Germany has a booze problem — or does it?

As Berlin debates higher alcohol taxes, the press blames cheap beer for a national crisis.

Dear Reader,

You could almost hear the astonishment in the journalist’s mouth as she typed the words into her keyboard. “Less alcohol is imbibed in Russia and the United Kingdom than here in Germany, even though the people of those countries have a reputation for uncontrolled drinking habits,” Der Spiegel noted in a recent article.

The shock runs deep. It…