The lottery is a massive, growing industry in the United States that contributes billions of dollars annually to state coffers. The odds of winning are low, but many people believe that they can find a quick route to wealth and happiness by playing.

Lotteries are not new: they have been used since medieval times to fund religious and military campaigns, and were later popularized in England and the Americas. They proved to be an effective way of raising public funds, even if they were often criticized as hidden taxes. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton both agreed that lotteries should be kept simple, with the underlying principle that everyone “will be willing to hazard a trifling sum for the chance of considerable gain.”

Despite the controversies surrounding lotteries in early American history, the industry was successful: as Cohen explains, it developed when state budget crises met with a national tax revolt, prompting officials to seek solutions such as lotteries that would not enrage anti-tax voters. Lotteries, he writes, were not only popular, but quickly spread across the nation, especially among southern and western states with the most anti-tax sentiment.

The modern incarnation of the lottery is not well understood, however. As Cohen demonstrates, the industry depends heavily on super-sized jackpots to attract bettors. These jackpots also generate a windfall of free publicity for the game in news reports, which increases ticket sales and public interest. Yet the cost of running a lottery and paying out prizes must be deducted from the pool of stakes, leaving only a fraction for winners.