This New England

Mohegan Sun, the huge (but not as huge as Foxwoods) casino in eastern Connecticut, which, like many casinos, has been hard hit by the recession, is, like many a supermarket chain, pushing for more customers.

When your profit margin falls or disappears, try for more sales while firing your older workers and getting cheaper, younger ones without benefits! And don't ask to see their passports.

One way for Mohegan to expand is to open a casino in Palmer, Mass., conveniently near the Mass Pike, which is exactly what they want to do.

How much cannibalization of its Connecticut facility this would involve I do not know. The Mohegan people must assume that they can get lots of people off the boring highway traveling between Boston and points west, bored tourists from the Berkshires and some desperate jobless people from Springfield and other area mill towns betting all on one last toss of the dice. Or maybe people fleeing a flooding Connecticut River.

Mohegan's push is not unrelated to a recession-fueled drive to have full-fledged (indeed, massive) casino gambling in the Bay State as a way to get more money for state whose politicians naturally don't want to raise taxes any more, although maybe fiscal prudence says they should.

 Tags  Mohegan Sun

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