American Moneyline: Protecting Consumers in the Age of Online Gambling
Expanded access to online gambling is eroding the financial health of low-income Americans. Despite significant private-sector profits and substantial tax windfalls for states, evidence is mounting that these new online markets are driving vulnerable players towards addictive behaviors and financial distress. Looking forward, these socioeconomic and public health costs may offset a sizable portion of the profits that states are drawing from legal online gambling. But the damage to public welfare cuts even deeper than these cost-benefit analyses indicate; indeed, widely available online gambling has placed many people at greater risk of addiction, financial adversity, and exploitation. To meaningfully protect consumers against these inherently manipulative digital systems, state regulators must move beyond the traditional paradigm of information provision and towards a structural, population-level approach that universally restricts access to the most dangerous and addictive features of online gambling platforms.
