July 28, 2004
Free Market Miracle #0001
Jack Daniels and Jim Beam are getting a boost from Uncle Sam.
For the first time, the national trade group representing the liquor industry is getting government help promoting its products to overseas consumers.
The Distilled Spirits Council has received a yearlong grant worth $62,000 from the Agriculture Department to participate in an overseas marketing program for U.S. agricultural products. Spirits that are made from grains qualify, said Frank Coleman, a spokesman for the trade group.
The amount is pretty negligible, in the grand scheme of things. But it just goes to show how desperate (and how shameless) big business is when it comes to slurping up any scraps it can get, using any loophole it can find, from the U.S. Taxpayers.
Alcohol being one of the nastier drugs, it also points up again the hypocrisy of the so-called "war" on drugs.
One other random (but related) thought: all advertising should, of course, be considered a market distortion. That's a pretty "visible" hand guiding a consumer toward a given product? Advertising by the government, on behalf of industry, is just icing on the cake.
Note: This Free Market Miracle brought to you by the party of Small Government, the GOP.
Posted by Eddie Tews at July 28, 2004 01:13 PM
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