The Red Monkey

(Shoshanah)

A recent study found that poor folks – households earning under $13,000 per year – spend about 9% of all their income on lottery tickets.

Jonah Lehrer:

“

The study neatly illuminates the sad positive feedback loop of lotteries. The games naturally appeal to poor people, which causes them to spend disproportionate amounts of their income on lotteries, which helps keep them poor, which keeps them buying tickets.

”

I wonder what would happen if on a certain number of the losing scratch-off cards, scratching off the latex ink won you free in-person credit counseling services.

Lotteries [The Frontal Cortex] (Thanks to Jim!)
The impact of narrow decision bracketing on lottery play [Journal of Risk and Uncertainty]

More About:

• facts,
• lotteries,
• money,
• studies,
• science,
• blogs

From ConsumerReports.org:

• Ask Nancy: Does the health reform law cover treatment by non-M.D.s?
• Buzzword: Federal poverty level
• Report: Poor math skills contributed to financial meltdown

3 Comments