The subtractor

Adapted From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

‘Bally’s, the Providence-based gambling company, has told its investors that revenue is down because of the Washington Bridge failure. While the bridge mess reduces revenue to  state government under its deal with the company, it also reduces the money taken from the pockets of gamblers who might decide not to go to Bally’s casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton because of the traffic tangles on and around the bridge. That’s money that won’t go to out-of-region investors. This could have a benign macroeconomic effect around here.

The money that’s not sent to these investors could be spent in buying goods and services from locally owned businesses – some that actually make or grow things --  or even in investing in them.

After all, gambling at venues like Bally’s doesn’t exactly increase a region’s long-term wealth; it subtracts from it, including via driving some gambling addicts into personal bankruptcies and bad behavior.

Whatever….