Prohibitions Prohibitions edited by john meadowcroft with contributions from ralf m. bader simon w. bowmaker mark j. cherry k. austin kerr gary a. mauser john meadowcroft alberto mingardi martin ricketts robert simmons nadine strossen alexander tabarrok mark thornton geoffrey e. wood the institute of economic affairs CONTENTS About the authors 9 List of tables and figures 15 Foreword by Jamie Whyte 16 first published in Great britain in 2008 by 1 Introduction 21 the institute of economic affairs 2 Lord north Street John Meadowcroft westminster Prohibition and the harm principle 23 London sw1p 3lb Policy lessons of this collection 25 in association with Profile books Ltd Prohibition, public policy and responsibility 34 the mission of the institute of economic affairs is to improve public understanding of references 35 the fundamental institutions of a free society, by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. 2 Prohibitions and economics: an overview 37 copyright © the institute of economic affairs 2008 Martin Ricketts and Geoffrey E. Wood the moral right of the authors has been asserted. introduction 37 all rights reserved. without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part market process 39 of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, Preferences 40 recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright Paternalism 42 owner and the publisher of this book. Pollution 46 a ciP catalogue record for this book is available from the british Library. Policing and enforcement 50 isbn 978 0 255 36585 7 conclusion 52 many iea publications are translated into languages other than english or are reprinted. references 53 Permission to translate or to reprint should be sought from the director General at the address above. 3 Recreational drugs 54 typeset in Stone by macGuru Ltd Mark Thornton and Simon W. Bowmaker [email protected] introduction 54 Printed and bound in Great britain by hobbs the Printers a brief history of recreational drug prohibition 55 5 the costs and benefits of prohibition 60 7 Pornography 139 Potential outcomes of legislation 65 Nadine Strossen conclusion 72 introduction 139 references 73 definitions of ‘pornography’ and related key terms 140 there are ‘special costs’ of prohibiting sexual expression 143 4 Boxing 76 there are benefits of free speech and costs of suppression Ralf M. Bader of expression in general 148 introduction 76 the benefits of freedom and costs of suppression of the dangers of boxing 77 sexual expression in particular 150 is boxing immoral? 83 the costs of suppressing the sexual expression targeted conclusion 88 by macdworkinite feminists 153 references 89 censoring sexual expression undermines human rights more broadly 159 5 Firearms 90 references 161 Gary A. Mauser introduction 90 8 Medical drugs and devices 164 the United Kingdom 95 Alexander Tabarrok australia 100 introduction 164 canada 102 fda regulations and new drug introductions 165 the republic of ireland 105 mutual recognition as reform 168 jamaica 108 the Prescription drug User fee act 170 conclusion 110 off-label prescribing 171 references 112 the Consumer Reports model 173 conclusion 174 6 Advertising 117 references 175 Alberto Mingardi introduction 117 9 Prostitution 178 can advertising actually change people’s behaviour? 119 John Meadowcroft advertising and the theory of entrepreneurial discovery 123 introduction 178 are dangerous products different? the case of pharmaceuticals 127 Prostitution: markets and legal regimes 179 conclusion 135 the prohibition of prostitution: for and against 183 references 136 an optimal legal regime 192 conclusion 194 references 195 10 Gambling 198 abOUT THE AUTHORS Robert Simmons introduction 198 why restrict gambling? a public choice perspective 199 the UK gambling reforms: road to nowhere? 207 the growth of sports betting 211 Ralf M. Bader the growth of gambling on the internet 214 conclusion 220 ralf m. bader read Philosophy, Politics and economics at the Univer- references 223 sity of oxford (St edmund hall), gaining a first class degree. while at oxford, he refounded the oxford hayek Society. having completed an 11 Human body parts for transplantation 226 mLitt with distinction in philosophy at the University of St andrews, Mark J. Cherry he is now working on his Phd at St andrews and is currently a visiting regulatory failures 226 researcher in the philosophy department at Stanford University. his improving access to transplantation 229 research focuses on metaphysics, ethics and libertarianism, and he is justice, fairness and exploitation 235 presently writing a book on robert nozick for the major conservative markets, medical innovation and scientific excellence 