The current economy provides vital data in the study of elasticity. For example, the consumption of luxury items like George Foreman Grills and Cabo Wabo tequila will decrease or simply become the prerogative of Manhattan's hyper-elite. Given falling wages, the demand for these goods is elastic. In contrast, the demand for other goods will stay the same (inelastic) or, indeed, increase. Cigarettes and asian noodles are strong examples of the latter.
But with tax and spend liberals at the levers of local and national power, the price of a pack of cigarettes in most urban environments will hover at $8-10 per pack. NP fears the incursion of the British style 10-cigarette pack may not be far off.
And even if one has not reached the point of loitering under the elevated tracks buying "loosies" with spare change (or smoking Carnival 100s), there are options.
1. For the more dextrous, rolling cigarettes is a desirable alternative to purchasing prepackaged smokes. If the home office is cutting out middle management, why not cut the middleman out of your deleterious habits as well? Canned or bagged tobacco can be purchased in bulk, and stores relatively well. Plus, the added nuisance of hand rolling the things while waiting on the subway platform or in the checkout line will prevent mindless chain smoking, and increase one's hardbitten, cowboy sex appeal.
2. For those whose manual abilities are limited to incessant mouse-clicking, the all-powerful internet will link smokers directly to discount distributors. These quasi-legal setups are usually run from the Rez, which earlier NP fact-finding trips confirm to be a Xanadu to hardened smokers and compulsive gamblers alike.
3. Alternately, one can simply drive across state lines. Many of the flyover states operate on a quantity-driven model, and rather than sin-taxing vice into oblivion, step aside and let the free-market and crippling addiction do the work. In many mountain and midwestern states, premium cigarettes sell for as little as $3 per pack. And with oil prices at a precariously low $70 a barrel, now may the time to take that long-deferred road trip. NP anticipates that the overall post-Hoover administration atmosphere that is sweeping the nation will be complemented by a return to good old fashioned bootlegging.
