Everything has costs and benefits: Even prohibition

Some new research from South Africa shows that their COVID-19 prohibition on alcohol came with some benefits.

…We find that this policy causally reduced injury-induced mortality in the country by at least 14% during the five weeks of the ban….We also document a sharp drop in violent crimes, indicating a tight link between alcohol and aggressive behavior (sic) in society…

Alcohol, violence and injury-induced mortality: Evidence from a modern-day prohibition

Of course, to offset such benefits, prohibitions also come with costs, especially if they are imposed for long-terms. Such long-term prohibitions appear to allow criminal gangs to rise up and cause significant problems.

Thus, I doubt Government prohibitions on alcohol would offer an overall benefit for the Isle of Man (or many other entire Anglo-nations) – but for every policy, there are likely to be some costs and some benefits. We then should weigh up all the cost and all the benefits to come to a decision.

There are obvious parallels to Government-mandated lockdowns here in the Isle of Man: there were costs to imposing them, and there were benefits. Weighing up the various costs and benefits will remain one of the biggest challenges for social sciences for the 2020s.