Could a Lottery Be the Answer to America’s Poor Savings Rate? (Freakonomics)

What's to stop a person opening 10 $10 accounts in the hopes of increasing their odds?

Also, if you deposit more money do you increase your odds or payout, or does it work on a regular deposit schedule? Otherwise there isn't much incentive to keep saving. Can you just withdraw and redeposit the same amount each week to keep entering with the same amount?

I think the best way to increase the savings rate is to stop artificially underpricing money and creating inflation. I don't save cash because I know the government is working against it. And I'm not poor or stupid.

I'm not sure this is even realistic given the multitude of laws you would have to overcome. For starters, you would have to change state laws to make this work. Many states currently outlaw private lotteries, in an effort to maintain a monopoly on government run lotteries.

For an example of this sort of thing, see Premium Bonds, available since 1956:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premium_Bond

The stuff about ERNIE is interesting, too.

great idea!