the death of music cassette tapes, and the birth of ohio casinos

think back to the last time you bought a music cassette tape...

it's been a while, hasn't it?

perhaps now you spend your money on audio CDs, or downloadable files from iTunes.

You may be spending about the same amount of your income on music as you did ten years ago, but the format has changed.

You've shifted spending your cash from Product A to Product B.

- - -

What does this have to do with casinos?

let's consider dining at local restaurants, buying gifts for friends and family, and other personal spending decisions to all be wrapped into Product A.

then let's consider someone's spending at casinos to be Product B.

If casinos are placed into Ohio's four largest cities and downtowns, many many people will be buying Product B. That means fewer dollars and less opportunities to buy Product A.

The result:
when casinos go up ... personal spending on other goods such as tickets to the performing arts, dining and family restaurants, and donations to charity go down. That means the people associated with these components within the community will lose their jobs.

Net community-wide job growth is zero.

This is the fallacy of all the "economic development" claims by those pushing casino growth.

If the total amount of money in a community is not growing because of exports or stays the same, all we are talking about here is shifting money, not gaining money.

And like any modern slot machine, the house always wins over time.

Sure, here and there people may be winners or losers at certain instances pulling the handle, but system and machine is designed in the long run that the casino always walks away with profit.

Say No to Issue 3.

and say no to lies about economic development.