ecnomic essay -able

Short Essay: the Soda Tax

Externalities and Taxes

 

Excessive sugar consumption has been proven to have an adverse effect on public health. Recently, the city of New York took measures to ban the sale of soda. Mexico on the other hand, imposed taxes on sugary beverages and other junk food to reduce the growing rate of obesity in the country. In California, several cities have rejected a soda tax while the city of Berkeley approved Measure D in 2014, levying a tax on sugary beverages. Now policymakers in California want to pass a statewide tax on sweetened drinks to reduce consumption and thereby reduce external costs on society.

Compose an essay in which you address the following questions:

Discuss the typical effects of a tax.

In your opinion, should the government impose a tax on sugary beverages? How will the tax affect people of different income levels? How will it affect businesses?

According to the articles you read, have “soda taxes” had the intended effect in other cities or countries? Do you believe that a soda tax will have the same effects in California? Will it have the same impact as the tax on cigarettes?

Instead of or in addition to a tax, how can the government combat the growing problem of excessive sugar consumption and obesity? What are other forms of intervention?

A few resources

Senate bill

Assembly Member Bloom. (2017, April 19). AB-1003 California Community Health Fund. California Legislative Information. Retrieved from http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1003 (链接到外部网站。)

McGreevy, P. (2016, March 8). More expensive soda? Lawmakers want to tax sugary drinks. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-soda-tax-20160308-story.html (链接到外部网站。)

 

Examples of sugar taxes

Aubrey, A. (2019, March 25). To curb kid’s sugary drink habits, pediatricians now call for soda taxes. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/03/25/706635209/to-curb-kids-sugary-drink-habits-pediatricians-now-call-for-soda-taxes (链接到外部网站。)

Aubrey, A. (2016, June 9). Taxing sugar: 5 things to know about Philly’s proposed soda tax. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/09/481390378/taxing-sugar-5-things-to-know-about-phillys-proposed-soda-tax (链接到外部网站。)

Barclay, E. (2015, June 19). Mexico’s sugary drink tax makes a dent in consumption, study claims. NPR. Retreived from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/06/19/415741354/mexicos-sugary-drink-tax-makes-a-dent-in-consumption-study-claims (链接到外部网站。)

Charles, D. (2019, February 21). Sugar taxes work, studies suggest—but maybe not as well as hoped. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/02/21/696709717/u-s-soda-taxes-work-studies-suggest-but-maybe-not-as-well-as-hoped (链接到外部网站。)

Charles, D. (2016, August 23). Berkeley’s soda tax appears to cut consumption of sugary drinks. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/08/23/491104093/berkeleys-soda-tax-appears-to-cut-consumption-of-sugary-drinks (链接到外部网站。)

Kaplan, K. (2016, August 23). Berkeley sees a big drop in soda consumption after penny-per-ounce ‘soda tax.’ Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-soda-tax-works-20160823-snap-story.html (链接到外部网站。)

 

Battle by the Sugar Industry

PBS Newshour. (2012, June 7). Should sugary drinks be taxed like cigaretts? [PBS]. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/video/pbs-newshour-should-sugary-drinks-be-taxed-like-cigarettes/ (链接到外部网站。)

O’Connor, A. (2016, September 13). Sugar industry paid scientists to misdirect obesity blame. Seattle Times. Retrieved from https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/sugar-industry-paid-scientists-to-misdirect-obesity-blame/ (链接到外部网站。)

Szabo, L. (2018, November 5). Big soda and the ballot: Soda industry takes cues from tobacco to combat taxes. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/11/05/664435761/big-soda-and-the-ballot-soda-industry-takes-cues-from-tobacco-to-combat-taxes (链接到外部网站。)

The sugar industry used big tobacco techniques. [Editorial]. (2016, September 13). San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/The-sugar-industry-used-Big-Tobacco-techniques-9220926.php

Grading Rubric

Structure	5 points Includes APA formatting, grammar, essay structure, works cited section, etc.
Discussion on Typical Effects of a tax	10 points Discussion should be based on the class notes, worksheets, textbook, and other material we learned in class.
Discussion on Arguments for and against the tax	10 points Discuss at least two articles on the arguments for and against the tax; impact on businesses; impact on consumers of different income levels. This discussion should support your thesis.
Comparison of real world sugar taxes	10 points Discuss at least two articles on the success/failure of a sugar tax in other cities, states, countries. This discussion should support your thesis.
Alternatives to Government Intervention	10 points Support your viewpoint(s) with evidence and/or discussion from other countries, cities, articles, theories, etc. Have these other forms of intervention proven successful?
	Total 45 points

Requirements

minimum 2 pages

APA formatting

Times New Roman Font (12 point), double spaced

strong and clear thesis statement

separate introductory and concluding paragraph

works cited section 

Upload your essay to Canvas in a Word or PDF document. I do not recommend using Google Docs.  

Do not upload a .pages document from Mac.