STUMP » Articles » Taxing Tuesday: Lazy Days of Summer » 20 August 2019, 04:03

Where Stu & MP spout off about everything.

Taxing Tuesday: Lazy Days of Summer  

by

20 August 2019, 04:03

No commentary from me today. Just links.

(I’m going to Splashdown Beach with the family today. I hope I don’t frizzle in the sun.)

TAX STORIES

Okay, I will comment on that last one. A friend sent me that link, and I’ll just copy a bit over:

Making the case for (or against) a tax on sugar-sweetened beverage requires addressing a number of questions.
Why focus on sugar-sweetened beverages rather than on other sources of calories, or on candy and junk food?
How much does consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages lead to heath or other harms like tooth decay?
…..
To what extent do the costs of such a tax, and also the health benefits of such a tax, fall more heavily on those with lower income levels?
Putting all these factors together, does a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages seem like a wise policy?

This may seem like a lot of complications for answering a question about a small-scale policy. But for those who want a serious and actual answer , these kinds of questions can’t be avoided.

The author was responding to a paper that came up with its own answer, but also noted:

Furthermore, sugar-sweetened beverage taxes are not a panacea—they will not, by themselves, solve the obesity epidemic in America or elsewhere. But sin taxes have proven to be a feasible and effective policy instrument in other domains, and the evidence suggests that the benefits of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes likely exceed the costs.

I think it’s more annoying than anything, like the dumbass Connecticut plastic bag tax.

I’m obese and I don’t drink soda. Heck, I barely get stuff with added sugar at all, except for a little tin of caramels I buy from Trader Joe’s.

But I like my food. There is a reason many people are fat, and, frankly, I prefer living in a country where the poor have too much food rather than the opposite. I’m going through Dickens’s Bleak House currently, and only 10% in, at least one person has died related to him starving. Yes, officially, it was an opium overdose, but he was obviously taking opium in lieu of eating.

TAX TWEETS

Huh? When/where is this coming from? This is coming from nowhere to me.

You first. I have only the one house, after all.

I am tired of wealthy people doing this shit. How many homes do you have, Warren? Go screw yourself.

(that’s New Zealand, above)

Yes, of course I live in one of those places.

Want a tax revolt? See the following for a good way to get a tax revolt. They couldn’t even get one passed in Germany.


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