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“Sugar, rum and tobacco,” Scottish moral philosopher and economist Adam Smith once wrote, “are commodities which are nowhere necessaries of life, which are become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are, therefore, extremely popular subjects of taxation.”
Two and a half centuries on, most countries impose some sort of levy on alcohol and tobacco. With surging obesity levels putting increasing strain on public health systems, governments around the world have begun to toy with the idea of taxing sugar as well.
“Sugar, rum and tobacco,” Scottish moral philosopher and economist Adam Smith once wrote, “are commodities which are nowhere necessaries of life, which are become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are, therefore, extremely popular subjects of taxation.”
Two and a half centuries on, most countries impose some sort of levy on alcohol and tobacco. With surging obesity levels putting increasing strain on public health systems, governments around the world have begun to toy with the idea of taxing sugar as well.
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