by Chris Becker
If you’ve wanted proof that your fellow Australians like to have a flutter more than most, this chart lays your suspicions to rest – from The Economist, via Conrad Hackett on Twitter:
One armed bandits (aka pokies aka gaming machines) are mostly to blame for this outstanding outperformance. If you’re a bit ethical about this, the main owner of pokies in Australia is Woolworths (WOW) which rakes in approx. $200 million from its ca. 12,000 machines each year.
Of course, one could confuse “gambling” with investing in say, property or mining stocks, but luckily the average Aussie, or Treasure (State/Federal) is not as dumb to do that!