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A conspicuous absence of black market for other herbal products such as tea and cilantro indicates that the edge of the black market over the lawful businesses

A conspicuous absence of black market for other herbal products such as tea and cilantro indicates that the edge of the black market over the lawful businesses isn't that great, if extant at all.

duskwuff 2y ago
Or, to take an even nearer example: consider alcohol. It's heavily regulated and taxed in the US, but what little bootlegging exists does so mostly as a curiosity, not as a way of getting cheaper booze.
fipar 2y ago
I think those are just not great examples. There are plenty of examples of black markets for legal things, including food stuff. Example: instead of buying meat at a formal (as in, legal business that pays taxes, has the proper sanitary reviews, etc) butcher shop, its buying from a small producer who kills their own animals, or from some shady figure who kills other producer’s animals. Another example is alcohol and cigarettes that are bought at duty free shops by mules and then sold tax free in street markets. The edge of the black market over lawful business ranges from small to huge depending mostly on how regulated the lawful business is and the costs of a physical location (think street sales of snacks right across from a shop that also sells snacks but also has to pay rent, utilities, taxes, etc).
- inglor_cz 2y ago
  "its buying from a small producer who kills their own animals, or from some shady figure who kills other producer’s animals" That is a very marginal case. The vast majority of revenue in the meat business goes through the big corporations. "Another example is alcohol and cigarettes that are bought at duty free shops by mules and then sold tax free in street markets." Oh yeah, if you burden the legal producers with extraordinary, punitive taxes, the black market unburdened with them can flourish.
  - potato3732842 2y ago
    >Oh yeah, if you burden the legal producers with extraordinary, punitive taxes, the black market unburdened with them can flourish. That's exactly what most states, though apparently not Washington, do with weed.

A conspicuous absence of black market for other herbal products such as tea and cilantro indicates that the edge of the black market over the lawful businesses isn't that great, if extant at all.

duskwuff 2y ago

Or, to take an even nearer example: consider alcohol. It's heavily regulated and taxed in the US, but what little bootlegging exists does so mostly as a curiosity, not as a way of getting cheaper booze.

fipar 2y ago

I think those are just not great examples. There are plenty of examples of black markets for legal things, including food stuff. Example: instead of buying meat at a formal (as in, legal business that pays taxes, has the proper sanitary reviews, etc) butcher shop, its buying from a small producer who kills their own animals, or from some shady figure who kills other producer’s animals. Another example is alcohol and cigarettes that are bought at duty free shops by mules and then sold tax free in street markets. The edge of the black market over lawful business ranges from small to huge depending mostly on how regulated the lawful business is and the costs of a physical location (think street sales of snacks right across from a shop that also sells snacks but also has to pay rent, utilities, taxes, etc).

inglor_cz 2y ago
"its buying from a small producer who kills their own animals, or from some shady figure who kills other producer’s animals" That is a very marginal case. The vast majority of revenue in the meat business goes through the big corporations. "Another example is alcohol and cigarettes that are bought at duty free shops by mules and then sold tax free in street markets." Oh yeah, if you burden the legal producers with extraordinary, punitive taxes, the black market unburdened with them can flourish.
- potato3732842 2y ago
  >Oh yeah, if you burden the legal producers with extraordinary, punitive taxes, the black market unburdened with them can flourish. That's exactly what most states, though apparently not Washington, do with weed.