Taxing Sugary Soda  | Wed Jul. 7, 2010 10:07 AM GMT  Via Matt
Yglesias, here's a chart from a recent Dept. of Agriculture
study suggesting that a 20% tax on sugary soft drinks would
reduce overall consumption of said beverages and thereby reduce
our net calorie intake from all beverages:   Not so fast, I say.
Even assuming that all the assumptions in the report are
correct, all it does is show that our net calorie intake from
beverages would, on average, go down. But if you switch to diet
soda, it's pretty likely that you'll just make up the calories
somewhere else. In fact, if this study is correct, it's possible
that you might increase your total calorie intake.  I'd actually
be interested in some large state imposing a tax like this
purely for research purposes, and since I don't drink sugared
soda I'd be happy to nominate California. We need the money
anyway. But my guess is that the results would disappointing.
People might end up swilling less high-fructose corn syrup, but
they'd probably just eat more