State owned versus Private casinos

[ian]

Around the world the vast majority of casinos are in private ownership but there are notable exceptions.

Holland, Sweden, some German Lander & some Canadian Provinces come to mind.

In the U.S. Illinois's Governor Blagojevich has raised the possibility of a State takeover of the 9 Riverboat casinos, with companies hired to manage the operations. The idea being to take all the profits for State coffers instead of just a %.

Google link to more on this subject
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ed...nG=Search+News


So, are State or National Government's better off owning casinos within their own borders.? Would the public see more benefits in their own communities.? Are jobs more secure and higher paid as a result.?

Or should they not be in business of promoting gambling and to quote from one newspaper "being in the position of head croupier!"

What do you think?

Ian

[Brian]

Governments should govern and industry should take care of business. If the Illinois riverboats were taken over, competition between them would go out the window along with quality, innovation and choice. Nationalization should be reserved for critical areas such as defence, law enforcement and social security, etc. Casino gaming is never critical to society.

[Tesla2870]

PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp) seems to work well. This government run entity spins off a lot into social & educational programs etc.
Phil

[Brian]

Tesla2870,

Wasn't PAGCOR privatized?

Anyway, when people link the "C" word to the Philippine government, they usually aren't referring to "Charity".

[Tesla2870]

Hi Brian,
There was an attempt to privatize PAGCOR a few years ago, but because of the other 'C' word you mentioned, it never happened.
phil

[ian]

That is usually the strongest argument for opening casinos.
It will also attract more tourists, raise more taxes for the local authority, be the cornerstone of an areas economic recovery and revitalise the housing market etc....

Casino gaming has been legal in Atlantic City since 1973. Some would say that travelling away from the Boardwalk the city is still dangerous and run-down.

The privately owned casinos pay under 10% in gaming taxes. One wonders what would have happened if New Jersey had decided to run their own casinos 30 years ago?

Would those thousands of voters who said yes to casino gaming presently have a better quality of life.?

One wonders.

Ian