The Rudd Nanny State ad campaign on dangers of binge drinking

[brendan]

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24684956-662,00.html


The Herald Sun caption says it all: "You pull a hot chick, your mates find out, AND there's photographic evidence. Is this sort of ad really going to put young men off drinking?"

Here's a solution to address many problems:

Drastically reduce the income tax, capital taxes, and corporate income taxes to boost both the short-run and long-run health of the Australian economy.
Scrap the useless waste of taxpayers money on ad campaigns, industry bailouts, etc.
Further increase the taxes on alcohol. 

Furthermore if people are stupid enough to drink til they die, take it as evolution at work.

[bubble sunglasses]

 why do you advocate taxes for alcohol when alcohol sales don't intrinsically produce negative externalities [unlike, say pollution]? why not just propose that people who need medical help due to alcohol use have to pay for it themselves?

[brendan]

 why do you advocate taxes for alcohol when alcohol sales don't intrinsically produce negative externalities [unlike, say pollution]?

It's not so much advocating. It's just that there are a lot of other taxes out there that are much more harmful like payroll taxes and income taxes. To replace their revenue, taxes on addictive goods are the way to go as they are less harmful to society. In my view here are taxes in terms of their harmfulness to society with the most harmful on top:
specific transaction taxes (like stamp duties on insurance contracts),
corporate income/capital income taxes
payroll taxes,
personal income taxes,
general consumption tax,
taxes on addictive goods,
taxes on negative externalities

For any given amount of revenue a government wants to raise, it ought to start from the bottom of my list and work its way up.

[suenoga]

You have a problem with Ad- campaigns against drinking Brendan?

[Collin Li]

You have a problem with Ad- campaigns against drinking Brendan?

Not necessarily. He is questioning the effectiveness of the campaign! Do you think that campaign will deter young adolescent males from drinking?

[brendan]

You have a problem with Ad- campaigns against drinking Brendan?

Yes I do, when its funded with taxpayer money. If you want to spend your own money on ad campaigns against drinking, be my guest.

[suenoga]

If the effeictiveness of the campaign was proved to be correct would you support it?
Is your opposition to the ad because you beleive it to be in-effective or you don't think tax payer dollars should be used to fund advertising campaigns?

[brendan]

I'm not opposed to the ad per se, its the fact that its being financed with taxpayer dollars.

[excal]

If the effeictiveness of the campaign was proved to be correct would you support it?
Is your opposition to the ad because you beleive it to be in-effective or you don't think tax payer dollars should be used to fund advertising campaigns?

Taxing alcohol would be a clear disincentive for people purchasing the product (less people would buy due to cost).

A secondary effect is that there's more money in the government coffers for use. Or, better yet, reducing our darn high income tax rate.

[brendan]

Exactly right.

[suenoga]

I agree, so you were both in favor of the Rudd government's increase in taxes on mixed drinks?

[brendan]

I agree, so you were both in favor of the Rudd government's increase in taxes on mixed drinks?

Not really, no. No attempt was made to make it revenue neutral by reducing taxes on income.

[suenoga]

why not?

[excal]

I agree, so you were both in favor of the Rudd government's increase in taxes on mixed drinks?

Tax it more, I say, if there's a particular reason for targetting only mixed drinks. Across the board excises are probably more appropriate.

[brendan]

why not?

I'm not convinced that tax on alcohol of itself actually benefits society as a whole. However, I am convinced that taxes on alcohol are less harmful to society than income taxes. Hence, my view that it would be an improvement if taxes on income were reduced while taxes on alcohol were raised. Furthermore, the selective nature of the tax, being only on mixed drinks, further reduced its appeal to me.