As
you
can
see
the
vast
majority
of
jobs
are
in
Government
and
Services.
When
services
go
south
there
are
few
opportunities
and
Government
is
reliant
on a
continually
shrinking
tax
base.
All
the
big
casino
companies
are
feeling
the
pinch.
Las
Vegas
Sands
Corp.,
which
owns
the
Venetian
and
the
Palazzo
on
the
Strip,
as
well
as
the
Sands
Bethlehem
Casino
in
Pennsylvania,
reported
a
$123
million
net
loss
for
the
third
quarter
that
ended
Sept
30.
MGM
Mirage,
which
owns
10
casinos,
the
most
on
the
Strip,
posted
a
$750.4
million
net
loss.
And
Harrah's
Entertainment
Inc.,
which
owns
eight
casinos,
had
more
than
a
$1
billion
net
loss.
–
Philadelphia
Inquirer
Room
rates
are
down
25%
year
to
year,
and
convention
attendance
is
down
27.1%.
According
to
the
Las
Vegas
Convention
and
Visitors
Authority
the
drop
in
convention
attendance
resulted
in a
$166
million
decline
in
non-gaming
revenue
to
the
local
economy.
Airlines
are
cutting
back
the
number
of
flights
into
Las
Vegas.
With
a
decline
in
the
Economy
and
the
number
1
ranking
in
home
foreclosures
at
1:69
it’s
easy
to
see
why
the
construction
industry
is
all
but
depleted
and
the
80,000+
construction
jobs
are
all
but
gone.
Las
Vegas
is
experiencing
negative
population
growth
for
the
first
time
in
decades.
Now
add
in
the
recent
opening
of
the
City
Center
Project
jointly
owned
by
Dubai
World
(Who
just
took
a
$10
Billion
Dollar
cash
infusion
and
is
more
than
$60
Billion
in
Debt)
with
it’s
8,000
additional
high
end
hotel
rooms
and
you
have
a
real
occupancy
problem.
CityCenter
is
going
to
put
more
pressure
on
older
resorts
to
lower
prices
in
order
to
compete
for
the
high
end
traffic.
Economists
at
UNLV
are
predicting
more
job
losses
in
2010
with
a
trickle
of
job
rehiring
in
2010.
All
this
based
on
hope
for
a
general
recovery.
It
is
the
opinion
of
some
that
people
may
never
get
back
to
the
free
spending
ways
of
the
past.
So
the
questions
one
must
ponder
are
this:
Is
Las
Vegas
a
relic
of
past
indulgence?
In
the
future,
will
it
be
nothing
more
than
the
worlds
most
flamboyant
ghost
town?
A
testimony
to
poor
planning,
greed,
and
failed
economic
forecasting.
Who
would
have
thought
Sky
Rise
Hotel
Suites,
Smokey
Casinos,
and
3rd
Rate
Shows
would
have
survived
this
long?