The lottery is a form of gambling wherein tickets are sold for a chance to win a prize, typically in the form of money. It is a popular way for governments at all levels to raise funds. The first lotteries were recorded in the Low Countries in the 15th century and were used to fund a variety of town projects, from building walls and fortifications to helping the poor. State-owned lotteries are now found throughout the world and have been in operation for hundreds of years, raising billions annually.

Generally, the public approves of lotteries because they see the proceeds as benefiting the general public. The popularity of lotteries is particularly high in times of fiscal stress when voters are concerned about tax increases and cuts to government spending. However, as Clotfelter and Cook have shown, a state’s objective financial condition does not appear to influence whether or when a lottery is adopted.

A key issue with lotteries is that they are run as businesses, with a primary focus on increasing revenues. As a result, advertising necessarily targets certain groups with a message designed to persuade them to spend their money. This puts them at cross-purposes with the overall goals of public welfare – for example, the promotion of gambling can have negative consequences for the poor and problem gamblers.

As Cohen observes, the national obsession with unimaginable wealth – the dream of winning the lottery – coincided with the great economic dislocations of the nineteen-seventies and eighties, when jobs disappeared, income gaps widened, job security and pensions eroded, and the long-held promise that hard work would lead to financial security and a comfortable retirement shattered for most working people.