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A comment on Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax. Parent comment

Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by svantana on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @06:57AM (#16105466)
The word "sin" implicates that it's all about morality, but there are also real negative externalities associated with these stimulants that are costing society a lot of money. Also, taxes have to come from somewhere, isn't it good to tax things that are (on average) bad for society rather than only good/neutral things (like income)?
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Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by bryanlarsen on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @08:29AM (#16105961)
"Pigouvian tax" is the term for a tax on negative externalities.

A tax on sugar is both a sin tax and a Pigouvian tax. IMO the real reason for its introduction was the sin tax angle, but it's Pigouvian tax principles is what makes it a "good" tax.

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Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by pm90 on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @11:52PM (#16112645)
I was under the impression that the taxes were more from a public health perspective: smoking, alcohol etc. are leading causes of death and we want to discourage public consumption while at the same time raising revenue
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Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by bryanlarsen on Wednesday January 10, 2018 @06:36AM (#16114219)
That's basically the definition of a sin tax: a tax to discourage you from doing things that are bad for you.
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Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by saas_co_de on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @07:19AM (#16105600)
Yes, it is everyone paying for the "sin" of working who picks up the health care tab so I am fine with shifting some of the burden.
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