In this case, the SMC is larger than the Social Marginal Benefit (SMB) at Q1 and there is a deadweight welfare loss of area x as the SMC is larger than the SMB (see fig. Indeed, the NHS has states around £16 billion a year is spent on the ‘direct medical costs’ of diabetes and obesity related conditions, more than government spending on police and fire services. The main external cost of sugar concerns healthcare services. Rational choice theory states that consumers are largely concerned with the Private Marginal Cost (PMC) and not with the Social Marginal Cost (SMC).

The first justification of a tax on high sugar drinks is the fact that there are external costs not often considered by consumers. However, if the ultimate aim is to greatly reduce sugar related diseases, a behavioural deterrent should also be used in conjunction with a tax. Although concerns about the risk of job loss and the regressive nature of the tax are also valid, the size of the problem of obesity and diabetes, and the fact that there will be a net welfare gain justifies both these counter arguments and therefore the tax itself. The benefits of a tax on sugar in the UK is defined first and foremost by its effectiveness in reducing problems associated with high sugar consumption, and then by the ancillary benefits that come with such a tax.

The question was: 'A tax on the producers of high sugar drinks is justified as a means of tackling chronic health problems in the UK.

He explains what research has shown about our addiction to sweets.Here is a great example of a Year 12 student essay written on the sugar tax in the UK. With his signature command of both science and straight talk, Gary Taubes delves into Americans' history with sugar: its uses as a preservative, as an additive in cigarettes, the contemporary overuse of high-fructose corn syrup. And sugar is at the root of these, and other, critical society-wide, health-related problems. Among Americans, diabetes is more prevalent today than ever obesity is at epidemic proportions nearly 10% of children are thought to have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Summary: 'From the best-selling author of Why We Get Fat, a groundbreaking, eye-opening expose that makes the convincing case that sugar is the tobacco of the new millennium: backed by powerful lobbies, entrenched in our lives, and making us very sick.

The case against sugar