Measuring the effectiveness of Philly’s sugary drink ‘sin tax’
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California has banned a soda tax for 12 years. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo)
Recent protests from beverage distributors over Philadelphia’s new sugary drink tax may have obscured one of its key goals: reducing consumption of sugary beverages.
The tax is, after all, a “sin tax,” meant to discourage harmful behavior. So if not by looking at sales, how do we judge the success or failure of a sin tax? That subject is taken up in a new study co-authored by Wharton Professor Benjamin Lockwood, who spoke with NewsWorks Tonight Host Dave Heller.
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