Gulf Coast recovery

Posted on September 3rd, 2007 by ecthompson md

I have mixed emotions about this story.  Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the US.  They need a little of everything.  Katrina completely squashed what a calming the Mississippi Gulf Coast had.  Towns like Gulfport and Biloxi were devastated.  In this NBC report, Biloxi, Mississippi is thriving behind the gambling industry.  Old laws which required casinos to be water-based or placed after the hurricane and are to spur economic growth.

I lived in Shreveport — Bossier City, Louisiana during the late 80s and through the mid-90s.  The first casinos were built in the early 90s.  There was a lot of speculation of increased crime.  Fortunately, this did not happen.  Minimum wage workers nearly doubled their salaries by going to work for the casinos instead of some of the other businesses in town.  This caused a relative labor shortage.  The other businesses had to raise their pay in order to get qualified workers.  The casinos were an economic boom to a relatively depressed city.  The lowest wage earners increased their income and got health benefits.

NN - Gulf Coast recovery [ 3:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Katrina // 3 Comments »

  • http://texasliberal.wordpress.com/ Texas Liberal

    If gambling is what is left to base are future on we sure do have some troubles. Gambling is another poor tax. I ran a lottery machine as a colleg job and it was depressing as could be. I don’t doubt that some folks got better jobs at casinos. But what about the money people are losing at the casinos?

    One year when my wife was out of town for Thanksgiving and I could not go, I drove to a casino in Lake Charles, LA just to get a look. Even on Thanksgiving many people where there gambling away. It was depressing as could be.

    I’m not going to pretend I have a solution to where people with work without the casinos. But this spread of gambling is a sign of some real rot in our country.

  • http://www.whereistheoutrage.net ecthompson

    The new economy McDonalds and Gambling. Yuck!

  • http://www.MississippiPrayerWarriors.org PrayerWarriors

    Don’t fool yourself, Crime rates have risen. Drunk Driving Deaths, Kids left in cars in casino parking lots, young kids left alone at home, Murder, suicides, stealing…All up in Casino area.

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