Generally, it is free will that dictates a person’s choice to consume a product. However, the Danish government decides that it should impose a tax on food that has contains more than 2.3% of saturated fat.

In Lu’s blog, she discusses how it is a bad idea since it will damage local business selling food that is categorized as ‘bad’. I agree with her argument, because by imposing a tax on the good, it implies that there is now an extra cost to purchase the food, and consumers will rather take their money and spend it on somewhere else. If the opportunity cost of buying food is now forgone because the consumer does not value the food as much anymore, this decreases the overall demand for the item and suppliers will suffer as a result.

The tax is simply asking businesses to sell fewer goods for the same price, because the extra cost eventually goes back to the government, and this law is simply a method to enrich the government’s coffers. If the Danish government is truly concerned about its people, they should look for methods that will discourage people from buying unhealthy food in addition to not damaging local businesses.

Picture URL: http://kimoracochran.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/happy-meal.jpg