Booze and Books
20 May 2006
Editor, The Wall Street Journal
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
Dear Editor:
Harry Wiles, Executive Director of American Beverage Licenses, supports government restrictions that hamper big-box retailers' efforts to sell alcoholic beverages (Letters, May 20). He asserts that, without these restrictions, the likes of Costco and Wal-Mart will "muscle out smaller retailers at the expense of choice, convenience and service."
The same argument was made 15 years ago by small book retailers when Barnes & Noble and Borders first opened large bookstores nationwide. But who today believes that Americans have less choice, convenience, and service when buying books? Clearly, we have more - as suggested by the fact that inflation-adjusted retail book-sale revenues are today nearly 80 percent higher than in 1992 even though the inflation-adjusted price of books hasn't changed since then.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Editor, The Wall Street Journal
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
Dear Editor:
Harry Wiles, Executive Director of American Beverage Licenses, supports government restrictions that hamper big-box retailers' efforts to sell alcoholic beverages (Letters, May 20). He asserts that, without these restrictions, the likes of Costco and Wal-Mart will "muscle out smaller retailers at the expense of choice, convenience and service."
The same argument was made 15 years ago by small book retailers when Barnes & Noble and Borders first opened large bookstores nationwide. But who today believes that Americans have less choice, convenience, and service when buying books? Clearly, we have more - as suggested by the fact that inflation-adjusted retail book-sale revenues are today nearly 80 percent higher than in 1992 even though the inflation-adjusted price of books hasn't changed since then.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Friday March 2, 2007 at 4:33pm