If you look at the news today, you can read about record economic slumping in this, that and the other business.  AIB records 60% profits fall, the Irish economy hits record lows.  The Euro zone economy is in crisis.

And Paddy Power records an increase in profit.

Yes, Paddy Power, the bookie.  This is largely due to an increase in online gambling.

I wrote previously about a study where respondents to a survey were made to feel slightly poor by having to provide income details where the survey asked them if they fell into the $0-100,000 bracket, the $100,000-200,000, the $300,000-400,000, the $400,000-500,000 or the bracket of >$500,000.  They were then asked if they wanted to be paid for their participation in the survey either in cash or in lottery tickets of the same value or a mixture of both.

They compared this to a cohort of survey respondents that were not made to feel so poor because, even though the survey was the same, the income survey had intervals from $0-10,000 and $10,000-20,000 and $20,000-30,000 and $30,000-40,000 and $40,000-50,000 and >$50,000.

Therefore, if you filled in the second survey, you felt wealthier, even though you weren’t.

Guess what? Those who were made to feel slightly poorer wanted more lottery tickets than those who felt wealthier, who wanted more cash.

Feeling poor alters your perception of risk and you will take more risks if you feel poor (this is on average).

Naturally, the average Irish person is not as poor as the average person from a developing country, but if you feel poorer, this is enough to affect the likelihood that you will gamble.

I have always felt that gambling was a tax on those who were bad at maths.