Lottery is a game where numbers or symbols are gathered in a pool and winners are chosen at random. People often pay for a ticket to win a large cash prize, and sometimes the winner shares that prize with others who have matching numbers. Financial lotteries are a form of gambling, but they can also be used to allocate resources that are limited in quantity (such as units in a subsidized housing block or kindergarten placements at a public school).

The word lottery has its origins in Latin, sortilegij, and it appears in English literature for the first time in 1569; it could be a calque on Middle Dutch lootjer, perhaps meaning “the casting of lots”. Early games were simply an amusement during dinner parties, with each guest receiving a ticket. Eventually, they were used to raise money for public projects such as building towns and fortifications, as well as help the poor.

In colonial America, lotteries were a major source of funding for both private and public ventures. Roads, libraries, churches, colleges, canals, bridges, and more were all financed by these events. And, in 1744, the Continental Congress used a lottery to raise funds to support the colonies’ militias during the French and Indian War.

In modern times, states promote the lottery as a way to increase tax revenue without raising taxes. But is that really the case? Taking a closer look at the data, we find that the majority of lottery tickets are bought by low-income, less educated, nonwhite people. And, if those people are going to spend billions on this activity, it’s worth considering whether that spending is in line with their economic realities and whether it’s really worth the trade-offs they’re making.