BAN ON SMOKING
So it seems Blair is going the whole hog and will soon outlaw smoking in all public places, rather than only those where food is on sale. I'm surprised at this from an economic point of view. Crudely speaking, smokers tend to be concentrated among the working classes (I know this is a sweeping generalisation). So working-class smokers who perhaps give up as a result of this measure will live longer. They are less likely to own their own home or have an adequate pension. They will not contribute so much to the treasury as a result of paying fewer indirect taxes (the cost of a pack of 20). Treating lung cancer isn't that expensive anyway, as it seems to be more-or-less untreatable. So can the treasury afford to have all these ex-smokers living longer?? Blair should just let them all die and reduce the already bulging, ageing demographic, to saying nothing of the worsening pensions crisis. I suppose they have taken all this into consideration...
On a different note, I find I am consumed with hi-fi upgrade fever (and the urge to pen strange pieces of creative writing, see last post). For the next eight months I'm a full-time student so this is a straightforward case of displacement activity. Damn.
So it seems Blair is going the whole hog and will soon outlaw smoking in all public places, rather than only those where food is on sale. I'm surprised at this from an economic point of view. Crudely speaking, smokers tend to be concentrated among the working classes (I know this is a sweeping generalisation). So working-class smokers who perhaps give up as a result of this measure will live longer. They are less likely to own their own home or have an adequate pension. They will not contribute so much to the treasury as a result of paying fewer indirect taxes (the cost of a pack of 20). Treating lung cancer isn't that expensive anyway, as it seems to be more-or-less untreatable. So can the treasury afford to have all these ex-smokers living longer?? Blair should just let them all die and reduce the already bulging, ageing demographic, to saying nothing of the worsening pensions crisis. I suppose they have taken all this into consideration...
On a different note, I find I am consumed with hi-fi upgrade fever (and the urge to pen strange pieces of creative writing, see last post). For the next eight months I'm a full-time student so this is a straightforward case of displacement activity. Damn.
