Aliens

Aliens were supposed to be here yesterday

Not that I read the Daily Star or even believed this for more than a second, I discovered it while browsing Fark.com and contemplating economics. The part that stands out, especially in these uncertain financial times, was that the bookies stopped taking bets after they reached a point were their liabilities exceeded the amount they could easily pay off. Let's consider this for a moment.

Bookies unlike banks clearly aren't going to get bailed out and probably have an even tougher time of getting loans, thusly we can say bookies do not carry much if any moral hazard. Although I am unfamiliar with the gambling laws of the U.K. and most other countries, I feel it would be safe to assume that it is a heavily regulated industry, at least the legal portion. In the U.S. casinos and legal gambling institutions are required by law to have available enough cash to cover every bet they take or chip they play. That being said, we all know that casinos and bookies play the odds and the odds are in their favor usually. Obviously the odds of an Alien encounter are astronomical, pun intended.

So here is my question, because legal bookies are heavily regulated and forced to cover their bets, make them act more responsible? or because no one will bail them out?

Perhaps I am making too broad a generalization, but it would appear to me that this would be in conflict with Adam Smith's invisible hand, thusly banks and finincial instituitons need more regulation, or decrease moral hazard?