Smoking Czechs Save Country Money?The Wall Street journal reports that Philip Philip, tetrarch of Ituraea Philip, d. A.D. 34, tetrarch of Ituraea, son of Herod the Great. He was perhaps the ablest of the Herod dynasty. He is mentioned in the Gospel of St. Luke. Morris Cos. officials in the Czech Republic Czech Republic, Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. distributed an economic analysis concluding that cigarette consumption isn't a drag on Verb 1. drag on - last unnecessarily long drag out last, endure - persist for a specified period of time; "The bad weather lasted for three days" 2. the country's budget, partly because smokers die young. The report notes the positive impact on the nation's budget that comes from excise taxes excise taxes, governmental levies on specific goods produced and consumed inside a country. They differ from tariffs, which usually apply only to foreign-made goods, and from sales taxes, which typically apply to all commodities other than those specifically exempted. on cigarettes and the savings in medical costs due to the early mortality of smokers. The report estimates that smokers dying young saved the Czech government somewhere between 943 million koruna and 1.19 koruna, or roughly $23.8 million to $30.1 million, in expenditures on health care, pensions and housing subsidies for the elderly. Once revenues from taxes are added in and other costs subtracted, the report calculates that the nation saw a net gain of 5.82 billion koruna ($147.1 million) from smoking. Representatives of the company said they distributed the report in response to complaints that smoking related health care costs were a huge drain on the nation's economy. Philip Morris came under attack by health officials around the world and later apologized for the report. Kenneth Warner a health economist at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, asks, "Is there any other company that would boast about making money for the public treasury by killing its customers?" Warner also questioned the study's methodology calling it seriously flawed flaw 1 n. 1. An imperfection, often concealed, that impairs soundness: a flaw in the crystal that caused it to shatter. See Synonyms at blemish. 2. . James A. Hawkins is Publisher of Healthcare Briefings, a newsletter available in print, on cassette A removable magnetic tape storage module that contains supply and takeup reels (hubs) in the same housing. Most audio tapes and videotapes use cassettes as well as backup tape technologies such as DAT, 8mm and Magstar MP (see below). , via fax, and on computer disk. He can be reached at 800/414-2062. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion