Problem
A "soda tax" is an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks, fruit drinks, sweetened iced teas, and sports drinks. Such a tax raises the price of sugar-sweetened beverages by 10% to 20%, with the goal of discouraging consumers from buying them. Watch this short introduction to soda taxes from Duke University. This narrator's view of soda taxes is quite positive:
(If the embedded video will not play, link to The Story Behind Soda Taxes on YouTube.)
Now watch this video, which presents a slightly different perspective of soda taxes from Stanford Graduate School of Business:
(If the embedded video will not play, link to Do Soda Taxes Create Healthier Communities? on YouTube.)
In addition, here is an informative website from the Urban Institute that explains the history of soda taxes and some pros and cons of such policies.
Urban Institute: Soda Taxes
Locate a research article about the successes and/or failures of soda taxes from a peer-reviewed scientific journal. For this assignment, we are not looking for a news article, blog post, or an article from a magazine intended for laypersons. Rather, search a site like PubMed or Google Scholar to locate a research article.
1) In the space below, provide a complete citation (in AMA style) for your research article. (Here is a guide to AMA's style for journal articles.)
2) Summary of the information presented in the research article you found.
3) Describe one possible benefit of soda taxes.
4) Describe one possible drawback of soda taxes.
5) should your hometown levy a soda tax? Why or why not?