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"Lotteries: America's $70 billion shame"

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, May 12, 2015.

Page 8 of 12
  1. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Dollar and a Dream would be a #greatmovietitle

    And hey, even sweet white folks plunk down that cold hard dollar.


     
    Songbird, May 12, 2015
    #85
  2. exmediahack

    exmediahack Well-Known Member

    exmediahack, May 12, 2015
    #86
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member


    All that second graph demonstrates is that 100 percent of the people in this country do 100 percent of the gambling. At least the way you want to use it. It would only be meaningful the way you think it is if every one of those income brackets had the same exact number of people in them.

    The reason that the highest percentage of gamblers (by a lot) are in that $50K to $70K bracket is that by far the highest percentage of Americans are in that income bracket. You'd have to normalize the brackets to make any conclusions from it the way that you want to.
     
    The Big Ragu, May 12, 2015
    #87
  4. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    There's no such thing as gambling losses. You can only write it down to zero. The only people who show up on that are people who A) have won money; B) did it in a traceable fashion (i.e. big score at a casino that has automatic reporting requirements; and C) have some reason to believe it would be a big problem for them if they did get caught.

    In short, Devil's argument is crap, but that's nothing new.
     
    LongTimeListener, May 12, 2015
    #88
    YankeeFan likes this.
  5. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    I agree about the end results. Again, I just don't think you need to market the chance at easy money to most normal people. It's in their nature to seek it out, unlike the other things you mention.

    I'd bet financial worry is near universal among "the 99 percent." The hope of eventual peace of mind, however unlikely, is worth the $5 a week or whatever that people spend on the lottery.
     
    MisterCreosote, May 12, 2015
    #89
  6. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Dumb question but isn't playing the stock market a form of gambling? If so is that figured into any stats?
     
    Songbird, May 12, 2015
    #90
  7. amraeder

    amraeder Well-Known Member

    Somewhat related to the student loan topic:
    I proudly hold a teaching certificate from Cleveland State.
    When I was going there, the president talked about ending their open enrollment policy. Said they were admitting some people they were 99.9999% sure couldn't hack it. These people were taking out loans but they'd never see the increased earning power of a degree.
    Don't know if they ever ended open enrollment. But the argument made sense to me.
     
    amraeder, May 12, 2015
    #91
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    If your definition of gambling is wagering money on something with an uncertain outcome, yeah, you could argue that investing in stocks (or anything for that matter) is a form of gambling.

    If you define gambling as a form of wagering that does not have a positive expected return (what I think most people consider gambling), though, no investing in equities is not gambling.

    If you are going to define investing in equities as gambling because of the uncertain outcome, you'd also have to include lots of other things people typically don't consider gambling -- starting a business or investing in real estate, for example.
     
    The Big Ragu, May 12, 2015
    #92
  9. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Traveling to a job interview.
     
    Dick Whitman, May 12, 2015
    #93
  10. exmediahack

    exmediahack Well-Known Member

    Going into journalism for a living.
     
    exmediahack, May 12, 2015
    #94
  11. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    Ding, ding!

    And we have a winner!
     
    da man, May 12, 2015
    #95
  12. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Wait! Doesn't gambling have to have some kind of hope of a payoff?
     
    Ace, May 12, 2015
    #96
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