Japan's record earthquake may achieve what Las Vegas magnate Sheldon Adelson has been trying to do for years: Persuade the government to allow casinos.
Adelson, chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), has for at least half a decade sought to reverse a ban on the gambling houses in the world's third-biggest economy, only to be blocked by Japanese legislators arguing casinos would fuel organized crime and provide little benefit. Now, a group of 150 lawmakers plans to introduce a bill by tomorrow that could allow resorts that combine slot machines and gambling tables with hotels, shopping and restaurants.
Japanese casinos could emerge as a 3.4 trillion yen ($44 billion) industry, according to a 2009 study by Ryosaku Sawa, an economics professor at Osaka University of Commerce. That would provide an attractive source of tax revenue for a government facing a 19 trillion yen reconstruction bill from the March 11 earthquake, on top of the world's largest public debt. (Bloomberg)
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