As if the casino industry was not under enough pressure at the moment we have even seen the emergence of a new phrase over the last few weeks, Casino Capitalism. Those who are looking to shoot down the investment bankers of Wall Street and the worlds other major financial centres have taken to comparing trading activities to those of casino players around the world. But is it a fair comparison?
While there are obvious elements the two activities have in common such as luck, timing and determination they are really two very different areas of the business world. Hardened traders do take chances with their investments, they will try and squeeze the last drop of profit out of a trade but they do this for a living and need to fight another day.
The average casino goer is more than happy to walk along to their nearest casino on a regular basis, take some time out and gamble a few dollars. While some do take the playing of casinos to excess it can hardly be compared to City traders who literally move around millions of dollars each day. You could argue that a good casino player could have the makings of a good stock trader, and vice versa, but there is no way on earth anyone could jump between the two overnight and be successful.
As if the casino industry was not under enough pressure at the moment we have even seen the emergence of a new phrase over the last few weeks, Casino Capitalism. Those who are looking to shoot down the investment bankers of Wall Street and the worlds other major financial centres have taken to comparing trading activities to those of casino players around the world. But is it a fair comparison?