Don Boudreaux has spotted one in the pages of the Washington Post:
Editor, Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
Labor-union official Vincent Fyfe wants the state of New York to continue
prohibiting supermarkets from selling wine (Letters, Feb. 12). His reason?
Supermarket wine sales will put some liquor-store owners out of business and
their employees out of work.
Note to Mr. Fyfe: the purpose of the wine trade – like every other trade – is to
serve consumers, not to create jobs for producers. If job creation were
paramount, then government should not only continue to prohibit supermarkets
from selling wine, but should require that bottles of beer, wine, and spirits be
hand-delivered to retailers, one at a time, while cradled in the arms of
carriers each pulled though the streets in a rickshaw.
Of course, such a requirement would harm consumers, but it would also create
lots of jobs.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
George Mason University
