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Lotteries
彩票的發展歷程
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Some governments outlaw it, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulations of lottery by governments.
摸彩是一種通過抽簽來獲得獎品的賭博形式。有些國家將其視為非法活動，有些國家則認可其以國家彩票或州彩票的形式出現。政府對相關問題出臺的法令法規也隨處可見。
At the beginning of the 20th century, most forms of gambling like lotteries were illegal in many countries such as the U.S. and most of Europe. This remained so until after World War II. In the 1960s， casinos and lotteries began to appear throughout the world as a means to raise revenue in addition to taxes.
20世紀初期，像摸彩這類賭博活動在美國及歐洲的許多國家里都是非法的。這種情況一直延續至二戰之后。20世紀60年代，賭場及彩票作為除稅收之外的另一增加收益的途徑而風行全世界。
Lotteries come in many formats. The prize can be a fixed amount of cash or goods. In this format there is risk to the organizer if insufficient tickets are sold. More commonly the prize fund will be a fixed percentage of the receipts. A popular form of this is the "50-50" draw where the organizers promise that the prize will be 50% of the revenue.
彩票以多種形式存在。獎品可以是一定金額的現金抑或是物品。如果彩票沒有足夠多的銷售額，就會給組織者帶來一定的風險。通常來說，獲獎金額是所獲得收人的某一固定比例。普遍采用的形式是半對半，即組織者向公眾承諾獲獎額度占總收人的一半。
The purchase of lottery tickets is, from the perspective of classical economics，irrational. However, in addition to the chance of winning, the ticket may enable some purchasers to experience a thrill and to indulge in a fantasy of becoming wealthy. If the entertainment value (or other non-monetary value) obtained by playing is high enough to a given individual, then the purchase of a lottery ticket could represent a gain in overall utility. In such a case, the monetary loss would be outweighed by the non-monetary gain, thus making the purchase a rational decision for that individual.
從古典經濟學的角度來說，購買彩票這一活動是不明智的。然而，除了可能中獎的機會外，彩票能給購買者帶來一時的興奮或沉浸于一夜變富的千秋大夢中。如果由此獲得的娛樂價值（或其他非盈利價值）對某個人來說足夠的高，那么購買彩票便稱得上是整體效用的一大收獲。這種情況下，失去的那部分錢由非盈利效用抵消了，購買彩票對這個人來說便是一個明智的選擇了。
In the U.S., the existence of lotteries is subject to the laws of each jurisdiction; there is no national lottery. Before the advent of state-sponsored lotteries, many illegal lotteries thrived. Instant lottery tickets were introduced in the 1970s and have since become a major source of state lottery revenue.
在美國，彩票受到各司法管轄區法律的約束，沒有國家彩票。在州彩票出現之前, 即時彩票出現于20世紀70年代，之后便成為州彩票收人的主要來源。
Presently, many lotteries in the U.S. donate large portions of their proceeds to the public education system. However, these funds frequently replace instead of supplement conventional funding, resulting in no additional money for education.
目前，美國有許多中彩者都會將他們收益的大部分用于捐助公共教育事業。然而， 這些資金常常是取代了常規集資，而不是作為其補充，因而并未給教育帶來額外的資金。
