How Australia kept its third places alive, what it hid inside them, why Britain’s fix made the problem worse, and what happened when I tried to beat the machine.
I just think you are awesome. I want people like you in a world government. And when they select those that get to escape Earth from the meteorite in a rocket, I vote for you.
I came here to say the same thing (sort of). You are absolutely amazing at using data to explain economic concepts. I seriously hope you are in a good career that recognises your genius.
Also I’m a Pom who lived in Aus for 15 years. So much of this resonated with me. I guess one thing that isn’t answered is “why the Aussies are such big gamblers?”
I lived in New Zealand for a couple fo years and I got a strong 'island mentality' vibe, to me a variation of FOMO. I felt the same on a longer stay in Australia. It might be a deep, default, multigenerational trauma-style sense of being isolated in that location from 'the rest of the world of people like me', even if you can technically jump on a plane any day.
Lauren, thanks for another fantastic post..have subscribed to help support you as a public good, and just sent out a glowing recommendation to my A Level economics students, many of whom are excited by the rather nebulous "data science" boom but when pushed, are very uncertain about what tools, data and questions could be involved - you provide a great example answer to those questions as well as helping to illuminate issues well within their current studies. Thanks
The other usage of poker machines in Australia, is to money launder. Proceeds of criminal activities are gambled, and the winnings are then legitimate income, if done carefully. So there may well be a correlation between heavy gambling in clubs, and the location of illegal activities, such as drug cultivation and distribution, for example?
Hey Lauren, thanks for this post, very insightful! My wife is trying to reopen an old community centre and can attest to how much those places are missing (and are challenging to finance)…
You're close to the real problem here, but why pull the punch? We haven’t misunderstood pokies. We’ve normalised them.
Governments know exactly what they’re doing. Clubs do too. We’ve wired a big chunk of social life to a system that depends on people staying longer than they meant to and losing more than they can afford, because it keeps the whole thing afloat without anyone having to say what it costs.
At some point, the distinction disappears. The room exists because the losses exist. And no, the answer isn’t “fund the pub instead”. Alcohol has its own damage.
If we actually care about community, back things that don’t depend on people losing. Live music is a great start. Places where you pay, watch, listen, leave intact. What we’ve built only works if enough people get hurt.
Excellent article, very well researched and written. However, i think the causation of ‘captivity’ is weakly identified here. Would want to see a stronger definition and understanding of how to quantify it, and how it differs from social isolation, underemployment, and other effects that might confound through geography.
I just think you are awesome. I want people like you in a world government. And when they select those that get to escape Earth from the meteorite in a rocket, I vote for you.
Thanks a lot, really appreciate it:)
I came here to say the same thing (sort of). You are absolutely amazing at using data to explain economic concepts. I seriously hope you are in a good career that recognises your genius.
Also I’m a Pom who lived in Aus for 15 years. So much of this resonated with me. I guess one thing that isn’t answered is “why the Aussies are such big gamblers?”
I lived in New Zealand for a couple fo years and I got a strong 'island mentality' vibe, to me a variation of FOMO. I felt the same on a longer stay in Australia. It might be a deep, default, multigenerational trauma-style sense of being isolated in that location from 'the rest of the world of people like me', even if you can technically jump on a plane any day.
Interesting piece!
What a phenomenal article, the spotlight you shone on this pressing issue was badly needed.
Lauren, thanks for another fantastic post..have subscribed to help support you as a public good, and just sent out a glowing recommendation to my A Level economics students, many of whom are excited by the rather nebulous "data science" boom but when pushed, are very uncertain about what tools, data and questions could be involved - you provide a great example answer to those questions as well as helping to illuminate issues well within their current studies. Thanks
Thanks so much, Andrew - appreciate it! Really happy to contribute through examples:)
https://betwell.org.au/
Project with University of Sydney launching shortly
That’s great, thanks for sharing!
Won’t help with slot machines unless people using credit cards to pay
First rate piece of analysis, insightful and well written. Thank you
Another simple intervention on online gambling would be to regulate bookies as broker-dealers: give them a duty of best execution.
It doesn't solve the problems of advertising or adversarial gamification. But at least folk would get decent odds.
Great post!
The other usage of poker machines in Australia, is to money launder. Proceeds of criminal activities are gambled, and the winnings are then legitimate income, if done carefully. So there may well be a correlation between heavy gambling in clubs, and the location of illegal activities, such as drug cultivation and distribution, for example?
Hey Lauren, thanks for this post, very insightful! My wife is trying to reopen an old community centre and can attest to how much those places are missing (and are challenging to finance)…
You're close to the real problem here, but why pull the punch? We haven’t misunderstood pokies. We’ve normalised them.
Governments know exactly what they’re doing. Clubs do too. We’ve wired a big chunk of social life to a system that depends on people staying longer than they meant to and losing more than they can afford, because it keeps the whole thing afloat without anyone having to say what it costs.
At some point, the distinction disappears. The room exists because the losses exist. And no, the answer isn’t “fund the pub instead”. Alcohol has its own damage.
If we actually care about community, back things that don’t depend on people losing. Live music is a great start. Places where you pay, watch, listen, leave intact. What we’ve built only works if enough people get hurt.
Excellent article, very well researched and written. However, i think the causation of ‘captivity’ is weakly identified here. Would want to see a stronger definition and understanding of how to quantify it, and how it differs from social isolation, underemployment, and other effects that might confound through geography.