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ottomaticg t1_j8435df wrote

For those not familiar with Oregon liquor laws.

The State owns the distilled spirits in each store. The OLCC appoints liquor store operators who are responsible for the stores' daily operations. The liquor store operator and personnel are part of a small business operation and are not state employees.

Prices are regulated so a bottle that sells for $1000+ on open market can sell in the hundreds in Oregon. If you can find one.

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MoreGaghPlease t1_j84t548 wrote

This is exactly what economists would expect to happen when a price ceiling is set below equilibrium price. The government said ‘you can’t sell above X’ and so supply dropped significantly and third-parties sought to arbitrage at the equilibrium price. It results in a loss of total surplus, and a wealth transfer from sellers to third parties (and a wealth transfer from sellers to some small subset of consumers unaffected by the arbitrage). Or in simple terms: the public didn’t get to buy as much of this stuff as it otherwise would have, and third parties were able to skim part of the profits of what they did buy.

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MyWALife t1_j854uz7 wrote

> the public didn’t get to buy as much of this stuff as it otherwise would have,

That may have been the original intent.

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MoreGaghPlease t1_j85i5yk wrote

The price ceilings they have are way above the price of 'bottom shelf' liquor. So as a policy objective, much of what it does is likely just redirect consumers to less expensive spirits.

If the goal was to limit overall alcohol consumption, they'd more likely do it with a price floor than a price ceiling (i.e., you must price above $X)

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photofluid t1_j88i7eh wrote

High prices can hurt brand value.

Also, wealth transfer can be fair, via a lottery system for example.

Lastly, not all supply bottlenecks can be solved by higher prices.

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Send-More-Coffee t1_j8739dg wrote

Counterpoint: I want to be able to buy booze that has a reasonable markup compared to its production/shipping costs. Not all products need to counter their scarcity by finding equilibrium, their scarcity can simply result in hype. Economics doesn't have morals, and makes poor policy as a result.

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derf82 t1_j84x692 wrote

Moreover, bottles this rare are typically offered by lottery where you have to win the right to buy it.

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bazillion_blue_jitsu t1_j848wdw wrote

There are places where they never had prohibition, and people can just distill their own.

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Teripid t1_j84jkh1 wrote

Yes but a 1989 bottle of Grandpa's bathtub gin, while rare likely won't fetch much at auction.

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