This study investigates whether personal taxes are related to asset valuations. The effective tax rate of investment income fluctuated considerably since federal income taxes were introduced. The main result of the paper demonstrates that there is an economically and statistically significant relationship between asset valuations and personal tax rates. Stock valuations tend to be higher when t...

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA) give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unprecedented power to regulate tobacco products. One of the most significant provisions of the law allows state and local governments to adopt and enforce tobacco control legislation restricting the time, place, and manner (but not the content) of tobacco advertising. However, there ...

The potential for regulatory measures to address escalating rates of obesity is widely acknowledged in public health circles. Many advocates support regulations for their potential to reduce health inequalities, in light of the well-documented social gradient in obesity. This paper examines how different social groups understand the role of regulations and other public health interventions in a...

South Africa (SA) has limited scope for raising income taxes, and the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme will necessitate growth in the health sector budget. The NHI White Paper suggests five funding scenarios to meet the expected shortfall. These scenarios are a mixture of a surcharge on taxable income, an increase in value-added tax and a payroll tax. Five alternative options, su...

BACKGROUND According to their advocates, neurobiological explanations of overeating, or "food addiction", have the potential to impact public understanding and treatment of obesity. In this study, we examine the public's acceptance of the concept of food addiction as an explanation of overeating and assess its effects upon their attitudes toward obese persons and the treatment of obesity. MET...

Benhabib and Rustichini [Optimal taxes without commitment, J. Econ. Theory 77 (1997) 231–259] study the properties of optimal capital taxes in economies without commitment and no government debt. They find that capital taxes may be different from zero at steady state. This note shows that, once governments have the possibility of issuing debt and smoothing taxes over time, optimal steady state ...

Both theory and recent trends suggest some optimism for the future of environmentrelated taxes. While new research emphasizes the potentially significant distortions created by environmental taxes and appears to undermine the so-called "double dividend" theory, it also suggests that virtually any environmental policy, including regulations, taxes, and tradable permits, can compound existing dis...

The World Health Organization has recommended that Member States consider taxing energy-dense beverages and foods and/or subsidizing nutrient-rich foods to improve diets and prevent noncommunicable diseases. Numerous countries have either implemented taxes on energy-dense beverages and foods or are considering the implementation of such taxes. However, several major challenges to the implementa...

BACKGROUND As part of the efforts to curb obesity, a new focus seems to be put on taxing foods that are perceived as being associated with obesity (eg, sugar-sweetened beverages and foods high in fat, sugar, and salt content) as a policy instrument to promote healthier diets. OBJECTIVE To assess the possible effects of such taxation policies by identifying and analyzing all studies which inve...