The odds of winning the lottery are low and vanishingly small. Yet many people feel that winning the lottery is their only hope of getting out of poverty or changing their financial situation, and so they buy tickets. What’s behind this weird human urge to spend money on an improbable prize that is unlikely to change anything?
While casting lots to decide matters of fate has a long history, state-sponsored lotteries have a more recent start. The earliest public lotteries to award prizes in the form of cash were held in the Low Countries in the 15th century for a variety of purposes including town fortifications, helping the poor and raising funds for various municipal uses. These lotteries became quite popular and were hailed as a painless way to raise public revenues without increasing taxes or cutting public services.
Despite their popularity, lotteries are not without controversy. They are criticised for promoting addictive gambling behavior, being a major regressive tax on lower-income groups and for failing to address other important social problems. In addition, there is concern that the state has an inherent conflict between its desire to increase lottery revenue and its duty to protect the public welfare.