The Economic Impact of Horse Racing Tracks and Historical Horse Racing in Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky currently has 5 thoroughbred racing tracks and 3 harness racing tracks (Mint Julep Louisville 2021). As Table 1 below shows[1], the industry employees roughly 6,000 people (direct jobs), and these jobs annually support another 1,500 jobs or so throughout the state. These 1,500 jobs are jobs that are provided by the suppliers to the horse race tracks (indirect jobs) and jobs that are created by the spending of the race track employees and the employees of suppliers on food, housing, transportation, and clothing by vendors and retailers throughout the state (induced jobs). The direct jobs generate in 2019 dollars around $170 million in payroll, and these in turn support another$69 million in payroll among race track suppliers and other businesses in the state. With regard to state domestic product, the tracks create over a half-billion dollars in output while their suppliers and supported businesses contribute another $223 million in domestic product. As of 2021, Kentucky state gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to be$190 billion

The Economic Impact of Buying and Redeveloping Ellis Park by Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs’ acquisition of Ellis Park Racing and Gaming in Henderson, Kentucky reflects the growing number of mergers across the US among racetracks, racetracks and casinos, and casinos with other casinos. Some years back, Ellis racetrack closed for one year due to declining profitability, yet after new ownership took over and a gaming center was added, it began a rebound in earnings (Courier and Press 2008). The $75 million that Churchill Downs plans to spend to transform Ellis Park (Schulz 2022) will have a much bigger impact than the construction, revamping, and expansion of park facilities. This is in addition to the current economic impact that the existing park has on the Evansville, Indiana Metro Area

Is Neo-fascism Inevitable? Looking at the Economic Surplus, the Baran Ratio, and Long Wave Cycles

This paper briefly outlines the idea and development of the economic surplus concept at the macroeconomic level as opposed to the one in microeconomics often labeled as a Marshallian surplus. The notion of a residual amount of output or income over and above what is necessary for a society’s consumption (education, housing, food, clothing, health care, transportation, and other necessities of life) that can be used either for further consumption by an elite class, used for reinvestment in productive activities, and/or wasted on unproductive efforts is one that has been and continues to be taught and used in heterodox and neo-Marxian economics. The relevancy of the economic surplus view to modern and recent US economic growth is examined especially in light of new ways that have been created to apply the economic surplus concept. Applications using the Baran Ratio and long wave cycles theory are demonstrated, and it appears that the Baran Ratio is a useful concept to help predict long wave movements that are based on the economic surplus. The monopoly capital view of overaccumulation as a cause of long-term stagnation is somewhat supported in the long wave analysis, and this result hints at the prospect of dramatic political changes over the next few years if the US and global economies are at the end of a current cycle or at the beginning of a new one

Investment, Deficits, and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism: An Exploratory Heterodox Analysis and Conjecture

Investment in capital, new technology, and agricultural techniques has not been considered endeavors worthwhile in a medieval economy because of a lack of strong property rights and no incentive on the part of lords and barons to lend money to or grant rights peasant farmers. Therefore, the medieval economy and standards of living at that time often have been characterized as non-dynamic and static due to insufficient investment in innovative techniques and technology. The capital investment undertaken typically would have been in livestock, homes, or public investment in canals, bridges, and roads, although investment in the latter would have been hindered by a fragmented political system of fiefdoms and lack of a unified national government. During the mercantilism era, these conditions are claimed to have improved, although much investment and economic activity are deemed to center around trading and small producers. This paper attempts to demonstrate empirically that a productive and sufficient level of public and private investment out of accumulated capital income, taxation, and rents does not have a real impact on economic per capita growth until around the 1600s in Britain perhaps due to the beginning of a strong, central government, increased property rights as well as to the level of capital, tax, and land income achieving an adequate threshold amount. This would also be about the time of capitalism’s ascent as the dominant economic system in England. Even then, dramatic increases in investment and economic growth do not appear until the late 18th Century when investment as a share of the economic surplus reaches a sufficient threshold. According to the heterodox economics and exploratory analysis done in this paper, the types of investment, threshold amounts of investment out of profits and rents seem to matter when it comes to a growth path raising GDP per capita and net national income to higher levels

Did Covid Benefit or Harm Horse Racing Wagering? A Comparison of Trends

Different media accounts during the recent Covid-19 pandemic have mentioned an upswing in horse racing gambling thanks to a decline in other forms of wagering at casinos and with sports gambling. This paper examines gambling trends across the US before and during the pandemic for these forms in gambling as well as lotteries. Horse racing wagering did see an increase, but not as dramatically as one would expect

Recent Impacts of Penny and Fixed Odds Wagering: What Does the Future Hold?

In order hopefully to revive attendance at the tracks and/or fuel a resurgence in gambling (either in person or virtually), the last year has seen some recent wagering developments and changes at different horseracing tracks in the United States. At Ellis Park Racing and Gaming (Henderson, Kentucky) in the Evansville, Indiana metro area, penny wagering has been tried since the 2022 season to influence gambling revenues. Meanwhile, starting in 2022 Monmouth Park in New Jersey now offers “fixed odds” wagering as an alternative to parimutuel wagering for patrons who do not like the possible fluctuations in odds before a race starts. Kentucky and New Jersey official documents that have been posted over the last few months show that the results of these efforts are mixed at best. Finally, if fixed odds wagering comes to Kentucky, and if tax laws are not changed, the effect of such wagering could have profound impacts on parts of the state’s budget and various state and non-profit programs

The Economic Impact of Keeneland Race Course on the Lexington Metro Area with Projections for this Year’s Breeders Cup

Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky has had a long tradition for quality horse racing going back to its inception in 1936 (Keeneland 2022). With the 2022 Breeders’ Cup World Championships coming to the race track this November, this paper examines what economic impact the race track has on the Lexington metro area (Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Jessamine, Scott, and Woodford counties in Kentucky) on an annual basis and how the 2022 Breeders’ Cup will boost the impact of the race track when compared to a typical year

Bankers as Immoral? Some Parallels and Differences between Aquinas’s Views on Usury and Marxian Views of Banking and Credit

Since ancient times the practices and ethics of bankers and banking in general have undergone a great deal of criticism. While lending is motivated by profit, and while households are not explicitly coerced into borrowing money, the justice of a system which exploits workers and at the same time encourages them to borrow money in order to maintain a certain standard of living can be viewed as sometimes unfair and perhaps immoral. The value of goods, according to St. Thomas Aquinas and Karl Marx, should mostly reflect the value of labor embodied in them, and for that reason, labor should be compensated fully for its work. For these reasons, Aquinas and Marxian economists offer somewhat similar and at the same time different views on both the labor theory of value as well as on the morality of certain banking practices. If credit and the banking system also bring about crisis and the greater concentration and centralization of capital, then the morality of these outcomes also needs to be examined