Raising the price of sugar-sweetened sodas, coffees, teas and energy, sports and fruit drinks by an average of 31% reduced consumer purchases of those drinks by a third, according to a new analysis of restrictions implemented in five US cities.

“What we measured is how consumers change their consumption in response to price changes,” said study author Scott Kaplan, an assistant professor of economics at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

“For every 1% increase in price, we found a 1% decrease in purchases of these products,” Kaplan said. “The decrease in consumer purchases occurred almost immediately after the taxes were put in place and stayed that way over the next three years of the study.”

  • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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    -81 year ago

    Fuck this stupid shit. It’s just the government positioning things as bad, sinful, evil, or unhealthy so they can tax more, and reap more revenue. Adults should be free to make their own decisions about this sort of stuff. Embrace this and you’ll soon find something you like up for sin tax the next time the government wants to raise taxes.

    • @wafflez
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      41 year ago

      Health psychology is valid and important.

    • @AA5B
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      1 year ago

      As someone with many sins, I’m still all for it. If it helps me cut back, fantastic. If it helps make up for my extra cost on society, fair enough