As the 2008 crisis started to sink in, countries were wondering what they were going to do about their finances. As of 2013 that crisis hasn't really let up and there have been many victims along the way and governments are still looking at things from a healthier point of view in terms of economics, that is they can't afford to waste money any more and they need to understand where their sources of income can come from.
Taking a city like Detroit for example, that city has nearly turned into a black hole. As much as the city wants to increase taxes, they have nothing that is going to help them and it makes you wonder if the city counsellors and anyone in government really has a clue as to what they are doing, other than looting their own government so they can give themselves a nice cut back themselves.
So fast forward into late 2013 and looking at the prospects of 2014. Since 2008 what has changed in relation to the crisis as well as online gambling? Well online gambling got bigger but it got more legalized during that time span. More governments are saying enough, this industry is massive and we need to tax the shit out of it and that is what is happening. In the United States both Nevada and New Jersey have legalized online gambling by offering licensing. The ironies are that the old laws still make payment processing very difficult.
In Canada the provinces that have acted where the federal government hasn't is Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columnbia with Quebec and British Columbia already having their own online casinos made live. In Europe, almost everywhere is legal and everyone is fighting to setup their own gaming licensing including Spain.
So would online gambling help or hurt countries in relation to the crisis?
Well if they don't collect any taxes now, they are certainly not doing anyone a favour. The downside to online gambling is that people that are out of money could use up their resources and burn out their finances. This is of course their responsibility but it does tempt them.
Would people gambling more if it is legalized? Depends on the location of the player, some places have had enough exposure to online gambling that it wouldn't make as much of a difference. The real advantage of offering licensing is the regulation of advertising standards which you have in the United Kingdom. In Quebec the province's lottery group almost has a monopoly on advertising with the exception that online gaming companies still advertise with either .net sites that don't accept real wagers but you know where that leads to.