date:May 17, 2012
esity and heart disease. Ideally, they claim, this high duty rate should be combined with subsidies on healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables.
It is basic economic theory that raising the price will change consumption, and we already use the taxation system in this way to influence behaviour, says Dr Rayner. We have taxes on unhealthy goods such as tobacco and alcohol. And we don't have taxes on books as they can be seen as a public good to be encouraged.
It is also likely that a tax on