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Addiction Markets

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384 points toomuchtodo | 1 comments | 31 Oct 25 17:42 UTC | HN request time: 0.218s | source
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Humorist2290 ◴[31 Oct 25 23:50 UTC] No.45777973[source]▶

  But if you want to outlaw this harmful activity [licensed gambling], you have to find a way to replace 6.4% of Maryland’s budget, which is slightly less than the entire amount the state brings in from corporate taxes.
A fraction of the proceeds of losing bets from a fraction of Maryland's citizens contributes almost the same to state services -- EMS, education, road maintenance, etc -- than the total corporate taxes levied on all businesses.

Do I misunderstand, or is this just actually incredible?

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TimByte ◴[01 Nov 25 10:50 UTC] No.45780682[source]▶
A state is funding essential public services not through productive economic activity, but by extracting money from people losing bets
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harha ◴[01 Nov 25 12:15 UTC] No.45781056[source]▶
Sounds like a win to me, you can leave more for productive activity to grow and attract more, there less incentive for illegal gambling, and no one is forced to do it.

If there’s a massive burden with addicts, you can still impose that the gambling industry pays more to offset.

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1. juliushuijnk ◴[01 Nov 25 12:28 UTC] No.45781129[source]▶
The goal of the governement is to facilitate conditions where as many people as possible are happy, safe and healthy. The economy of a state is in service of that goal, not the other way around.