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Sharma
Sharma
Sharma
@bansisharma

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Sharma

@bansisharma

Never ascribe to malice what can easily be explained by incompetence.

Joined June 2009

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    Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

    1. The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions -- Philadelphia Edition! Nearly two years ago, Philadelphia passed a "soda tax" -- a hefty 1.5 cents per ounce or $1 tax on a typical two-liter bottle -- as a "sin tax" in the national war on obesity. Now the verdict is in.pic.twitter.com/jCMPnPt9o2

    5:15 AM - 11 Jan 2019
    • 1,439 Retweets
    • 2,729 Likes
    • Vollinian Rami Bill Palombi Frank Gullo Alfonso cdafonseca Dan Megill Séb Krier Jose M Guardia
    168 replies 1,439 retweets 2,729 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        2. Philadelphians didn’t cut calories as a result of the tax on sweetened drinks, nor did they shift towards drinking anything healthier. Instead, most of them just drove outside the city to buy the same old sodas from stores where they didn’t have to pay the tax.

        17 replies 108 retweets 571 likes
        Show this thread
      3. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        3. Meanwhile the poorest in the city — those who would find it hardest to drive for many miles to buy soda — just ended up paying more in taxes.

        6 replies 89 retweets 470 likes
        Show this thread
      4. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        4. “We find no significant reduction in calorie and sugar intake,” conclude researchers Stephan Seiler from Stanford University, Anna Tuchman from Northwestern and Song Yao from the University of Minnesota, in a study published this week.

        7 replies 63 retweets 419 likes
        Show this thread
      5. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        5. Quote from the study: "The tax does not lead to a shift in consumption towards healthier products, it affects low income households more severely, and it is limited in its ability to raise revenue."

        6 replies 128 retweets 564 likes
        Show this thread
      6. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        6. As the obesity epidemic effects the poor disproportionately, they say, the tax “imposes a relatively larger financial burden on low income/high obesity households that are less likely to engage in cross-shopping at stores outside of the city.”

        8 replies 50 retweets 327 likes
        Show this thread
      7. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        7. They also note that this dismal outcome is wildly at odds with earlier, optimistic economic forecasts about how such soda taxes would fare.

        2 replies 40 retweets 276 likes
        Show this thread
      8. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        8. A variety of economists, using spreadsheets and theoretical economic models, predicted that taxing sugared drinks would lead to sharp falls in the amount of them that are drunk, especially by the poor.

        3 replies 47 retweets 236 likes
        Show this thread
      9. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        9. “Compared to the decrease of 51,000 ounces of taxed beverages at the average store in Philadelphia, we find an even larger increase of 61,000 ounces (per store) in stores up to 2 miles away from the city,” the researchers found.

        3 replies 45 retweets 257 likes
        Show this thread
      10. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        10. Apparently, none of this was accurately forecast using economic models. A tax designed to improve health of the poor does no such thing, but instead just ends up enriching the city coffers by further impoverishing the very poor it was allegedly intended to help. The End

        22 replies 116 retweets 490 likes
        Show this thread
      11. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        Sharma Retweeted

        Oh my God! This soda tax fiasco in Philadelphia is even worse than what I thought. See this thread for additional color on this. https://twitter.com/NoGimmicksNutri/status/1081425239920308224 …

        Sharma added,

        This Tweet is unavailable.
        5 replies 70 retweets 208 likes
        Show this thread
      12. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        There has been excellent dialogue generated by this thread. It is gratifying to see some people actually changing their views on "sin taxes" based on this evidence. Many have drawn the logical conclusion that for it to be effective a "sin tax" has to be state/nationwide. 1/

        4 replies 13 retweets 134 likes
        Show this thread
      13. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        Personally, I find numerous problems with "sin taxes" whether they be local, statewide, or nationwide. 2/

        4 replies 17 retweets 126 likes
        Show this thread
      14. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        For one thing, they set up a perverse conflict of interest between the state and the citizens. Good intentions aside, legislators rarely, if ever, plan on having zero revenue from sin taxes in future years (even as that would be the case if the taxes worked as advertised). 3/

        4 replies 20 retweets 151 likes
        Show this thread
      15. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        In most cases, legislators bake the tax revenues into their forecasts and start spending them. As the revenue stream dwindles, they find other ways to make up the shortfall, or resort to deficit financing. Either way, "sin tax" turns out to be a canard to raise tax revenues. 4/

