RAPID RESPONSES
From bad to wurst
In Friday’s Morning Wire, Allister Heath quoted economic research concluding that if a restaurant bill is split equally among diners it is on average 36 per cent more expensive than if people paid individually only for what they ordered, pointing out by extension the obvious moral hazard of Eurozone pooled debts, where financially disciplined countries pay for the most profligate. This would not be true if the diners were limited to a fixed price menu and one glass of wine per head. Strict measures need to be taken to ensure that extra glasses of brandy are not slipped onto the communal bill. But the person who is in control of the budget may lose a few friends and some diners may choose to eat elsewhere in the future. Maybe sausage and sauerkraut should be made compulsory in all restaurants across the Eurozone. Then there could be no arguments over the bill, just whether to dine in the Eurozone.
Christopher Clayton