A new federal cigarette tax of $0.62 went into effect today. You may not have noticed, because it's been already built into the cost of a pack of cigarettes by many companies. I can do nothing but applaud when Pigovian taxes are applied. Pigovian taxes are taxes aimed to correct consumer activity, when that activity has larger negative costs to society associated with it-in this case, smokers put an oversized burden on our health care system. Since they continue to selfishly smoke, we're going to make it harder and harder for them, until they stop, thus saving our country billions of dollars in medical bills. It works the same with carbon taxes and congestion pricing.So, make a smart economic decision and stop smoking. Also, cigarettes are really bad for you (they give you cancer, and that's just for starters) and you should really stop smoking them for reasons beyond your wallet.For more on smoking, check out our big interactive graphic on the subject here. Image via.
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