I was talking to my dad the other day, he was talking about when he drove accross the country, and he said when he crossed the border from Utah to Nevada right there on Nevada's side there was a gas station and five casinos. This was in the middle of the Salt flats, theres no towns for miles around, theres really no good economic reason for casino's to be there, except for the fact that they can attract customers from towns in Utah(where gambling is illigal).
Its hard to see how this isnt a huge waste...water and power have to be pumped from god-knows-where, customers have to drive from towns miles away wasting both gas and time....if Utah didnt restrict this kind of activity(presumibly for 'moral reasons') those casinos would be built in or near towns close to both customers and the resources needed to sustain them. But because of hte state they have to buld them right outside of an imignary border, resulting in a waste of resources.
While this is perhaps an extreme example, you see something similar all along state borders, I know living in Northern Indiana you see Fireworks shops right along the Illnois border(fireworks are illigal to sell in Illnois), and stores advertising tobacco right along the MIchigan border(Michigan taxes on cigs are beyond insane). Conversely you see liquor stores on the other side of either border(alchocal cant be sold on Sunday in Indiana).
How can anybody not see how much of a waste it is to force people to drive(sometimes miles) accross imiginary borders to allow people to obtain a good or service they want?
SirThinkALot:How can anybody not see how much of a waste it is to force people to drive(sometimes miles) accross imiginary borders to allow people to obtain a good or service they want?
If it is profitable, then it might not be a waste (it's hard to judge exactly how much, if at all, these resources are being misused), but I agree that government policies distort incentives and create markets (even for liberty, like black markets) where none needed to exist.