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Opinion: Don't bet on new jobs at Menominee Nation casino

So yes, approving the Kenosha casino would create jobs at the now-vacant dog racing park. But it would also eliminate jobs at a variety of other locations, in Kenosha, Milwaukee, and other parts of SE Wisconsin and NE Illinois. Approving the casino would just redirect consumer spending from one place to another; the net jobs impact would be pretty much zero.

(By the way, that’s why the Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi tribes oppose the casino. They know that it will hurt their businesses, and force them to lay off some of their workforce. It’s called a zero sum game, and they know it.)

So should Walker approve the casino? Some of the jobs lost would be in Illinois – perhaps at the Grand Victoria Casino Elgin, or at bars and restaurants in the Waukegan area. If by “job growth” you mean stealing jobs from your neighbors, well, maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe a casino in Kenosha means the gambling folks in Zion and Kenosha and Racine won’t have to drive as far to gamble away their income. Less driving home from a casino probably means less drunken driving, and that’s a good thing too.

But one more casino is one more temptation to gamble away the rent payment, and if the casino results in fewer non-gambling entertainment options in the Kenosha area – as it most probably will – that’s more people who get exposed to the allure of the Blackjack table. That’s more people who succumb to gambling addictions, more lives negatively affected, more children who end up with crooked teeth. And that’s not so good.