Factcheck on Casinos in the US: Tony Tan is wrong
A bit of misrepresentation on DPM Tony Tan’s part, eh?
‘Is it an economic plus or an economic minus? Do not assume that a casino is an economic plus. If it is, every state in the US would have a casino.’
This statement assumes that each individual state has the same cultural and social norms. It also assumes that people in every state are all rational, and base their voting patterns on economic rationales. That is obviously wrong. Since ‘gaming’ (I didn’t come up with that euphemism, the Americans did) commissions come under state jurisdiction, the control lies with the legislative chambers of each state. Naturally, that means the chance of Utah having a casino is just about as likely as the Mormons relocating the headquarters of their church to San Francisco.
He made specific reference to the United States about the ‘desirability or undesirability’ of having a casino.
He said that while the US had 50 states, only two had casinos - Las Vegas and Atlantic City. There was none elsewhere, even in the most liberal of states, like California.
Again, he’s wrong here. Firstly, Las Vegas and Atlantic City are not states, but I’ll not quibble on this, it could just be Straits Times idiocy. But Tony Tan is also clearly wrong about the number of casinos. This list, which is not even comprehensive, indicates that there are at least 7 states with casinos in them.
On top of that, ‘fruit machines’ can be easily found in non-casino venues as well.
Dr Tan noted: ‘If a state like California, which is extremely liberal and as conscious of the need to make money, but do not allow casinos to be established, that deserves a bit of thought.’
The Wikipedia list counts at least 15 casinos in California alone. Tony Tan needs a fact checker. Fast.
Straits Times - Examine casino’s impact on S’pore brand: DPM Tan - Feb 3, 2005
