would have engaged in other more productive activities. In fact, about ten percent less is spent on such essentials such as groceries or even clothes. Thirty seven percent of participants in a certain research asserted that they had either minimized or stopped saving altogether. When all these diminished savings are added together, economists claim that about two hundred and twenty three million dollars are lost from engagement in casino gambling. This means that the people of Cleveland City would have to bear the brunt of the economic sting that emanates from such a venture.
Introducing a casino in Cleveland would also have very significant economic effects on local businesses. This is mostly because the latter venture would create excess pressure on local businesses therefore bringing some of them out of businesses. A casino could result in bankruptcy or liquidity. The latter observations have been common in saturated gambling areas or in cities (as opposed to rural areas). For example in South Dakota, it was found that most of these respective groups were not performing according to recent work done there. These observations were common in traditional businesses because employees would begin getting absent in such areas. Aside from that, they would also produce lower results for white collar jobs. Social scientists claim that type A personality workers tend to possess the highest propensity for gambling and this is likely to bring about greater levels of change in these areas.
Aside from that, businesses would also record approximately half a million dollars worth of personnel costs if they continued to engage in such types of behavior. As if this is not enough, there would be about one thousand businesses that would be affected by the activities of a casino within a state. While the latter figures may reduce substantially in the City of Cleveland, this does not undermine the fact that they are still likely to occur within this City in these same promotion. All in all businesses in Cleveland would suffer because of the drug and alcohol related costs that could emanate from the Casino. The latter costs can be equated to all the support or healthcare that businesses already spent on their personnel. (Garret 125)
Education would also be another area affected by establishment of a casino within Cleveland City. First of all, if a casino is brought into this area, children would imagine that it is okay to earn a living through gambling. This would make them disregard the effects of a good education. In other words, a casino would philosophically oppose the very need for an education. Aside from that, perpetuating such a notion would be misleading to the youth because nobody actually makes a living out of gambling as the nature of a casino is such that it is always the house that makes money.
Not only would a casino impede education development, but it would also lead to the case of pathological gambling. The nature of casinos is such that they normally target gambling addicts or people who are going to become gambling addicts. This means that there may be scenarios in which consumer dollars are converted into gambling money. The American Psychiatric Association asserted that addictive behavior within South Dakota increased tremendously after an onset of casino establishments. This also implies that the pathological gamblers would spend valuable time engaging in gambling activities as rather than offering their assistance to nation building activities. Aside from that, it is also likely that some people may have to direct funds towards taking care of their gambling addiction. The latter issue is likely to reflect very negatively on the City of Cleveland as a whole since it would be seen as a city with a lot of social ills. Besides that, small businesses in this area would be greatly hit because they do not posses the amount of revenue required to protect themselves against such effects. (Kindt 89)
All the latter social economic repercussions are likely to weigh very heavily on the economy of Cleveland City. These negative economic effects are likely to be translated into a scenario of more job loss. Numerous businesses ought to be concerned about the expansion of gambling activities through casinos because they would all be competing for the same consumer dollars as traditional business models. In the end, it is these other businesses that will suffer. These effects may take a long time to show but within the City of Cleveland, however, it should; not be assumed that all will be well
Conclusion
Introducing a casino in the city of Cleveland would degrade its economic strength because of a number of reasons. First of all, it could lead to reduced jobs in other industries or businesses, it would exert pressure on businesses to close, it could cause perpetual gambling and thus perpetuate social ills, it could lead to reduced taxation and political control, minimize development of education and eventually cause less jobs. Overly, these effects are so huge that they would override the possible positives from the latter strategy.
Bibliography
Kindt, John. “The Negative effects of gambling on businesses.” Miami Business law journal 4, 5 (2004): 89.
The latter article reflects on social and economic problems that gambling can bring to a respective area. This article was useful in supporting the notion that there would be less jobs within the City of Cleveland since statistics quoted were related to similar geographical locations.
Worthington, Rogers. “The poor get poorer through tribal casinos.” Chicago Tribune. 2002: 13.
In this article, the author claims that casinos perpetuate more poverty because such groups tend to be propelled by their desperate situations. The piece was very useful in illustrating how perpetual gambling can be propagated and how people’s standard of living can go down.
Wolf, Frank. Impact of gambling. 2009. Web.
The latter article brings out the fact that economic effects are easily measurable compared to social effects. While it propagates the view that gambling is beneficial to the society, it is still important to realize that the article points out the gaps in research about the social effects. This means that the net benefits to society have been undermined.
Garret, Thomas. Casino gambling in America. MA: Harvard University Press. 2003.
The latter book looks at a balanced view of both sides of the story. It highlights the tax revenues and economic benefits of casinos. However, it also illustrates some of the possible social effects of casinos; overly, the net worth of casinos within any given city is always in question