To that end, the Treasury Department has been investigating competition in the beer, wine, and spirits industries. Earlier this week, it
published its report.
It details how the government should be working to open up competition in these industries to help the small businesses that fuel it.
It also makes some specific recommendations, including on the anticompetitive dangers of horizontal consolidation within the industry, and how state laws (such as beverage franchise laws) can be amended to eliminate or mitigate the anticompetitive
effects of states' traditional three-tier supply chain system of passing alcoholic beverages from the producer/supplier, to the distributor/wholesaler, and ultimately to the retailer.
If you have any interest in these industries in particular, or more generally as to how the power of state and federal governments can be harnessed to help free enterprise by removing barriers to competition, I recommend reading the Treasury Department's report.
Here's what else I read this past week that I think you should be reading, too.