via American Thinker
Everyone’s familiar with the term “house money.” When you’re playing with house money, you’re gambling or spending money that’s not actually yours, so the perceived risk is lower than it would be if it were your money. Therefore, the care exercised in the use of those “house” funds is correspondingly low, sometimes to the point of being nonexistent.
Here’s a simple example: Let’s say you’ve just won the lottery. A $20 Quick Pick paid off with a $5000 winner. You’re understandably quite pleased and, feeling appropriately flush with your newfound wealth, you take a stroll through the high-priced mall downtown, with their fancy shops. Here, all manner of high-end expensive merchandise beckons — fragrances, designer handbags and shoes, 50-year-old bottles of Scotch, and world-famous menswear. You’d probably never even contemplate buying this sort of merchandise with your own money, but it’s not “your” money, is it? It’s house money. $4980 of it, to be exact. So you treat yourself to suits, perfume, jewelry, and a bottle of rare spirits. Nice haul. And all for “free.”
