As the G2E booths are dismantled, Nevada reports its highest unemployment rate since 1985. The state has exceeded the national average every month for a year and things are expected to get worse. In the past year around 15,000 construction jobs have been lost and seasonal hiring in the hospitality industry is well down from previous years. The gaming industry has to adapt to leaner times and may come out stronger and better focused than before.

Despite what many would have you believe, the Global Gaming Expo 2008 has been a success for many companies. This year talk may have been more about how to survive the economic slump than the hyper talk-up of gaming of the last few years, but the old-timers have seen glory days come and go before. Perhaps it is time for the industry and Las Vegas in particular to reinvent themselves once again.

The downturn could provide a breathing space for reassessment. As the Harrah’s Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman commented at the G2E conference: the industry has been spending capital like ‘drunken sailors’. "I think the industry is going to have to get accustomed to the notion that not every project is a good project -- and $1 billion is a lot of money, after all."

In Macau the rapid development of casinos has brought its own problems. Now that several such projects have been delayed or put on hold it may give badly needed infrastructure projects time to catch up. Elsewhere it remains to be seen if those countries, such as Taiwan and Japan, toying with casino legislation will have missed the boat for eager contenders to invest.

In the US some states have agonized for years over allowing casinos and Kansas has recently discovered that chosen operators have now said, ‘thanks, but no thanks’ as financial conditions worsen. Gambling, which has brought welcome rewards to many governments, can no longer be relied upon to plug budget deficits. Whatever the anti-gambling lobbyists say, most people do regard gambling as entertainment and when the money gets tight they cut back. It is up to the industry to use its ingenuity and tradition for innovation to surmount its present problems. (E-11.21.08)

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