Obesity Tax Options

[ReggieM]

anyone hear about this i just read it in "times"

Im not sure if its only for New York but they are having 15 percent tax on all candy chips and soda.

[dosomethin888]

Good maybe everyone would stop eating them and people wouldnt be so freakin fat!

[*KINGdinguhling*]

wont do shit, people are willing to pay more to eat, they need a better incentive

[emberfly]

I think it's a great idea, but the North isn't having as many obesity problems as the South is having... we all be'z fatttt

[Flaunted]

wtf valentines day we would all be getting like vegetables!
Halloween?!
PERIIIODS? What would women do without chocolate?
Son of a bitches man, I need my chocolate.

[Joanne]

I'd still buy/eat chocolate.

[Gigi]

An incentive like that to buy other foods instead can only work if the price was increased significantly. 15% tax isn't that significant, especially for relatively cheap products like junk food. That's a 1 dollar candy bar versus a 1.15 candy bar. I wouldn't give a crap about that extra 15 cents. And honestly, most of the people who are getting obese off candy, chips and soda don't have the rationality to stop and think to themselves: Hey, if I continue buying these taxed foods, eventually the taxes will add up, so I would be better off spending this money elsewhere. They'd still buy the food anyway. It's really just a quick fix for a problem that is rooted in much more complex issues like poverty, poor education, health problems, etc.

[*KINGdinguhling*]

cough fund the war cough

[IVIike]

I suppose that could work, but I don't think it will make any significant change because most people will still buy that stuff regardless

[hi-C]

It's really just a quick fix for a problem that is rooted in much more complex issues like poverty, poor education, health problems, etc.

Truly. If people don't learn how to eat right, and if more and more fast food restaurants keep getting built and not any grocery stores, they're going to continue to eat the same old shit.

[Tomates]

isnt that going to make the economy worse?

[karmakiller]

Aw, what about the people who are obese because of things other than chips and candy? Or the people who aren't obese and like to eat chips and candy?

[ReggieM]

its more about a reason to tax americans/make money than to cut down obesitiy. New York is like some odd billion in debt and this tax will generate about 437 million dollars each year.

[*KINGdinguhling*]

west coast 4 lyfe

[dosomethin888]

It is probably just a way to get more money. I think that these people raising our taxes care more about taking our money than helping us lose weight. And it wont work anyway.. people will only lose weight if they really want to.

[brooklyneast05]

An incentive like that to buy other foods instead can only work if the price was increased significantly. 15% tax isn't that significant, especially for relatively cheap products like junk food. That's a 1 dollar candy bar versus a 1.15 candy bar. I wouldn't give a crap about that extra 15 cents.

i agree with this. i don't care about 15 cents. i wouldn't even know it cost more unless someone told me most likely becuase i never really pay attention to how much food like this costs since it's never that much. probably the only thing i would notice is if stuff in coke machines cost more. but that wouldn't bother me that much either cause i only buy out of them like 4 times a year anyway.

[Joanne]

isnt that going to make the economy worse?

An increase in tax shifts aggregate expenditure up, which means an increase in aggregate demand, so it would actually be helping the economy. And people are going to buy the food anyway, so consumption won't be affected much at all. (you know, from what I learned in econ anyway)

[Y-A-K-A]

they should tax being black, if you tax being black then the blacks will have lower crime because they won't go outside to do drugs

[hypnotique]

I dont know why people give a shit about ones size.

This country is so f*cking dumb its not even funny.We have more important issues in the world then smokers and porkers.

Let them make their beds and lay in it, the f*cking government has no reason to get involved.

[ReggieM]

they should tax being black, if you tax being black then the blacks will have lower crime because they won't go outside to do drugs

i dont get it?

[Comptine]

I dont know why people give a shit about ones size.

This country is so f*cking dumb its not even funny.We have more important issues in the world then smokers and porkers.

Let them make their beds and lay in it, the f*cking government has no reason to get involved.

That's not true. No one lives in an isolated bubble. Smokers subject other people to second hand smoke. In any case, smokers and obese people might be more likely to get ill. So if they work in a company with someone else who isn't smoker/obese, they might affect how the employer might provide health insurance.

I don't think it's right to control how other people live, especially through this kind of tax. NYC public schools don't have very good food. Sometimes, in some schools it's inedible. I know tons of students buy junk food to replace lunch. Maybe they should make an effort to introduce health class earlier and revamp our school meals.

[Gigi]

I'd like to add to the econ-speak around this topic and say that cigarette smoke is harmful to other people as well, like Comptine said, and that it is an externality. Which means that it creates an unintentional benefit/cost to other people, thus creating a misallocation of resources and making the entire economy less prosperous overall. Leading to economic problems.

/lesson of the day

So, smokers, not only is your cancer smoke f*cking up the baby in the belly of the woman next to you, it's also f*cking up the entire economy. Thanks.

[*KINGdinguhling*]

lol your welcome

they shouldnt add more tax, they should regulate the amount people eat and the quality of food



also

they should tax being black, if you tax being black then the blacks will have lower crime because they won't go outside to do drugs

this is THE dumbest thing i have ever heard, you make josephcohen sound like al gore.

[fameONE]

they should tax being black, if you tax being black then the blacks will have lower crime because they won't go outside to do drugs

FAIL

Let's tax your ignorance.

[*KINGdinguhling*]

i dont even think its ignorance, just plain stupidity.