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July 08, 2005
Krugman: No Freedom To Be Fat
This guy gets creepier by the day. His economics columns are mediocre, his political ones laughable, and the ones on the issues of the day are just plain weird.
How can medical experts who see obesity as a critical problem deal with an ideological landscape tilted in the direction of doing nothing?
One answer is to focus on the financial costs of obesity, and the fact that many of these costs fall on taxpayers and on the general insurance-buying public, rather than on the obese individuals themselves. (To their credit, the authors of the Amber Waves article do mention this issue, although they play it down.)
It is more important, however, to emphasize that there are situations in which "free to choose" is all wrong - and that this is one of them.
You almost get the feeling that he's going to propose "fat credits" that can be exchanged for Big Macs along the lines of the carbon-trading regime. And as for the fact that obesity is costing taxpayers money, my response is that it would cost us a lot more money if the government paid for everybody's health care.
The Atlantic Blog notes that Krugman goes back on his "nobody is proposing that adult Americans be prevented from eating whatever they want" pledge of only four days ago.
Hat Tip: Donald Luskin
Also, A Stitch in Haste points out that Krugman's assault on fast food makes no sense with regard to children, since the problem with kids is not overeating, but under-exercising.
Posted by pat at July 8, 2005 10:19 AM
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Paul Krugman takes on the obesity "epidemic" --
One answer is to focus on the financial costs of obesity, and the fact that many of these costs fall on taxpayers[Read More]
Tracked on July 8, 2005 01:41 PM