Market failure - Minimum Price on alcohol in Scotland

Click here to read about the new legislation coming in to force in Scotland as the price of cheap, high-strength alcohol goes up as minimum pricing comes into force. 

There is lots in the article, including the reasons behind it, the possible issues with it and an interactive section that would help you to analyse and evaluate government intervention.

Minimum Pricing Scheme: Alcohol in the UK

Click here to access an interesting piece on new legislation on the pricing of alcohol in Wales. Lots of economics here, including:

Market Failure
Externalities
Government intervention
Government failure
Impact on different demographics

Is this the way forward? How would you tackle the issue?

Unit 1: Minimum Prices - A PDF file

Minimum prices from Matthew Bentley

Unit 1: Minimum Prices

Minimum Prices from mattbentley34

Unit 1: Minimum Pricing on Alcohol

Ministers are proposing a minimum price of 45p a unit for the sale of alcohol in England and Wales as part of a drive to tackle problem drinking.

Click here to access the BBC article which poses many questions as to its effectiveness on problem drinking and the poor in society.

Questions to discuss:

Assess the effectiveness of this strategy on reducing the negative externality which is binge drinking.

Why might this be regarded as a from of 'Regressive taxation'?

What other methods could the government use to combat binge drinking?