Inside Policy Talks: How to address the demand for online gambling

Inside Policy Talks by the Macdonald Laurier Institute

Sports betting, online gambling, and now prediction markets are becoming harder to avoid. What was once confined to casinos or occasional wagers is now built into our phones, advertised on sports broadcasts, and increasingly our wider digital economy.

This raises bigger questions about the impact of markets. Should markets always follow demand, even when it involves a social harm, letting choice prevail and government coffers swell with the proceeds? Or should we look to the total economic and social impact – like indebtedness, bankruptcy, addiction and mental illness – for a sense of how to approach issues like the demand for gambling?

CAMP executive director Keldon Bester joins Inside Policy Talks to discuss this growing problem.