243 and Libertarian thinkers series to be published by continuum. conclusion 245 references 247 Simon W. Bowmaker 12 Alcohol 251 Simon w. bowmaker is a Visiting Lecturer in economics at new york K. Austin Kerr University. Prior to pursuing an academic career, he worked as an econo- introduction 251 mist at hSbc markets, the Government economic Service and cambridge background 251 econometrics. for several years, Simon taught economics at the Univer- the emergence of prohibition 253 sity of edinburgh and has held visiting teaching positions at a number the industrialisation of alcoholic beverage production 256 of universities in the United States, including florida State University, the rebirth of prohibition and the emergence of a State University of new york at buffalo, University of colorado at denver modern reform movement 258 and Georgia institute of technology. his research interests include the economic arguments about prohibition 260 economics of marriage, crime and drug policy, and these topics feature the economics of prohibition in perspective 263 in a book he recently edited, Economics Uncut: A Complete Guide to Life, references 265 Death, and Misadventure (edward elgar, 2005). he received his economics training from aberdeen, cambridge and St andrews universities. About the IEA 268 9 prohibitions about the authors Mark J. Cherry Gary A. Mauser mark j. cherry is the dr Patricia a. hayes Professor in applied ethics Gary mauser is a professor at the institute for canadian Urban research at St edward’s University, austin, texas. he is author of Kidney for Sale Studies, faculty of business administration, Simon fraser University, by Owner: Human Organs, Transplantation, and the Market (Georgetown in british columbia, canada. he received his Phd from the Univer- University Press, 2005). he serves as editor of the Journal of Medicine sity of california, irvine. recent publications include, ‘would banning and Philosophy, editor of Christian Bioethics, editor-in-chief of Health- firearms reduce murder and suicide?a review of international evidence’, Care Ethics Committee Forum and book series co-editor of the Annals of Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy (co-author don b. Kates, 2007) Bioethics. he is editor or co-editor of the books: Persons and Their Bodies: and Hubris in the North: The Canadian Firearms Registry (fraser insti- Rights, Responsibilities, Relationships (Kluwer, 1999), Allocating Scarce tute, 2007). he has made invited presentations to the United nations Medical Resources: Roman Catholic Perspectives (Georgetown University conference on Small arms and Light weapons, the canadian house of Press, 2002), Regional Perspectives in Bioethics (taylor and francis, 2003), commons, and he has testified as an expert witness before the Supreme Religious Perspectives in Bioethics (taylor and francis, 2004), Natural Law court of canada. for more information please see his website, www.gary- and the Possibility of a Global Bioethics (Springer, 2004), The Death of mauser.net. Metaphysics; The Death of Culture (Springer, 2005) and Pluralistic Casu- istry (Springer, 2007). he is also credited with numerous articles, book chapters and other publications. John Meadowcroft john meadowcroft is Lecturer in Public Policy at King’s college London. he is the author of The Ethics of the Market (Palgrave, 2005), which K. Austin Kerr won an intercollegiate Studies institute templeton enterprise award, K. austin Kerr is a Professor emeritus of history at ohio State Univer- co-author with mark Pennington of Rescuing Social Capital from Social sity. his writings include Organized for Prohibition: A New History of the Democracy (institute of economic affairs, 2007), which won the arthur Anti-Saloon League (yale University Press, 1985), ‘in the shadow of Prohi- Seldon cbe award for excellence, and co-editor with Philip booth of The bition: domestic american alcohol policy Since 1933’, Business History, Road to Economic Freedom (edward elgar, 2006). Since 2004 he has been july 2005 (with Pamela e. Pennock) and ‘the rebirth of brewing and a deputy editor and book review editor of the IEA journal Economic distilling in the United States in 1933: government policy and industry Affairs. he is Series editor of the major conservative and Libertarian structure’, Business and Economic History On Line, business history thinkers series to be published by continuum. conference, 2005. he has served as President of the alcohol and drugs historical Society and of the business history conference. in addition to his service at ohio State University, Professor Kerr has been a fulbright Alberto Mingardi Professor at waseda University, the University