Brits Pay Less for Beer than Bottled Water
Now, here's a bit of good news for beer drinkers: In Britain, beer costs less than bottled water and soda in many supermarkets.
After living in Canada and the United States, where every simple pleasure seems to be heavily taxed, I am heartened to see that in England, a bloke can still get a pint for a decent price. (Years ago, when I was a columnist at a newspaper in Canada, one of my senior editors suggested I run a joke campaign for public office on a platform of lowering beer prices, just to see how people would respond. Readers loved the idea, but the publisher didn't — and killed my budding political career.)
Alas, the British beer drinker's good fortune may not last long. Morning Edition reports that anti-alcohol campaigners, aghast at the idea that beer is cheaper than water, want the government to increase taxes. But even without a tax hike, prices for microbrews at least are likely to rise because of a shortage of the hops used to flavor beer.
11:55 AM ET | 11-13-2007 | permalink
