Monday, May 12, 2003
 
And Six For My Pal, El Guapo

Fark pointed me to a story in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle about an economist's study of how alcohol legislation and taxation impacts consumption and drunk driving laws. The answer is, of course, not like the legislators hoped, but they'll take the tax money anyway.

Interesting factoid from the article:

    Think of it this way, Young said: If the United States' population totaled 10 people and they had 10 beers to split among them, three people would not drink beer at all, five people would share two beers, one person would have two beers, and one would drink six beers. Most alcohol-related problems occur with that last person.
Sorry, El Guapo, but if I have six, and you have six, you're the last person, but do not worry, for we have thrown the math off.

Still, it might prove interesting to study the relationship between government's applied regulation through taxation and not-outright banning of "vices" because this contrasts outright bans (drug use, prostitution, and the rest of the Libertarian Party platform's emancipation list), recently-reduced bans (gambling), bans by judicial awards (smoking). This study might prove to be the third good thing ever to come out of Montana State.

A toast to Montana, then, guardians of liberty and our northern border.

 
To say Noggle, one first must be able to say the "Nah."