Punters, Puritans, and Ponies
Around 5 years ago, the US government banned online gambling. In the UK, every high (“main”) street has multiple shops where anyone over 18 can place a sports bet. Even more online. Why the puritanical US?
And better yet, why so hypocritical? Almost every US state supports some form of a lottery. Not only are the odds for a lottery worse than for sports gambling, lotteries don’t drive other parts of the economy. At least punters (gamblers) who bet on a football match drive incidental gross national product through their purchase of beer, nicer televisions, or event tickets. Lottery ticket buyers simply burn money.
Why this topic this week? Because this week is the Royal Ascot – the horse races outside of London where the ladies wear big hats, the Queen makes an appearance, and the quantity of bets is topped only by the quantity of alcohol.
Because of the timing of Esther’s master’s thesis project, she could not travel back to California for our friend Daisy and Jeremy’s wedding this weekend. But she did have a few free hours to join the Queen at the horse races. Pictures and stories forthcoming.
