Death And Taxes

41 Pages 10133 Words

other circulatory diseases, and respiratory diseases such as emphysema. In regions where tuberculosis is prevalent, smokers also face a greater risk than nonsmokers of dying from this disease. Half of all long-term smokers will eventually die as a result of smoking; of these, half will die during productive middle age. Because the poor are more likely to smoke than the rich, their risk of smoking-related disease and premature death is also greater. In high- and middle-income countries, men in the lowest socioeconomic groups are up to twice as likely to die in middle age as men in the highest socioeconomic groups, and smoking accounts for half of this additional risk. Finally, smoking also affects the health of nonsmokers, such as babies born to mothers who smoke.
Risks and costs of smoking
Modern economic theory holds that consumers are usually the best judges of how to spend their money on goods and services. When consumers bear all the costs of their actions and know all the risks, society's resources are, in theory, allocated as efficiently as possible. Does this theory apply to smoking? Smokers clearly perceive benefits from smoking, such as the pleasure it provides or the avoidance of withdrawal pains, and weigh these against the private costs of their choice. Defined this way, the perceived benefits outweigh the perceived costs; otherwise, smokers would not pay to smoke. However, the choice to smoke appears to differ from the choice to buy other consumer goods in three important ways.
First, there is evidence that many smokers, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, are not fully aware of the high risks of disease and premature death that their choice entails. In China in 1996, for example, 61 percent of smokers questioned thought that tobacco did them little or no harm. In high-income countries, smokers tend to minimize the personal relevance of these risks. Second, nicotine addiction usually starts in adolescen...