Jeffrey Alan Miron: Gambling, Morality and French Race Tracks

July 15, 2006

Gambling, Morality and French Race Tracks

In a recent post, Greg Mankiw expressed his "moralistic" dislike of gambling. Greg emphasized that his moralistic views had no implications for public policy toward gambling. Thus libertarians have no "policy" reason to disagree with anything Greg said.

On the issue of morality, however, I suspect that Greg has substantially understated the scope for gambling to be a pleasurable diversion, no less moral or intellectual than much television, many movies, most sports, and so on. Here's an example.

The hotel we stayed in a few nights ago (outside Cabourg, in Normandie) is literally a stone's throw from a race track (trotters, both atele (hooked to a trap) and monte (mounted) (my apologies to purists for the absence of accents)). Given the track's proximity, and the fact that the noise was going to keep us awake whether we attended or not, we decided to check it out.

One question was whether children would be permitted (ours are 12 and 14). They would certainly not have been allowed at U.S. race tracks or other gambling establishments. In fact, children were not only allowed but welcome (free, in fact).

And the crowd was decidedly "middle class" rather than having the vaguely criminal feel of U.S. race tracks. The modal group was a set of parents or grandparents with kids in tow, from infants to teenagers. Some of these families gambled; many did not. Many teens without parents were also present; they appeared far more interested in the opposite sex than in gambling.

Perhaps Puritanical attitudes and restrictive policy contribute to the "seamy" feel of gambling in the U.S. Maybe a more neutral attitude, combined with elimination of legal restrictions, would make gambling more "normal."

Personally, I do not see the appeal of horse-racing or any kind of gambling; both bore me to tears (we left after three races). But I also have no "moral" reaction.

July 15, 2006 | Permalink

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