Diet is still, in 2016, poorly understood. Taxing all food choices in a way that successfully reduced negative externalities would be quite a challenge. For o

Diet is still, in 2016, poorly understood. Taxing all food choices in a way that successfully reduced negative externalities would be quite a challenge. For one thing, taxing your grocery cart will not powerfully alter the behavior of people not shopping for the groceries. Tobacco taxes work primarily because we prevent new smokers from taking up the habit, not by alteration of existing smokers consumption patterns. I do strongly favor substantial increases in alcohol taxes, across the board, for similar reasons to tobacco.