The idea of imposing a tax on red and processed meat—to save human lives—is in a proposal from the University of Oxford in England.
According to a CATO Institute blog post by Ryan Bourne, the Oxford report released in early November calculated supposedly “optimal tax rates” on red meat (lamb, beef and pork) and processed meats (sausages, bacon, salami, etc.) For the U.S., the recommended rates were as high as 34 percent and 163 percent, respectively.
Such taxes, the report claims, could save 52,500 American lives per year. Global Meat News noted that in the UK the report suggested a 14 percent tax on red meat and a 79 percent tax on processed meat would save the UK government Ј700 million (about $908 million).
The apparent idea is that imposing a tax equal to the true external costs of the next steak, lamb chop or burger patty one eats forces consumers to face the full social costs of their eating decisions.
In turn, then, the tax will somewhat reduce consumption to a supposed “optimal” level. Bourne opined that “sin” taxes are rarely optimal. He wrote, “This all suggests a more effective approach would be targeted dietary guidance at a personal level.
But the history of food science itself is littered by examples of governments sharing subsequently mistaken advice.
On that basis alone, it is far too soon for governments to tax a whole major food group on the basis of speculative modeling and disputed science.”
