He said consumer prices in Alberta are influenced by supplier-set wholesale prices, store and government markups and the timing of limited-time offers. All the factors at play means it’s challenging to track retail price changes over time.
“What I concluded in the data that I looked at in my own study, is that there was some increase in retail prices as a result of privatization, but it was not large,” West said.
“But it depends on product category, and the time period.”
In addition, when Alberta privatized, it changed the tax system from a percentage of the price to a unit tax.
“It doesn’t matter what it costs. The tax is flat,” Enoch said. “Which dings lower-cost alcohol, right? Because everything is charged at the same tax rate.”
There’s other positive things mentioned in this article, too, so what you’re doing is almost cherry picking.
Privatization resulted in alcohol prices increasing.
I’ve also not seen any numbers that suggest that the Alberta government makes more revenue from the private system than they would have a public system.
Every back-of-the-napkin calculation I’ve done suggests that the move to a private system increases access to alcohol for citizens while reducing the government revenue related to alcohol sales.
There’s way more to it than that.
There’s other positive things mentioned in this article, too, so what you’re doing is almost cherry picking.
None of this refutes what was said above.
Privatization resulted in alcohol prices increasing.
I’ve also not seen any numbers that suggest that the Alberta government makes more revenue from the private system than they would have a public system.
Every back-of-the-napkin calculation I’ve done suggests that the move to a private system increases access to alcohol for citizens while reducing the government revenue related to alcohol sales.