I’ve just pored through two dark summer dramas that should be must reads. They’re filled with tales of cannibalization, regional strife and conflict, horses, riverboats — and despair about the future. 

Great stuff, but the titles need work. One is called “Wagering in Illinois: 2019 Update.” The other is “City of Chicago Casino Feasibility Analysis.”

The first is the annual update of the economic state of the Illinois gambling industry by the legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. The latter is the analysis of business prospects for a Chicago casino, produced by a private consultancy for the city of Chicago.

The titles may be terrible, but the stories are gripping and the forecasts sometimes grave. And they couldn’t be more timely, coming after the state legislature in May passed landmark legislation designed to clear the way for a broad expansion of gambling in Illinois, including a new Chicago casino devoted to addressing the city’s severe pension underfunding.

Read the rest at chicagotribune.com.