A lotteries are a popular source of public funds. Their roots are ancient, as the casting of lots for decisions has a long record in human history. Modern state lotteries, however, are a relatively recent innovation. Their rapid rise in popularity was fueled by the post-World War II era, when states sought new revenue sources that would allow them to expand their social safety nets without increasing onerous taxes on the middle and working classes.
The prevailing message of lottery advertising is that winning a jackpot isn’t just possible but actually probable. This coded message obscures a deeper problem: the fact that lottery players are not all equally likely to win, and that many people play with little or no conceivable chance of success. The result is that lotteries are regressive in the sense that the bulk of their players and revenues come from middle-income neighborhoods, with far fewer proportionally from low-income ones.
And even for those who do win, the odds of blowing it all are very high. A surprisingly large number of lottery winners end up wasting their big prizes, spending their windfalls on luxury cars and houses or gambling away the rest. To prevent that, a certified financial planner told Business Insider last year, lottery winners should assemble a “financial triad” to help them plan their futures. And, he said, the best way to do that is by living a quiet life in Vanuatu, a South Pacific island known for its volcanoes and waterfalls.