The prices of sin
Source: The Economist (adapted) Aug 25th 2005

Much ministerial brow-sweat has been devoted to turning Britons into healthier, better-adjusted citizens, but the public has a nasty habit of spoiling the party. New figures provoked hand-wringing this week when they suggested that British alcohol consumption is rising even as the French and the Germans are drinking less. Alcoholfuelled crime is on the increase and smoking rates, which the government has promised to reduce, are stuck.

To economists, the solution is obvious: just raise taxes on the goods in question. Successive governments have taken this advice to heart, leaving Britain with some of the highest "sin taxes" in Europe. Yet Labour has abandoned fiscal tinkering for a sort of social engineering that comes over as inconsistent: liberal laws that allow pubs to open around the clock in the hope of curing Britain's drink culture sit oddly with authoritarian plans to forbid smoking in public places.