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I agree with you that a state lottery is terrible policy, but the rest of this is hard to take early in the morning. Putting aside the mischaracterization of what Reagan did in the 80's (and what his successors had to do to fix it), the comparison of lottery policy to mandatory taxation policy is inane. In exchange for the price of a lottery ticket, one gets a miniscule chance to win a windfall at the expense of all the other dunderheads who bought one. In exchange for paying taxes, one gets to live in civilization.

He wants to stir up their interest by raising the payout to 57 or 58 percent. That will cut the state's take, or tax, to 42 or 43 percent.*Doug

The question should be! Would any Vegas casio chain hire this Guy [Hold'em and Show'em Easley] as director of marketing? As far I know, Ronald Reagan never play the crap tables at Vegas for a tax dodge.

Patrick, you're right. But I think some of the same economic principles apply whether you're talking about voluntary spending decisions or tax policy. There are obviously plenty of taxes one can choose not to pay by not participating in the taxed activity, and the level of taxation plays a part in decision-making just as pricing does in ordinary spending decisions.

The cited the example of rising cigarette taxes depressing cigarette sales. If the price discourages a youngster from picking up the habit, great. If lousy odds of winning discourage a potential lottery player, that's good too as far as I'm concerned. So, if the state wanted to encourage cigarette consumption, it could cut back the tax, just as the governor hopes to encourage lottery ticket purchases by reducing the state's take.

The cited the example of rising cigarette taxes depressing cigarette sales. If the price discourages a youngster from picking up the habit, great.* Doug

Doug! You have miss that part in Econ 101 about how Black markets occure. Do you know that a pack of cigarettes in New York City cost over 5 bucks and than the Mayor will put you in jail if you even think of taking a drag in public and private places. However, if you are into fast investment returns in NYC, you would be shocked how many tractor trailers of cigarettes cartons make it into the market place of Taxes and Sin.

If lousy odds of winning discourage a potential lottery player, that's good too as far as I'm concerned. So, if the state wanted to encourage cigarette consumption, it could cut back the tax, just as the governor hopes to encourage lottery ticket purchases by reducing the state's take.*Doug

Sounds good! But do you know that the private numbers racket is still alive and well even today on the internet. Wait until the new lottery buyers start playing the numbers on their cell-phones.