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The book proposes that negative VAT should be charged on healthy foods and high VAT should be charged on unhealthy foods. It sets out a four-step process to actually implement this new regime, each step of which depends on mechanisms that have already been used by government.
Perspectives are essays on big ideas by leading writers, each given free rein and a modest word limit to reframe an issue of great contemporary interest. – Diane Coyle, Series Editor
Consumers in Britain face a curious mix of taxes and duties that are messy, opaque and out of date. They are also unfair: the poorer you are, the more of your income goes to pay these taxes.
At the same time, we are ceaselessly bombarded by marketing information that is very one-sided. The foods that make us fat, for example, are promoted a great deal more than the foods that could keep us healthy – and again it is mainly the poor that bear the brunt.
The author draws on insights from behavioural economics to take a fresh look at these issues. It concludes that there is a fair, inclusive, adaptable, affordable and resilient way of enabling us to eat healthily and to tackle the obesity crisis.
Praise for Bad Habits, Hard Choices
Wars have been started over taxes and there is, for most of us, an initial reluctance to accept more taxes. The case for taxes and negative taxes to improve public health is made in a clear and easily accessible style. The author shows us how taxes can be introduced and met with public acceptance, and how to manage initial public perceptions of them as ‘bad’. – Martin Caraher, Professor of Food and Health Policy, Centre for Food Policy, City University London
The fact that I read, at one sitting, a book on VAT is a tribute to Fell’s ability as a writer. I liked the book very much – original, informative and well argued. – David Cadman, Visiting Professor at University College London and the University of Maryland
Fell’s book is really easy to read and accessible even to me. I love the way that the basic idea can so simply be extended to help create the socially, environmentally and financially fair society we seek. – Robin Stott, author of The Ecology of Health, co-chair Climate & Health Council
David Fell is a researcher, writer, presenter and activist in the field of sustainable economics. He is director and co-founder of the research and strategy consultancy Brook Lyndhurst. David has a degree in economics from Cambridge University; 25 years’ research and strategy experience for clients in the government, private and not-for-profit sectors; and was a founding Commissioner on the London Sustainable Development Commission.
This book looks at the evidence for a successful politics that would promote happiness and health. It suggests policies that take account of this evidence. Government can and should work to make us happier.
A fly on the wall, warts and all, description of what it was like to be a market economist during the extraordinary 25-year period that finance came to exert a disproportionate influence on the lives of almost everyone on the planet. It was quite a ride and not without its moments of pathos and humour.
If climate action remains marginal at this late hour, it will fail. In dismay at the inaction of governments, citizen groups are showing how people can use their real power and authentic voice to drive change. In the workplace, in politics and in local communities, people are stepping forward both to demand transformation and to make it happen.
This book looks at house prices over the long term in several countries including the UK, the US, France, Holland, Norway, Germany and Australia to find out what has happened to house prices and why. The author illustrates his findings with authoritative data on trends and provides intriguing details including a century long index of UK house prices, an analysis of the value of the White House and a fascinating four-hundred-year story of houses in Amsterdam.
