Balko Speaking on Repeal Day

This Friday, I'll be speaking at a Cato Institute forum commemorating the 75th anniversary of Repeal Day.  Here are the details:

Free to Booze: The 75th Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition

POLICY FORUM
Friday, December 5, 2008
3:30 PM (Reception To Follow)

Featuring Michael Lerner, author of Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City; Glen Whitman, author of Strange Brew: Alcohol and Government Monopoly; Asheesh Agarwal, Former Assistant Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Office of Policy Planning; and Radley Balko, Senior Editor, Reason. Moderated by Brandon Arnold, Cato Institute.

The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

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On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, thus ending our nation's failed experiment with Prohibition. Organized crime flourished during Prohibition, but what were the other effects of the national ban on alcohol? How and why was it repealed? Please join the Cato Institute for a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition and a discussion of its legacy and continuing impact on America. Drinks will be served following the discussion.

Cato events, unless otherwise noted, are free of charge. To register for this event, please fill out the form below and click submit or email [e-mail], fax [phone], or call [phone] by 3:30 PM, Thursday, December 4, 2008.

Here's the link to register online. 

Comments

[The Wine Commonsewer]

but what were the other effects of the national ban on alcohol?

One that's near and dear to my heart is that Prohibition decimated California's wine industry. That set back the evolution of high quality wines by fifty years (IMO).

The few wineries that survived were making swill for Catholic mass and growing zinfandel to ship back east to Italian immigrants who were allowed to make their own wine for sacramental purposes.

[R C Dean]

It also killed the national appetite for decent beer, for what that's worth, and put lots of smaller/local breweries out of business, laying the foundation for the current highly centralized beer industry.