        1 reply 20 retweets 153 likes
        Show this thread
      16. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        Do you know that the cigarettes that are confiscated by New York State (to stop illicit cross-border trade in cigarettes, instigated by high taxes on cigarettes) are not destroyed, but sold by the state through the backdoor to raise revenue for the state? Some "sin tax," huh! 5/

        9 replies 38 retweets 203 likes
        Show this thread
      17. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        So all things considered, where do I come out on "sin taxes." My considered view is this: Government should be in the education business so far health care issues are concerned. 6/

        5 replies 11 retweets 104 likes
        Show this thread
      18. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        Government should not do a perfunctory job of educating, but a very thorough job, by deploying impartial and best scientific evidence available, and by deploying the best authorities in the field to stake their personal reputations in bringing the best information to people. 7/

        6 replies 9 retweets 110 likes
        Show this thread
      19. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        Government should also get out of the tax incentives/punishment based behavior modification business altogether to avoid a paternalistic and/or adversarial relationship with citizens. 8/

        4 replies 21 retweets 158 likes
        Show this thread
      20. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 11 Jan 2019

        Government should always raise the revenue it needs through broad based taxation, and never through narrowly targeted venues, which are always open to mischief one way or another, for legislators and citizens alike. No need to create temptation. 9/x

        14 replies 15 retweets 128 likes
        Show this thread
      21. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 12 Jan 2019

        Also, regulation has a role to play. Consumables which are proven to be harmful when consumed as directed should be banned. But consumables that do good in moderation should not be disproportionately taxed. Taxation is a horridly poor substitute for education.

        15 replies 9 retweets 95 likes
        Show this thread
      22. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 12 Jan 2019

        By the way, here's the link to the full report: https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=793116004073121021098031080118005099122022037016006065077116001005125009095118003027000061119043019059124099018021069119115103027053058076046004025088069092064071041039034009074088092099127113110120102085027109000127125118006098127122082089089081065&EXT=pdf …

        6 replies 4 retweets 22 likes
        Show this thread
      23. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 13 Jan 2019

        1. Culture is Key I think many have drawn the wrong conclusion from the successful campaign to reduce cigarette smoking by attributing it to taxes on cigarettes. Even in that case, high taxation hurt the poor the most, and it has given rise to an enormous amount of illicit trade.

        1 reply 2 retweets 14 likes
        Show this thread
      24. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 13 Jan 2019

        2. What has been most successful in reducing smoking is the relentless onslaught of bans on indoor/outdoor smoking, health initiatives, credible cancer research publications, but above all also the consequent social stigma toward smoking.

        1 reply 2 retweets 15 likes
        Show this thread
      25. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 13 Jan 2019

        3. Addictions cannot be broken through taxation. Taxation, no matter how it is rationalized and sold, will always be a revenue grab by turning a blind eye to its negative and regressive impact on the poor (examples abound) and by suppressing opposition through virtue-signalling.

        1 reply 6 retweets 19 likes
        Show this thread
      26. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 13 Jan 2019

        4. To successfully break addictions, the whole culture needs to be engaged. That's what I mean by education. Govt can lend a helping hand to enable this education by being an impartial source and publisher of objective research. But the best education happens through culture.

        1 reply 3 retweets 13 likes
        Show this thread
      27. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 13 Jan 2019

        5. The do-gooders who vociferously virtue-signal about the ills of sugary drinks would do far more good by talking calmly, knowledgeably, and rationally, not politically, about it to friends, family, and others when the right opportunity presents itself.

        1 reply 4 retweets 17 likes
        Show this thread
      28. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 13 Jan 2019

        6. Be a culture change agent, not a political activist in everything you care about. Engaging govt as the primary source for cultural change is a recipe for inviting tyranny, slowly but surely. Make no mistake about it. The End.

        3 replies 7 retweets 26 likes
        Show this thread
      29. Sharma‏ @bansisharma 13 Jan 2019

        Sharma Retweeted

        Who is exploiting whom, and in the end, who is paying for it all, both with their dollars and their lives? Taxation can never fix this. Only education and awareness can stop the manipulation and exploitation by politicians and special interests alike. https://twitter.com/hockeytown9/status/1084555106937262080 …

        Sharma added,

        This Tweet is unavailable.
        0 replies 3 retweets 9 likes
        Show this thread
      30. End of conversation

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