Not Brewopoly, the beloved family board game, an actual monopoly. As was noted in the inaugural post of the SLACE Archive, Anheuser-Busch InBev is attempting to purchase another beer conglomerate–Grupo Modelo. That Planet Money story used the attempted purchase as a predicate for discussing the economic effects of monopolies. This story, on All Things Considered (11:30 minutes), discusses the economic battle between big beer and craft brewers and how many of the hip craft beers you think you are drinking are really owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Special thanks to Jack Foster for bringing this story to my attention.
It is not a matter of whether I think I am drinking those beers, I am. It is a matter of who owns them.
I should have known a philosophy professor would pick up on that loose language. I noticed it myself, but I was hoping we could explore the metaphysical ramifications of misleading beer labeling. Is it really “craft beer”? Undoubtedly, it is beer. I’ll grant you that. As a former philosophy student turned law student, I think that the cannons of statutory interpretation make my interpretation plausible. But, poorly drafted? For sure.