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Think tank urges increase price of alcohol in supermarkets.

13th September 2019

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This piece of Social Market Foundation research suggests that increasing taxes on supermarket alcohol would be a good way of creating a level playing field for pubs.

Tune into SMF's Policycast today! 🎧

The case for reforming the UK's alcohol duty system @jameskirkup and @ScottCorfe discuss

Changes could discourage harmful drinking and target irrationally cheap high-strength products.

Find out more: https://t.co/wAbUsDb6Yw
— Social Market Foundation (@SMFthinktank) September 9, 2019

Further, they argue that having higher taxes on high-strength alcohol would also have additional public health benefits.

However, is this good economics? It strikes me as a second best solution. The real cause of a lower price of alcohol in supermarkets is their bargaining power, and the use of alcohol as a loss leader, and taxation seems to be a blunt instrument to tackle this problem. Can you think of other unintended consequences that might arise?

1 in 5 people in the UK drink in a way that could harm their liver. If you drink over the recommended daily guidelines, your liver will be unable to process the alcohol you consume quickly enough, which damages the cells in your liver. @SMFthinktank looks at some policy options. https://t.co/sMFuee9afo
— APPG Liver Health (@APPGLiverHealth) September 9, 2019

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Graham Watson

Graham Watson has taught Economics for over twenty years. He contributes to Tutor2U, reads voraciously and is interested in all aspects of Teaching and Learning.

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Think tank urges increase price of alcohol in supermarkets.

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