Voters tomorrow will decide two soda tax initiatives — in Berkeley and San Francisco — that have captured national attention. In a UC Berkeley NewsCenter video, Alan Auerbach, the Robert D. Burch Professor of Economics and Law at UC Berkeley, looks at the pros and cons of the measures, which would boost the price most sweetened drinks by 1 cent in Berkeley and 2 cents in San Francisco.
How would the taxes work? What are the major arguments for and against? Have existing laws aimed at changing personal health behavior been successful? This video primer, just three minutes long, puts those questions to Auerbach, who also directs the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance at Berkeley.