exactly. The true costs of each burger are deferred from the McDonald's counter and amortized over a lifetime and a population in the form of Medicare deductions on your paycheck. This article is timely as I had written this blog post last week suggesting a fast food tax:
http://www.scrollinondubs.com/2009/09/01/fast-food-tax/
It wasn't an optimal solution but it at least attempted to redirect the costs of poor eating choices to the people who make the bad decisions. The proposal from the NYT article is way simpler and more effective:
yank the "preexisting condition" defense from insurance companies and they become instantly incented to encourage healthy eating. Current advocates of proper eating habits gain a powerful ally at that point.
It wasn't an optimal solution but it at least attempted to redirect the costs of poor eating choices to the people who make the bad decisions. The proposal from the NYT article is way simpler and more effective:
yank the "preexisting condition" defense from insurance companies and they become instantly incented to encourage healthy eating. Current advocates of proper eating habits gain a powerful ally at that point.
sean