A new frontier for 'sin' taxes.
Those of us with the usual vices are all too used to governments hiking taxes on petrol, booze and tobacco, but Mexico has come up with a new one - a 5% tax on fizzy drinks, in addition to the sales tax of 15% already levied on it. The LA Times notes that Mexicans guzzle "an eye-popping 152 liters of soda a year". Crikey, if that is 'full fat' etc, the man on the Guadalajara omnibus and his sister on the Oaxaca omnibus must be bouncing off the ceiling.
Meanwhile, at some point today there will be a fairly heft post on the theory and practice of conservative art, following discussions with Newmania on the issue last night.
Meanwhile, at some point today there will be a fairly heft post on the theory and practice of conservative art, following discussions with Newmania on the issue last night.
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on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 at 9:59 am.
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We bought some "sparkling water". My wife noticed that the label said it was gluten-free.
Having travelled a bit in Mexico I can confirm they are indeed a fat nation. In many respects I was surprised however that really they kept themselves quite thin.
Consider the staple breakfast is a burrito with chilli con carne in it topped with a couple of fired eggs. Lunch is the without the eggs and then dinner is a taco with chilli and rice.
It is a diet that gives you, along with all the Chilli a hardy consititution but perhaps not a Mossian physique.
Re labels, the US is now utterly mad. All promotion of food is around what it does not contain; so for example Mayer's streaky bacon has NO SUGAR in big letters on the front.
"Brown's tax and spend would have stunned the Soviet Union", by Irwin Stelzer couldn’t far wrong with that title could it . Also it contains the Don Quixote quote “facts are the enemy of truth " a handy back position for us all .
A tremendous mauling of the Da Broon and I `m going to be boring and quote the relevant part on taxes for "good behaviour " and a bit more jusy because I like it.
Over to you Mr. Stelzer :
Even more important, in my pamphlet I said: "Taxes on 'bad' things should not be in addition to existing taxation, but a replacement for taxes on 'good' things, most notably economic growth and job creation." It was encouraging to see the shadow chancellor make the same point in his response – it might be the first hint that George Osborne is en route to a lower-tax regime. Now if he would only understand that tax cuts and economic stability are not polar opposites... but that's a battle for another day."
...well yes but we can start cleaning our guns off
Mmmmm ... guns ...
I don't think Mexicans are fat,by and large. They work so damn' hard, and in the hot sun, too. Although office workers and sales staff in American supermarkets and stores now benefit from air-conditioning.
I am surprised that the figure is only 152 litres a year. That's not even half a litre a day in a climate where for eight months a year the temperatures are well over a hundred.
Also, when was this announced? Calderon only took office last week. Was this his first official act?
Dearieme, I wonder why they stopped at gluten? It should at least have also offered the guarantee: Does not contain peanuts.
Besides, petrol's cheap. Around 30P a litre.
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