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A comment on Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030. Parent comment

Re:Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, dispo... by JumpCrisscross on Thursday February 22, 2018 @10:18AM (#16438097)
> rather than imposing a small fee, they should have banned the sale of non-biodegradable bags altogether

Fines allow businesses to judge the merits (and timeline) of shifting according to their needs. Bans force everyone to shift simultaneously. Ceteris paribus, bans promote incumbents while taxes facilitate new entrants. (TL; DR Britain versus Italy's economy.)

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Re:Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, dispo... by londons_explore on Thursday February 22, 2018 @11:58AM (#16439023)
A ban is effectively an infinite fee.

A small fee seems like a good halfway point between having no fee and an infinite fee.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, dispo... by JumpCrisscross on Thursday February 22, 2018 @12:09PM (#16439135)
> A ban is effectively an infinite fee

It’s the probability of getting caught times the cost of the punishment. That’s the other problem with a ban. “Probability of getting caught” being a cost center, authorities prefer giant fines with low enforcement costs; this results in a system favouring the politically connected.

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