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by bluescrn 1986 days ago
Alcohol is big business, though. Forcing pricess too high would be the end of most pubs/bars and many restaurants. And we're losing many of them already due to Covid.

If taxes were really high, I suspect that home brewing would be become far more popular, too.

2 comments

The great experiment aka prohibition in the USA shows how that worked out.
What's too high? Alcohol is heavily taxed in the nordic countries with a single beer costing 10-20 dollars in a bar. A single long-drink can be 20-40 dollars. There are still plenty of bars and people getting drunk. Yes, there is home brewing but it's not what the young kids do to have fun and get drunk.

You can read about the taxation and the effects of a tax cut in this paper from 2018, https://www.alko.fi/INTERSHOP/static/WFS/Alko-OnlineShop-Sit...