Obviously, government intervention to correct market failure is a good thing. A new Pyrotechnics Articles (Safety) Regulations introduced this year reinforced laws bans the sale of explosive items to children. One result is that under-16’s cannot buy indoor or outdoor fireworks - and while this may give retailers a headache as they have to check the ID of their younger customers, it is done with the intention of avoiding the negative externalities of teenagers messing about with fireworks and injuring either themselves or others in the run-up to bonfire night.

But is banning sales of Christmas crackers to under-16’s also necessary? Apparently so, according to this article from the Daily Telegraph, so households up and down the land had better review the Health and Safety implications of their Christmas lunch tables, and decide whether the crackers represent a demerit good that they should avoid. Or is this an example of the Law of Unintended Consequences taking effect?