Seattlest: Are Government And Booze A Match Made In Heaven?

TroyJMorris

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:19:06 -0800

It's a great system, minus the pre-planning involved in getting a bottle of gin.

Matt

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:41:11 -0800

Sin taxes are a wonderful resource for states. The price is set not at a level to maximize sales, but instead at a level that will control consumption. Increase taxes, consumption goes down. The trick is to keep taxes high enough to discourage consumption but not so high that black markets form - not only does this remove control, but it removes revenue (see my comment above) - and nobody wants that. I'm not too worried about the price of alcohol unless I see too many drunks on the street (prices too low) or unless an underground alcohol market forms (prices too high). Besides, I brew my own beer. ;-)

MIDave

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:23:04 -0800

Another way to look at the chart: 3.48 - wholesale price 2.35 - LCB mark-up 2.14 - federal tax 1.01 - state/city/county tax 4.67 - more state tax LCB mark-up = 2.35 / 3.48 = 68% (that's a healthy profit margin) Retail price w/o taxes would be 3.48 + 2.35 = $5.83 Federal tax = 2.14 / 5.83 = 37% State/city/county tax = 5.68 / 5.83 = 97% Yikes!

Matt

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:36:14 -0800

Matt's plan for balancing the state budget: 1. Legalize marijuana. 2. Use the state liquor board model. 3. Burn the extra piles of money the state will have lying around.