Nov. 16th, 2017

mtbc: maze A (black-white)
In listening to Radio Scotland on the way into work this morning I was amused by the set of news topics. First, in discussing Scotland's new minimum pricing for alcohol we heard about the prospect of cross-border alcohol smuggling. I wondered if the Scottish nationalists could append to their list of reasons for independence the prospect of buying duty-free alcohol at the border with England.

Then, we heard about the price of pie and cups of tea at Scottish soccer clubs. I had no idea that pie is a typical thing to buy at matches but after reflecting on local culture I guess it makes sense. The other story was about the unfairness of a brewery charging much more for delivery of their beer to the Scottish Highlands given the distance from their distribution center in England.

Broadly, a fair bit of this morning's local news related to the cost of beer and pie. Though, I concede that the brewery has premises even north of me and there was also discussion of soccer ticket prices in general.

I have mixed feelings on the minimum pricing issue. While it is obviously good to save lives and I laud a tax that in targeting alcohol volume fairly directly attaches to the underlying concern, to use a minimum pricing approach feels somewhat regressive in that it will affect the behavior of only the poorer in society.

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Mark T. B. Carroll

May 2025

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