Big Brother Declares War on Consumption

Authors

USU Jon. M Huntsman School of Business
William F. Shughart II, Utah State University
J. Fish Smith, Utah State University
Michael Thomas, Utah State University
Adam Hoffer, University of Wisconsin

Files

Description

Doctors routinely advise patients to avoid a wide range of unhealthy behavior, such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, a poor diet, and lack of exercise. Beyond these salutary suggestions, however, there is also a growing paternalistic trend to prohibit activities like smoking—and through targeted taxation, governments are taking aim at food deemed unhealthy for having too much fat, preservatives, salt, or sugar. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ban on large, sugary drinks was just ruled unconstitutional in a unanimous decision by the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division—but this ruling isn't likely to discourage hardened advocates.

Publisher

Utah State University

Publication Date

8-3-2013

Keywords

big brother, consumption, behavioral economics

Disciplines

Business

Recommended Citation

USU Jon. M Huntsman School of Business; Shughart, William F. II; Smith, J. Fish; Thomas, Michael; and Hoffer, Adam, "Big Brother Declares War on Consumption" (2013). Jon M. Huntsman School of Business News Collection. 75.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/huntsman_news/75