Yesterday I Went Orchard Library. Keynes Say Casino Is Bad
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Yesterday I went to Orchard library. Another public service excellence in Singapore. I could borrow books as I like. The place is nice somemore.
I borrowed a book on risk:
'Against The Gods-The Remarkable Story of Risk'.
There in the book, John M Keynes, the famous economist, said casino is bad:
'When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done.'
This is written in chapter 1.
Reading this, I have a little uneasy impression.
I have just touched down in Singapore, see see abit, and I know Singapore is trying to reinvent itself, rejuvenate, reinvigorate, and re-exfoliate itself with the casino, (wa, you think like Biore face scrub ah), and now Im reading this rather dim proclamation by a renowned economist whose views are in many economics textbooks.
I have mixed feelings.
I read further, it says ancient Egyptians punished compulsive gamblers by forcing them to hone stones for pyramids.
That means something must be wrong.
It also says a professor in University of Illinois estimates that for every dollar of government revenue, three dollars are paid in costs to social agencies and criminal justice system.
What have the Men In Black done????
I hope they know what they're doing.
I have a bad foreboreding about this. I hope this will not be a wrong turning point for Singapore.
Anyways, I am still reading the book. I will report back to you any new development.
#$%^&* reporting live, out. -
Cos Sg gov desperate for more income, so open casino
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This book abit heavy, I need time to chew.
By the way, today I went library again. -
wah just come back and start borrowing books le u are studious manOriginally posted by #$%^&*:This book abit heavy, I need time to chew.
By the way, today I went library again. -
BAD!!
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wth la.
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if the govt say that the casino is good for singapore, then it must be.
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Keynes is not the only one who says that casinos are bad....other economists say this too....
The following article is taken from: http://www.news.uiuc.edu/biztips/01/10gamble.html
A website of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Casino's costs far outweigh their economic benefits, economist
says
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Although promoted as an economic development tool, casino gambling is a losing hand when subjected to rigorous cost-benefit analysis, a University of Illinois economist concludes.
Analysis of data compiled from around the country suggests that opening a casino eventually costs a community at least 1.9 times more than its benefits, Earl L. Grinols, a UI economist, writes. This amounts to a yearly national loss of at least $27.5 billion.
Grinols co-edited a special issue on casino gambling in the journal, Managerial and Decision Economics, with David B. Mustard, a University of Georgia economist. In their paper, which concludes the issue, Grinols and Mustard reviewed studies on the gambling industry, which expanded rapidly in the 1990s and includes an array of riverboat and Indian casinos. "Much of the information has been funded by the gambling industry itself and is marked by poorly executed or biased economic-impact studies that use incomplete data or make conclusions not supported by facts," Grinols said in an interview. "But there is a growing consensus by independent economists on the benefits and costs of casinos." Putting together the best available information was a major objective of the special issue.
A major source of the social cost of gambling comes from the relatively small (but growing) group known as problem and pathological gamblers. "Two-thirds to 80 percent of gambling revenues come from the 10 percent of the population that gambles most heavily. Expressed in reverse, 90 percent of the population may provide as little as 20 percent of casino revenues," Grinols and Mustard wrote.
At least one in five compulsive gamblers file for bankruptcy after they have exhausted multiple credit cards and other lines of credit, often putting their families in jeopardy.
Lost productivity from sick days off for gambling and extended lunch hours is another cost borne by the local economy. Between 21 and 36 percent of compulsive gamblers report losing a job because of their gambling habit, according to information from gambling treatment centers.
Grinols and Mustard identified higher crime rates as yet another price of gambling. A county with a casino has about 8 percent higher crime rates than a county without a casino four years after the casino is opened, a study by Mustard and Grinols concluded in 1999.
So, too, pathological gamblers followed "a predictable path of exhausting personal resources, selling insurance policies, selling possessions and ‘borrowing’ from family and friends." Overall, the "cost-creating activities" of a pathological gambler is $13,586 a year, the economists concluded.
The major benefits of gambling come from profits and tax revenues from the casinos as well as possible price effects such as higher wages or housing prices. However, a common fallacy involves just computing the tax receipts and wages from a casino without examining the ramifications of a casino on other economic activity. Casinos are known, for example, to draw revenues from other businesses and to discourage the location of new business. -
I never believed in the arguments for building a casino here, and I still don't.
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a group of ppl up there think they r GOD.
what's KEYNES compared to them? -
LKY is king here.. Who cares abt Keynes..
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i am not a supporter of PAP, nor LKY. But i'm just dropping because i see stupid people everywhere in Sunny Singapore!
