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> From: tedk <tpk@sensorsys.com>
> To: dcsb@ai.mit.edu
> Subject: Economics in a Vegas sort of way
> Date: Thursday, November 28, 1996 10:26 AM
>
> Having just returned from Comdex I've seen economics in action
> A few musings on the recent discussion of markets and economics in a
'Vegas
> sort of way' -- popular phrase among my fellow booth workers at Comdex
>
> Las Vegas is the quiticential free market (few minor solcialst tendancies
> such as the taxis and the union work rules at the Convention Center)
>
> Everything is for sale in Vegas at a price dependent nearly totaly on
supply
> and demand factors and the legal limits
>
> "I can be in your room in 20 minutes -- I love to dance for you nekkid"
> quothe the Pert blonde leaving little to the imagination as she peered at
> one from the page of a 'Personal Entertainment Guide' -- Prostitution is
> officially illegal in Las Vegas though it is legal outside the city in
> Nevada so no price for the "dance" was specified on the page
>
> Hotel rooms that went for $40 per night at the Luxor (Sphinx and obelisk
in
> front of a grat black pyramid of a casino and hotel) went for $250 per
night
> less than a week later as 200,000 decended on las Vegas for Comdex.
>
> If you needed a room and the company wasn't paying the tab -- you could
get
> a Day's Inn type room for less than $100 -- within 40 miles of Vegas.
>
> You can get prime rib in a fancy restaurant for $25 or you can get prime
rib
> in a fancy casino, with a free drink added on for $4.95 -- just down the
> street from each other.
>
> First the Dunes now the Sands have bitten the dust (film at eleven) for
the
> erection of even bigger and gaudier pleasure palaces -- however, now you
> need a gimmick -- gambling isn't enough-- you neecd to have Lions,
> Lipizzaners's, Pirate Ships, 24th Century Star Treck Bridge (landing
along
> with world's larget Virtual Reality casino at the Las Vegas Hilton this
> Spring) etc , etc, etc,
>
> The Sands was 40 years old (ancient by Vegas standards) and in a Vegas
sort
> of way, was a legendary place of heros (Vegas Sort of Heros --like Dean
> Martin) -- so they blew it up one night this week (filmed for future use)
to
> make room for $1.8 Billion -- 6,000 plus rooms greater than the
> $1,000,000,000+ -- 5,000 room+ MGM Grand which itself is only 2 years
old.
>
> Meanwhile, the Stratosphere has gone chap 11 less than 1 year after
> completion (it's the casino with hotel and tall tower with roller coaster
on
> top). Another old legend Caesar's is adding $200,000 tower + misc
> convention facilities and New York New York complete with Statue of
Liberty
> is ready to open this Spring (Brooklyn Bridge with casino)
>
> Meanwhile in downtown, Fremont Street (worlds's brightest corner --
brought
> to you by Hoover Dam (electricity so cheap the meters have guranteed
payouts
> of more than 98% (a Vegas Sort of joke)), the old alure of Nude dancing,
> casinos and lights has been suplemented by a multimedia virtual reality
> street. The street (actually now a pedestrian mall) is now complete with
3D
> sound, laser projections into an artificial fog and more -- all visible
from
> the restaurant on top of the Stratosphere where you can dine on great
fresh
> fish (flown in from the Atlantic no less) for less than $30, drinks
extra.
>
> Vegas rolls and spins on to the future -- adding another hall (600,000 +
sq
> ft) to the already Mega, Las Vegas Convention Center, adding another
> concourse to the already more passengers than Logan (serving a metro area
> nearly 5x the size of Vegas), McCaren International Airport-- adding
another
> few thousand hotel rooms (already more rooms at corner of Las Vegas Blvd
and
> Tropicanna Blvd (where the Excalibur and the MGM Grand are and the New
York
> New York will shortly be) than in all of San Francisco) -- fastest growth
of
> any metro area in the US -- while its fully expects to run out of water
by
> 2006 -- it also in a 'Vegas sort of way' expects to not run out of water
-- > "just one more quarter roll in the slots honey -- I'm sure our luck is bout > to change" > > Be Seeing you --in a Vegas Sort of Way > Ted > *************************************************************************** > Ted Kochanski, Ph.D. > Sensors Signals Systems --- "Systematic Solutions to Complex Problems" > http://www.sensorsys.com > e-mail tpk@sensorsys.com phone (617) 861-6167 fax 861-0476 > 11 Aerial St., Lexington, MA 02173 > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > To unsubscribe from this list, send a letter to: Majordomo@ai.mit.edu > In the body of the message, write: unsubscribe dcsb > Or, to subscribe, write: subscribe dcsb > If you have questions, write to me at Owner-DCSB@ai.mit.edu