Declining Slot Revenues Are Actually Good News In A Way

The Associated Press via Hartford Business Today reports Foxwoods, including the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, says its slot machine take for December was about $45 million, a 19 percent drop over the same month last year. Mohegan Sun reports that its December slots win was $63 million, down 4 percent.

But there is a silver lining to this cloud.

While it hurts our tax revenues (and has lead to job cuts and layoffs), it’s a sign we’re being more prudent with our money. At the same time gas prices declined, so did the amount of miles driven, according to AAA, as drivers maintained their driving habits based on higher fuel costs.

As the credit situation tightened for new car loans, people with excellent and good credit stopped buying cars — even though the money was there for them.

It’s a refreshing dawn of prudence in our economy. Some might call it fear, but we are holding on to our disposable income – or at least not pouring it into our gas tanks, buying cars we can’t afford, and pulling the one-armed bandits.

This Nickel Will Probably Cost You A Quarter

(Posted 1/15/08)

The CT Beer Wholesalers Association, through their executive director/chief lobbyist Patrick Sullivan (probably one of three most powerful lobbyists in Connecticut), are saying higher beer prices are going to result from the state taking back uncollected nickel deposits on beer bottles and soft drink containers.

Beer wholesalers say they use the uncollected funds to pay for recycling all the bottles and that it will have to raise prices to offset the lost $25 million annually – and there is no reason not to believe them.

Well, call us a suspicious Joe SixPack, but based on our bar napkin calculations, the price of a bottle of beer should rise a nickel to offset the lost deposit income – and no more.

The price of a six pack should go up 30 cents. A bottle of beer at your local tavern should only cost 5 cents more.

Yet, we’re just willing to bet (maybe a beer?) that six-pack prices will jump at least 50 cents and your bartender is going to have you crying in your beer as he charges you 25 cents more for a cold, Bud Lite.

On an unrelated note, how long do you think it’s going to take for an entrepreneur to set up a bottle collecting company so wholesalers can cut their expenses?

Or, how long before a beer wholesaler sets up this independent company so it doesn’t have to use unionized drivers?