This story is truly a reflection of the Obama administration's view on fiscal stimulus.I made a number of assumptions that may or may not be correct. I stick by the assumption that the hard work in learning math and statistics gave Joan R. Ginther the knowledge to “beat the system.”
While we gaze longingly at her winnings, we get no indication of what she spent in tickets and effort to win these jackpots. What if she bought every number possible each time?
Obama wants to give away tax dollars to everyone under the sun...but he sure doesn't want to discuss how much it costs or where the money will come from (other than taxes on corporate jet owners).
I'm not so sure I want to win the $10 million lottery if it costs me $16 million...and I have to borrow the $6 million delta from China...
I also assumed that given the revenues earned, the repeated wins and the ability to finance those wins is suggestive of high profits. In short, I assumed that marginal revenue equaled or exceeded marginal costs but this may not be true. I believe the assumptions are probably correct, in fact I would bet on them, but as a Texan in Wisconsin correctly points out, we should pay attention to costs as well as revenues.
Posts
Thanks Brooks. I certainly wasn't criticising you or your article. I was just pointing out that Obama's administration isn't looking at both sides of the equation. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteFull disclosure: I have an economics degree from TLC (er, TLU now -- dang, I hate that name!).
Go Bulldogs!
Thanks for the comment. It is good to see a Texan putting an economics degree to use. In response to any policy question, Thomas Sowell suggest we should ask and then what? Such a question would reduce the list of bad policies.
ReplyDelete