Here’s a little something from Tim Harford, Financial Times advice columnist:
Dear Economist,
J.P., via e-mail
Dear J.P.,
More surprising is the discovery that those who won between $50,000 and $150,000 were as likely to have gone bankrupt five years later as those who won less than $10,000. Since the size of a win is random, there should have been no difference between big winners and small winners at the time they bought their ticket. It is remarkable that the additional money was not used to pay off debts.