John Stossel: Where are the jobs?

[Bill Angel]

I think that economic growth (and the creation of jobs) is being deminished by the amount of money siphoned off by legalised gambling.

"Americans wagered approximately $900 billion in 2009 and gross gaming revenue - the amount retained by casinos, race tracks, lotteries, and other gaming hosts - totaled $80.5 billion."

That's 900 billion dollars that could have been directed into creating more meaningful jobs. Also, that 900 billion could have been used to underwrite the development of American industries that would be more competitive with their overseas counterparts that are robbing Americans of their jobs!

teapartysamurai thinks I'm "cuckoo"
Well, here is a quote from the Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Samuelson butressing my position:

"(Gambling) involves simply sterile transfers of money or goods between individuals, creating no new money or goods. Although it creates no output, gambling does nevertheless absorb time and resources. When pursued beyond the limits of recreation, where the main purpose after all is to kill time, gambling subtracts from the national income."