Politicians wouldn’t ban motorcycle helmets, so why do they ban safer tobacco products?

Mark Oates
5 November 2018
Lifestyle Economics

Politicians wouldn’t ban motorcycle helmets, so why do they ban safer tobacco products?

You would hope that politicians – current or prospective – would rank improving the lives of their fellow citizens as one of their top priorities. Their approaches and methods would probably be different, with some viewing individual liberty as paramount and others willing to sacrifice certain freedoms for better health outcomes. Both of these groups ... Continue reading
Mark Oates
5 November 2018
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Why can’t nanny state campaigners at least admit that they’re anti-liberal paternalists?

Chris Snowdon
10 November 2017
Lifestyle Economics

Why can’t nanny state campaigners at least admit that they’re anti-liberal paternalists?

It’s easy to dismiss ‘nanny state’ regulation as a minor nuisance but the underlying paternalism of those who wish to regulate our lifestyles raises fundamental questions about the limits of government intervention. It is an issue about which social liberals and market liberals should be united in opposition. Economists take it as a given that ... Continue reading
Chris Snowdon
10 November 2017
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Healthy lives cost money

Chris Snowdon
13 April 2017
Healthcare

Healthy lives cost money

When the NHS was created in 1948, Aneurin Bevan believed that healthcare spending would fall as the population became healthier. In the years since, infectious diseases have been virtually eradicated, diets have improved, smoking rates have plummeted, and life expectancy has risen from 68 years to 81 years. And yet healthcare spending has manifestly not ... Continue reading
Chris Snowdon
13 April 2017
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Sin Taxes

24 September 2014
Lifestyle Economics

Sin Taxes

Sin and consumption taxes, including taxes on tobacco and alcohol, cost low income people more than 37% of their income (as opposed to only 15% for richer Britons). Cutting these taxes can have significant benefits to the economy and lower the disproportionate burden on low income Britons. ieaTV explores the effect of sin taxes in ... Continue reading
24 September 2014
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E-cigarettes and the gateway hypothesis

Christopher Snowdon
7 May 2013

E-cigarettes and the gateway hypothesis

This morning I was on the radio discussing electronic cigarettes in response to a headteacher banning their use at Blatchington Mill School, East Sussex (listen from 12 minutes in). The school has every right to make its own rules, of course, and it is as appropriate for a teacher to ban e-cigarettes in the class ... Continue reading
Christopher Snowdon
7 May 2013
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The plain packaging of tobacco products sets a dangerous precedent

Amul Pandya
9 February 2012

The plain packaging of tobacco products sets a dangerous precedent

The Australian government recently decided to homogenise tobacco products by forcing them into uniform packaging. A key question is whether ‘public health’ provides sufficient grounds for governments effectively to expropriate internationally recognised trademarks. The importance of allowing branding in a free market (and therefore a free society) should not be underestimated. In particular, branding enables ... Continue reading
Amul Pandya
9 February 2012
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