Ketan Patel, a fourth-year doctoral student in economics at Northwestern University at Evanston, Ill., says an amendment to Illinois Senate Bill 396 which would add one penny an ounce to the cost of most soft drinks with added sugar or sweeteners, including soda, sweet iced tea and coffee drinks, won’t change consumption habits, according to United Press International.
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Editor’s Insight: This researcher makes an interesting finding: obese people like diet soda more than regular soda. Hence, a higher tax on regular soda won’t affect the consumption of diet soda, which obese people prefer.
This finding, if valid, deserves further scrutiny. Researchers have presented different conclusions on what impact taxes have on consumption of food and beverages. But regardless of what the impact is on consumption, this is no time for government to increase taxes on food and beverages. 06-29-11 by Elliot Maras
