Research & evidence only — academic studies, evidence reviews and public-health summaries.
WHO connects gambling losses to essential household spending, unequal exposure and harms to people who never place a bet.
The field's definitive reframe: gambling harms are commercial and social determinants of health, not individual failings. Global consumer losses are projected to approach $700bn by 2028, and roughly 80 million adults already live with gambling disorder.
Household transaction data across 230,171 US households and 26 state legalizations: online sports betting cut net investment deposits by about 14%, and the damage concentrated in households already living below median savings.
England's evidence review finds the lowest participation but the highest levels of harmful gambling among the most disadvantaged groups.
Jim Bell's 1996 'Assassination Politics' essay designed a market where you bet on when someone will die and collect by doing the killing. Brian Merchant reported on the dark-web sites that tried to build it — and on the people who died while law enforcement looked away.
Lottery spending displaces other household consumption, with larger proportional reductions among low-income households.