Industry arguments against public health policies that reduce the consumption of unhealthy commodities often include the assertion that the policy will harm the economy by reducing production and costing jobs. However, this argument does not consider that consumers may spend money previously used for unhealthy commodity consumption on other products, benefiting other sectors and potentially offsetting those negative economic consequences. This study aims to estimate the macroeconomic impacts of reducing consumption of alcohol, tobacco, confectionary and gambling, accounting for reallocation of spending from these commodities to alternatives.

Aimed at: Policymakers and public health stakeholders