Americans shun lotteries in times of trouble

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2008/November/international_November2116.xml§ion=international

NEW YORK - U.S. lottery tickets are proving not to be the big business they’re cracked up to be in times of financial crisis.

Reuters contacted all 42 state lotteries. Of the 27 that responded, 14 said sales were down from last year, 9 said sales were steady and 4 reported an increase.

“It’s been kind of an industry notion that lotteries are recession-proof, but I think what we’re experiencing right now is a little bit harsher than slow economies in the past,” said Chuck Baumann of the Oregon Lottery.

“People are just counting their dollars and cents,” he said in a state where sales are down some 2 percent from last year.

[Oregone]

1. Good. Lotteries suck.

[exboyfil]

2. A voluntary tax on the poor and/or mathematically illiterate

I only recently started doing the Lotto, and I do it only because we pool our tickets as a department. I would feel awful to be the last man left behind if they hit a big winner. For $2/week I think I can afford it.

I don't know why anyone needs a lottery since we got the stock market. It is getting really hard to tell the difference.

[Oregone]

5. Those are almost my exact thoughts...

I normally call is a voluntary regressive tax. Not only does the government only get half of it, the other portion goes to increase wealth disparity. How worthless

[Crazy Dave]

3. After playing for over 20 years people realize they're never going to win

But I do have relatives that won 20 million.

And they were already millionaires to begin with.

[Bucky]

4. Self imposed reductions in the alternative stupidity tax

That said, only 2% down is still pretty pathetic

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. "Lotteries are a tax on stupidity"

-Voltaire

[IntravenousDemilo]

7. I'm ten bucks ahead of the game, and I've never bought a lottery ticket.

About 15 years ago, I filled my car's gas tank and got a free ticket. I won $10 from it and decided to quit while I was ahead.