Tackling the drinking culture

BBC News has coverage of call by MPs to ban 'Happy Hours' and possibly regulate the price of alcohol, through the imposition of a minimum price The Select Committee report evidence showed the biggest problem faced by police forces was violence and disorder caused by excessive drinking of cheap alcohol. Other official figures on the cost of goods over time show alcohol has become much more affordable in the last three decades. Many of the negative externaliies associated with excess drinking are detailed in the article. (Link to BBC News)

Think about whether the imposition of a minimum price would be effective in reducing consumption of alcohol.

Punch hits out at 'tax on binge drinking'

An interesting article in today's Guardian questioning the effeciveness of alcohol taxes in reducing binge drinking. The chief executive of Britain's biggest pub company has attacked the recent above-inflation rise in alcohol duty, dismissing government claims that it could discourage binge drinking as "ridiculous". Giles Thorley, chief executive of Punch Taverns, warned today that the 6% rise in alcohol duty, announced in the March Budget, could even encourage excessive drinking because customers may choose to buy more cheaper alcohol from supermarkets and drink heavily at home."The pub is the home of responsible drinking. The number of restrictions that already exist as result of recent government legislation means that you are much safer drinking in the pub than anywhere else," he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/24/punchtaverns.fooddrinks

Think about the conditions that ensure that a tax that aims to reduce consumption is successful. Why doesn't Thorley think it will be successful?