Did you guys know about this? I had no idea alcohol was a state cartel (like cigarettes).
It spiked my interest when I saw this chart… You would think that alcohol would have really low rates of profit. I guess now I know why people rob liquor stores.
The US has booze-socialism. Go figure. It makes sense though, a monopoly of a commodity with relatively inelastic demand brings in quite a bit of revenue. And it’s easily defended as being “for our own good”. Another one of these remnants from the progressive era.
Something else dawned on me while reading that article about cigarettes you linked. Regulation of the tobacco industry has nothing to do with public health, it aims to fricking cartelize the industry. How could I have been as naive as to believe that it’s actually about the children. Every piece of legislation in the books probably has a real, corporatist intention, and some fluffy excuse they tell the rubes.
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Beer-Wars/70116984
Documentary regarding what micro and independent brewers must face (most of it state imposed regulations / special privileges) in order to compete with the major players in the alcohol market. The film switches back and forth from about 4 or 5 different storylines, some of which are much more interesting than others, but overall probably a worthwhile watch for anyone interested in regulations & state enforced cartels.
