Hitting the Lottery Jackpot: State Governments and the Taxing of Dreams

Hitting The Lottery Jackpot: Government And The Taxing Of Dreams is a timely and informative critique of the economic, social, and political costs of state reliance on lotteries to generate public revenues. David Nibert highlights the conflicting role of the state as a promoter of gambling to show who really profits from lottery gambling: advertising agencies, television stations, and ticket vendors. Less than half the money wagered is returned to participants as prizes. Hitting The Lottery Jackpot reveals the losers: lower-income groups, people of color. These are the segments of the general populace that spend a much higher percentage of their income on lotteries than others. Nibert also connects the rise of lottery legalization with economic stagnation in the 1970s, and explores the ideological dimensions of the lottery of "get-rich-quick individualist promoted among the very groups who would be better served in meeting their economic needs by political action and solidarity. Hitting The Lottery Jackpot is highly recommended reading for students of government, ethics, and political science.