My letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer re: mayor wants to impose soda tax

Jon Alternative Media, Economy, Market Commentary, Politics

Re: Mayor Kenney: Soda tax would fund $400 million in projects
Dear Sir:
Philadelphia Mayor Kenney joins the too-long list of economically ignorant politicians. One begins to wonder whether ignorance of basic economics is a prerequisite for running for elected office. Gee, I didn’t think I would ever say this, but I agree with the Teamsters; i.e., the three cent per ounce tax on sodas will destroy jobs. Has the mayor really not considered that money spent on a soda tax will NOT be spent elsewhere? Let’s suppose that the people spend the same total dollars, including the new tax, to buy sodas as in the past. The revenue to the soda-providing industry will go down, because the tax comes off the top, and the number of units of sodas sold will be less. Got that?

This post was published at Mises Canada on MARCH 1, 2016.