France Forces Champagne Down the Drain

So, you have a product and want to raisethe price. There are two ways to do that:

1. Increase demand, keep supplies the same
2. Decrease supplies, keep demand the same

Well, in France the vineyards wanted to raise the price of champagne, so they lobbied thier government to enforce quotas on the amount of champagne a vineyard was allowed to produce. This quota is determined by the acre, so bigger vineyards stay big while smaller vineyards stay small.

Anyway, it appears that this year's grape harvest is a phenomanal one. The best in 300 years. However, the quotas are in place and no one can take advantage of this and produce a lot of extra good champagne.

This kind of regulation is destructive to small businesses and denies a good product to many people who might not normally be able to afford it.

Read the article here.