In an age of tax revolts and soaring deficits, many state governments rely on lottery revenues to fill the gaps in their budgets. But the proliferation of these games raises the question whether promoting gambling should be an appropriate function for government at any level. Lottery advertisements target specific groups — notably youth and middle-age people who might not be able to afford to play otherwise — and imply that winning the lottery will provide them with a better life. This is a powerful message that sways some people to gamble, even though the odds of winning are very low.

In the earliest lottery games, players bought tickets for a drawing at some future date, often weeks or months away. But innovations in the 1970s transformed state lotteries, allowing them to sell instant games that offered smaller prizes but higher frequencies of winners. These games, combined with a dramatic increase in advertising, led to an explosion of lottery revenues.

Today, lottery games are so popular that it seems hard to imagine a world without them. Almost every state offers one, and they contribute billions to state coffers. But the popularity of these games raises some troubling questions about what role they should play in society, writes James H. Cohen, a professor of economics at Michigan State University and co-director of the Institute for Research on Poverty.

Cohen’s book, The Lottery, is a history of the modern American lottery. It starts in the nineteen-sixties, when the popularity of lotteries collided with a crisis in state finances. As population growth, inflation and war expenses soared, it became increasingly difficult for states to balance their budgets without raising taxes or cutting services.

To address this issue, the government launched lotteries to provide revenue and stimulate the economy. But in many cases, these programs have proven to be a costly failure. The most significant problem is that the lotteries are run as businesses, with a focus on maximizing profits and expanding into new games. This approach can lead to conflicts with other state priorities.

Another issue is that state lotteries are not fully transparent about their operations. They do not publish the actual odds of winning a prize, or the cost of running the lottery. As a result, potential customers do not know what they are getting into when they buy a ticket. Lottery officials argue that the information is confidential, but they are ignoring important legal and ethical issues. The information should be made public so that consumers can make informed choices. The lack of transparency also undermines confidence in the lottery’s integrity. Moreover, it allows the lottery to manipulate demand and prices. This can harm consumers and cause fraud, he adds. Nevertheless, the authors conclude that there are several ways to improve lottery transparency. The first step is to include more detailed demand information in lottery advertising. This can be done by publishing a table that shows the total number of tickets sold, the average price per ticket, and other relevant data.