>Plus, revenues
>from gambling are highly cyclic and volatile--vulnerable to vicissitudes in
>the business cycle--so that long-run planning, investment, infrastructual
>development or budgeting--requiring sound cost/revenue forecasting--are
>difficult.
>
>The best studies I have seen--alluded to in Russell Means' "Where White Men
>Fear to Tread"-- is that out of each dollar of net profit, about 52 cents
>goes to the major investors--Harrahs etc--then of the remaining 48 cents,
>about 31-33 cents goes for consultants, lawyers, licensing fees etc,
>leaving 15-17 cents of each profit dollar to Tribal Accounts (maintained by
>BIA etc); then the powers that be inside the Tribes-nepotism, cronyism and
>other forms of corruption--skim off close to 10 to 12 cents leaving 3-5
>cents for programs coming anywhere near the average Indian.
This depends on the venue. Foxwoods, the Pequot casino in CT, is now the world's largest casino, with profits between $1M and $2M a day. Because there are only something like 50-100 officially recognized Pequots, they are all millionaires now (this is second hand info, but I have no reason to disbelieve it). They will continue to be successful even in a depression, probably even a severe depression.
Similarly, the Mohegan Sun casino, also in CT, reported profits of over $200M for last fiscal year, although I've heard that the Mohegan Sun casino is really owned by the same company that owns Resorts in Atlantic City (anyone know for sure? I don't understand how majority ownership of an ostensibly Indian casino could be in the hands of a corporation, but it wouldn't surprise me very much).
Still, it is true, most Indian casinos are relatively small operations, and although dealers are likely to be Indian, the directors and hosts and pit bosses are usually non-Indians. I've played in such joints in New Mexico and Minnesota, and I've seen places in Washington state. These type of places probably won't usher in a new era of native american prosperity.
Besides, casinos breed social problems. You can always tell when you're getting close to a casino when you see your first pawn shop. The problem gamblers are easy to spot too, once you arrive. Casinos practically revel in exploitation.
So, do you have any other references other than the Means book I can look into?
Brett