We should all be aware that Alcohol and Tobacco are both heavily taxed by most governments around the world (especially, yours truly, Canada.) And after reading about Russian alcohol taxes we know that governments introduce these because they are major health risks for the populations that they govern. But should alcohol and tobacco be taxed while ignoring the worlds #1 health risk??
A recent study in London proposes that governments should begin to induce taxes on Fast Food. “Obesity takes up between two per cent and six per cent of health-care costs in many countries, and in some regions including the U.S. has overtaken tobacco as the largest preventable cause of disease.” So although we might feel that governments are protecting us, we need to realize that they are simply cleaning up the messes they leave behind.
The recent taxes in Russia have begun as a late response to the fact that Russia is already one of the fastest depopulating countries in the world. The depopulation is said to have begun in 1992, and simply taxing alcohol in Russia is a late and weak step in the prevention of this depopulation. As was breifly addressed in class before, Taxes on store bought alcohol will increase the consumption of Samogon. “samogon—home-brew, or “moonshine”—is, according to some Russian researchers, a huge component of the country’s overall intake.” This was written before the new taxes that were imposed in early 2010.
Governments (and companies) need to take action to prevent future problems, not only fix existing problems. And these solutions need to be long term solutions with lasting implications. A tax on Unhealthy and Fast foods would be a good next step. But there are many hurdles yet to conquer.
In terms of health risk regulation and government intervention; the Ideas in my blog tie closely into JieXia’s Ideas in her blog Swill-Cooked Dirty Oil During the World (https://blogs.ubc.ca/comm101sec103/2011/09/15/swill-cooked-dirty-oil-during-the-world) and also Eric Li’s Ideas in Milk Powder Scandal in China (https://blogs.ubc.ca/comm101sec103/2011/09/14/milk-powder-scandal-in-china/)
My Sources:
(Governments should tax junk food, scientists urge. http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110825/lancet-studies-obesity-110825/20110825/?hub=EdmontonHome)
(Drunken Nation: Russia’s Depopulation Bomb. Nicholas Eberstadt http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/articles/2009-Spring/full-Eberstadt.html)