Modern economies rely not on monopolies, but on competition. Contemporary Russians consume competitive products Nestle cereals, Mercedes cars, Hollywood movies.

This applies across industries, not just in banking. One sees the benefits of this approach in the paths that companies like Unilever, PepsiCo, and Nestle are forging.

Prohibition hikes the mark up on prices an astounding 15,000 in the case of cocaine traveling to Europe from Andean processing facilities. While the war on drugs focuses on bringing down cartels and their kingpins, it perversely aids the health of their markets, which nestle within legitimate trade flows and respond to price incentives.