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Path: utzoo!hcrvax!hcradm!chrisr
From: chrisr@hcradm.UUCP (Chris Retterath)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: wine and swine
Message-ID: <1364@hcradm.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 30-Oct-84 10:11:22 EST
Article-I.D.: hcradm.1364
Posted: Tue Oct 30 10:11:22 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 31-Oct-84 01:41:32 EST
References: <852@ubc-ean.CDN>
Organization: Human Computing Resources, Toronto
Lines: 26

I find any mention of the pricing strategies for wine, liquor, and
beer in Ontario causes my blood pressure to rise. Not only does the
government make a bundle in taxes ($111 million last year), but it
also makes an enormus profit ($555 million/year) in markups!
Funny that all those so-called consumer advocates never get up in
arms about these profits. Must be that old protestant-English thing
about the sin of drinking.

Due to the low value of the Mark, and the wine gluts in Europe,
imported wine prices are lower; meanwhile local wines have been marked
up. Therefore, the price spreads are quite low now, although prices
themselves are still high. Personally I will now rather fork over the
extra buck or two and get the better quality imports; given the complaints
from the local growers, I am not the only one!

Funny how rigid governments and monopolies like to keep prices; they are
always ready to go up with inflation, but hate like the devil the thought
of lowering prices to keep up demand! Distilled liquor has gotten to the point
where its price is so high that demand has dropped off -- any economics
student could tell you that a monopoly can raise its prices only so high
before consumer resistance causes profits to (paradoxically) drop. Too bad
most of us forget our economics lessons after leaving school.
-- 
		Chris Retterath
		{decvax,utcsrgv,utzoo}!hcr!hcradm!chrisr
		also available:	....!cygnus!chris