I'd rather the role of government in correcting society-wide problems caused by hidden costs be simply ensuring those costs are properly accounted for up-front.

I'd rather the role of government in correcting society-wide problems caused by hidden costs be simply ensuring those costs are properly accounted for up-front. e.g. You don't stop industrial pollution by educating Americans to not buy products that were created by factories that pollute. You stop industrial pollution by enforcing reasonably safe waste disposal methods, so those costs are reflected customer-facing prices. (And thereby also encouraging free market advances in disposal and production technologies.) So why would you try to combat an obesity epidemic by attempting to educate people to not buy sugars? You simply identify the problems ('cheap' sugars in processed foods, huge portions) and ensure the costs are reflected up-front in the price (yes, a sin-tax on junk food and absurd portions). Or, at the very least, stop government subsidies for the production and use of things that we know are contributing to the problem. (cheap corn->cheap HFCS->cheap sugar in everything)