Restrictions on Interstate Wine Sales: Are They Justifiable?

Introduction

Orley Ashenfelter

Despite what many people think, the constitutional amendment that prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States was not repealed; instead it was modified by a new Amendment. The new Amendment provided the right to the States to regulate the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. Since it was clearly intended that the States could bar the manufacture and sale of alchoholic beverages, this Amendment has been used to regulate the interstate sale of alcoholic beverages--which otherwise would not be possible because of the "Interstate Commerce" clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Daniel McFadden, the distinguished economist who is the author of the following carefully reasoned economic anlysis of this issue, is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, a Nobel Prize recipient, a grape grower, and a winemaker.

To read Professor McFadden's analysis, click the link below:

Interstate Wine Shipments and E-Commerce

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