Economists Suggest Taxing Soda Producers Versus Consumers To Reduce Obesity

John Beghin, an economist at Iowa State University, and colleagues suggest a more effective policy to combat obesity than a soda tax is tax food producers on the corn syrup, sugar and other sweeteners they stick into products long before consumers get to them at the grocery store, according to Miller-McCune magazine in Santa Barbara, Calif. For the full story, click here.

Editor’s Insight: These economists claim that by taxing food and soda producers, the tax that gets passed on the consumer will be less.

These economists also say that their proposed policy is not the best way to reduce obesity, but if politicians want to create a “fat tax,” this is a better way to do it.

They ultimately conclude that the best way to address obesity is to create incentives for healthy behavior. Why don’t they focus their efforts on a strategy that works rather than one that they recognize does not? 12-15-11 By Elliot Maras