Sugary drink tax models show health gains, cost reductions, but vary by design
No doubt people will arrive shortly to knee-jerk against sugary drink taxes; but would they mind explaining why sugar is made artificially cheap to start with?<p>Obesity massively increased internationally after the mid-1970s US agriculture policy changes ([0]). Specifically look at corn production after the mid 1970s[1]. One of corn&#x27;s products is HFCS, the massive influx of this sugar substitute drove international raw sugar prices down until 2007[2].<p>This had the side effect of sugar being a cheaper food ingredient than most of the alternatives, even in countries that didn&#x27;t directly import HFCS (since the US was no longer removing as much raw sugar from the market, driving down costs).<p>A lot of people who bring up HFCS try to paint it as an even less healthy sugar, my point is more nuanced than that: That HFCS is driving down prices and causing more, even raw sugar, to appear in foods as both sugar&#x2F;HFCS are subsidized by US aggro policy (and tax payer cash) since between mid-1970s and today.<p>We can pass sugar-drink taxes, but it feels like fixing a leak with duct tape. Instead, we should fix the whole pipe, by changing US aggro policy so that HFCS isn&#x27;t unnaturally cheap. This will cause both food manufacturers <i>and</i> consumers to consider the healthier and cheaper alternatives.<p>PS - I&#x27;m not against sugar-drink taxes as an interim step.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Obesity#History" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Obesity#History</a><p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;suyts.files.wordpress.com&#x2F;2012&#x2F;08&#x2F;image20.png" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;suyts.files.wordpress.com&#x2F;2012&#x2F;08&#x2F;image20.png</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;commons.wikimedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;File:World_raw_sugar_prices_since_1960.svg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;commons.wikimedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;File:World_raw_sugar_pric...</a>