Firstly, it is very stupid per se for you to believe everything Keynes say. Similar to how majority Singaporeans choose to blindly believe what LKY said.
Secondly, you probably don't have an idea of what you are talking about! Casino is implemented differently in Singapore than in other countries such as Dubai and etc. You have to know that the author's understanding of Casino lies in a very different context from what we have in Singapore. Casinos here in Singapore are targeted primarily at foreigners, not Singaporeans. Which is why we have many restrictions for Singaporeans to enter, whereas foreigners can breeze in. Simply to put it, the PAP is trying to reap the economic benefits of Casino, but dumping the negative externalities in other countries. Very brilliant i say, a rare praise from me and even more rare since it's directed at PAP. But i digress. Singaporeans though, are too stupidly chasing after non-conformism to realise it unfortunately.
Lastly, i do not support PAP or WP or any other party in Singapore. I do not support Singapore. I am not loyal. I am not faithful. I am my own god. -
I dislikes the idea of building a casino in here. Rich's man game.
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MM says there will likely be more than 2 IRs (read casinoes) in the future.
All of you better buck up on your card dealing skills. -
Keynes ?? Keynesian model??????
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What?? Build so many for What? What?Originally posted by charlize:MM says there will likely be more than 2 IRs (read casinoes) in the future.
All of you better buck up on your card dealing skills.
I think Macau do not have that's many Casino. Does Hong Kong have IRs? Not so sure about it
Small island with so many IRs.
Disappointed.
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The answer is so obvious.Originally posted by Meilin86:What?? Build so many for What? What?
I think Macau do not have that's many Casino. Does Hong Kong have IRs? Not so sure about it
Small island with so many IRs.
Disappointed.
I don't think I need to spell it out for you. -
CASINO -> MORE JOBS -> MORE TOURISTS -> MORE INCOMES - > MORE EXCITEMENT IN SG. -
oh okay, so because half of Singapore is poor, we shouldn't have high-end facilities to cater to the rich?Originally posted by Meilin86:I dislikes the idea of building a casino in here. Rich's man game. -
You are highly delusional.Originally posted by pokkagreentea:CASINO -> MORE JOBS -> MORE TOURISTS -> MORE INCOMES - > MORE EXCITEMENT IN SG. -
ok I know, there will be other things like restaurants, convention centers, retail shops, etc all these. It is not only casino.
I just wonder why Singapore didn't build Disneyland or maybe something like that.
The reason why it makes me uncomfortable, besides of the possible economic/ social effects, is also because of this:
I try to put this into words.
Few days ago I was flipping through old newspapers. Straits Times.
There I saw an article about a list of billionaires.
There was a photo of Mr Bill Gates and Mr Sheldon Adelson.
Bill Gates, as you know is the Microsoft guy. Sheldon Adelson is Las Vegas Sands guy, the one who got the project in Singapore.
Looking at the photos of these two men, I just have a bad vibe.
Here I will give you an example:
You see that?
The difference can be felt. Bill Gates has the look of a geek. He is therefore the chief of a software company. Sheldon Adelson has the look of a crook. He is therefore the chief of a casino company.
I do believe looks has to do with your personality and your life. Either your looks affect your choices, or your experiences affect your looks, whatever it is. There is some kind of fundamental connection between looks and life.
Just take a look at Bill Gates again. He has the same looks as Sim Wong Hoo. They are the same type. Sheldon Adelson also has a certain look. If I were a movie director I will cast him as a bad guy, perhaps as a casino kingpin or mafia boss. Do you know what I mean?
Ok I know, maybe he just look bad in that photo only. Here are a couple more photos of him from Google Image, just to be fair:
Now, when I was flipping that old Straits Times newspaper, I was struck with the different vibes that these two men give. If you keep old newspapers, maybe you can check the articles within 1 month.
Im just not so sure it's a good idea to let a casino kingpin like him establish his stranglehold in Singapore.
I feel it is wrong at some fundamental level and might bite back Singapore.
If I may continue a bit on this issue......
Next time when you walk pass a betting outlet, take a look at the people who queue there. Just one glance, you will see people who belong to certain group of people, certain type. Just take a look next time.
Or you go to SRC, Singapore Recreation Club, go to the games room where there are slot machines. You will see aunties playing the slot machines with many coins, looks like they have been standing there for the whole afternoon.
I mean, when people talk about 'vice' , usually they mean....smoking, drinking, gambling, prostitution.
Building a huge casino is akin to building a huge Hotel 81.
There is more to it. -
Anyway, I can see Sheldon Adelson will keep getting featured in billionaires list for many coming years, thanks to Singapore.