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The impact of casino gambling on
bankruptcy
by Jerry "Jet"
Whittaker
Nov 21, 2006
Casino Gambling
Casino gambling has reached dizzying heights in the
U.S., especially in counties that have actually
legalized casino gambling. Commercial gambling outlets,
especially casino gambling joints, have multiplied in
several areas that have institutionalized legal
gambling. One major fallout of this activity is a
corresponding rise in personal bankruptcies. It has been
estimated that filing of personal bankruptcies has
soared in direct proportion to the flourishing casino
gambling scene. For the entire U.S. the figures for
personal bankruptcies have seen an upward surge from
1994 to 1998. However, a close scrutiny of these numbers
reveals that a majority of them bear no direct relation
to casino gambling.
Personal Bankruptcies:
It
has been correctly gleaned that there is an overall rise
in bankruptcy figures in the vicinity of casinos. Thus
casino gambling has a local, not a national, impact on
bankruptcy declarations. These personal bankruptcy
filings in counties that host casino gambling outlets
have remained at an all-time high level. There are
discernible trends that personal bankruptcies are
directly linked to a mushrooming of casinos. The graph
that has emerged shows a rise in bankruptcies after the
initial entry of casinos in a county. Then personal
bankruptcies plummet for a while, and then steadily soar
again. In figurative terms, this amounts to 6.7%
bankruptcies for a population of 1,000,; which is a
steep 2.3% higher than in counties with no gambling
outlets. What these figures reveal is that if casino
gambling were to be barred, there would be a decline of
5% in personal bankruptcy filings.
Empirical evidence therefore suggests that casino
gambling has triggered the catastrophic proportions
witnessed in personal bankruptcy claims. Counties that
legalize casino gambling do experience an across the
board negative development in higher gambling rates by
its residents. This is an unfortunate habit that is
randomly imbibed by county residents who become hooked
to casino gambling. This rapidly results in uncontrolled
impulsive gambling, and the predictable corollary is
financial ruin, which is responsible for higher personal
bankruptcies. However many counties view legalized
casino gambling as a reliable source of revenue that can
shore up the its financial ledgers. Money earned from
casino gambling
is utilized by counties on enhancing civic amenities.
This vicious circle then is directly responsible for
county residents indulging in reckless gambling to the
extent of courting financial insolvency and then filing
bankruptcy claims to tide over acute financial woes.
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