Don't do this at home: Putting lipstick on a pig Wednesday, October 04, 2006 Last night I participated in a panel discussion on gambling in Ohio. Minutes into the discussion, we learned that there is no clear economic development rationale for promoting gambling in Ohio. Mark Rosentraub, Dean of the Levin School at Cleveland State and a proponent of casinos, made clear that Ohio residents are the target market for the Cleveland casinos. In other words, there is no target market outside Ohio for these casinos. As a result, these casinos will not be attracting money into the state. Translation: There is no way for these casinos to generate more income for the Ohio economy than they will drain. In my view, Mark was only able to present some tortured logic designed to keep Northeast Ohio gamblers from leaving the state to gamble. That's no way to promote economic development. The folks in Louisiana have figured this out. A recent editorial in the Baton Rouge Advocate advises "Don't waste time opn gambling". Read more. Proponents in Ohio also want us to see casinos as a good way to raise money for college. That's not only inefficient, it's inequitable. Why should inner city poor families be financing college for suburban kids? And the cost of this goofy tax policy: About 30,000 to 50,000 addicted gamblers each year at an annual cost of $300 million to $500 million in added social costs. These costs are real, and they will put upward pressure on tax rates far into the future. Casinos will be taking money from people who can't afford it and transferring it to people who don't need it. An efficient Social Security system in reverse. Calling this initiative "Learn and Earn" is simply hypocritical, a pollster's strategem. Putting children out front doesn't disguise the real motive of this push: To grant valuable state monopolies for a handful of wealthy casino owners. Lipstick on a pig, as they say in the South. (For more background, I have compiled some of the better, independent casino studies, here.) posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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