The Flawed Fast Food Tax

Artigo de Jordan Ballor no Acton Institute.

But in this case, it is worth asking which is more gluttonous: the fast food consumers who order combo meals, or the governments, which constantly seek new ways to feed their own insatiable appetites. It’s a shame that those who so often lament governmental attempts to “legislate morality” don’t find anything wrong with the arbitrary taxation of certain legitimate industries and commodities.

In addition, the state’s interest in promoting healthy behavior quickly becomes contradictory when sin taxes are introduced. If such activities really are so harmful, government should not have an economic stake in the continuance of such activities. Indeed, government budgets, in seeking the short-term crutch of sin taxes, can quickly become dependent on them for long-term viability.

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As a rule, governments should not seek quick and temporary fixes to structural budget problems. Sin taxes like the fast food tax are quick fixes that would have serious economic and moral consequences. Government leaders really ought to address their own appetite for spending tax dollars before they try to regulate the appetites of their constituents.