Teresa Ghilarducci, Columnist

Buying a Lottery Ticket Isn’t (Always) a Waste of Money

There’s no point in buying multiple tickets. But one $2 ticket can be a cheap form of entertainment and self-exploration.

November 8, 2022 at 9:30 PM UTC

By Teresa Ghilarducci

Teresa Ghilarducci is the Schwartz Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research. She's the co-author of "Rescuing Retirement" and a member of the board of directors of the Economic Policy Institute.

Consider it a ticket to self-knowledge.
Photographer: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

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Unless you live on Venus, you know someone in California won over $2 billion in the Powerball lottery. And holders of 292.2 million tickets (minus one ticket) were sad for a minute or two. The last time the Powerball was nearly this big was in 2016.

Dear losers: Despite the fact you lost, buying one ticket was a good idea.