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Theme : public_behaviour
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The Politics of Public Behaviour
Demos published a new pamphlet yesterday: The Politics of Public Behaviour. It looks at the public consequences of private decisions. The aim was to ask where and when government should involve itself in people’s personal decision-making, from parenting to carbon emissions, diet, exercise, pensions savings, gambling and organ donorship. It seems on all this issues and more the public/private boundary is becoming blurred.
from : duncanoleary
9th May 2008
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I'm fine. Stop curing me | Mick Hume - Times Online
Writes: 'As René Dubos wrote in 1960, “it is part of the doctor's function to make it possible for his patients to go on doing the pleasant things that are bad for them - smoking too much, eating and drinking too much - without killing themselves any sooner than is necessary”. There must be more to life than healthy living. Amid the talk of rights and responsibilities, one that gets ignored is the individual's right to make the “wrong” choices.'
from : duncanoleary
4th January 2008
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BBC NEWS | Scots smoke ban 'improved health'
'Professor Jill Pell, who headed the research team which made the findings, said: "The primary aim of smoking bans is to protect non-smokers from the effects of passive smoking.
"Previous studies have not been able to confirm whether or not that has been achieved. What we were able to show is that among people who are non-smokers there was a 20% reduction in heart attack admissions.
"This confirms that the legislation has been effective in helping non-smokers."'
from : duncanoleary
27th October 2007
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Stumbling and Mumbling: Should green cars get tax breaks?
Chris Dillow on some new research about 'image motivation':
'People act green in part because they want to be seen to be doing good - what Professor Ariely calls "image motivation." They buy the Toyota Prius in the hope others will think: "he's a good guy: he cares about the environment."
But if you give more tax breaks to the Prius, others will stop thinking this, and instead think: "that guy's just taking advantage of a tax break." The signalling virtue of the Prius therefore falls.'
from : duncanoleary
19th September 2007
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Yes, money talks ? but sometimes nobody?s listening | - Times Online
Chris Dillow on incentives. Argues: 'incentives matter at the margin. But the margin needn’t be particularly wide. And many people aren’t on it'. Some good references and examples.
from : duncanoleary
19th September 2007
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Research report: 'Who benefits from Child Benefit?'
Finds 'We do indeed find that CB is spent differently from other income – paradoxically, it appears to be spent disproportionately on adult-assignable goods. In fact we estimate that more than half of a marginal pound of CB is spent on alcohol.'
from : duncanoleary
10th September 2007
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'A long look', Richard Reeves in the New Statesman
'The Turner commission on pensions ranked the common inability to make "rational long-term savings decisions without encouragement" as the top barrier to better pensions provision...This phenomenon is dubbed financial myopia, and it is the most important reason why the state has to intervene to encourage, or even compel, higher pensions savings'
from : duncanoleary
4th September 2007
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Public sceptical of green tax motives
Most members of the public believe ministers are using green taxes to rake in more money rather than protect the environment, according to new research...opinion was more evenly split over approval in principle for extra green taxes, with 46 per cent saying they did not and 45 per cent saying they did.
from : duncanoleary
3rd September 2007
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Daniel Finkelstein: Show me the smoking gun
New figures suggest the smoking ban has produced a pretty small reduction in the number of people who smoke.
But we are told that making people quit is not the point of the legislation...no evidence is provided about the impact of the ban on passive smoking.
from : duncanoleary
17th August 2007
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Half 'are smoking less' since ban | BBC NEWS
Half are smoking less since the ban on smoking in indoor public spaces in England took effect six weeks ago, a survey reveals.
A third of 1,000 smokers polled by Ciao Surveys said they now smoked less when out in bars and clubs and more than one in 10 said they smoked less altogether.
But only 1.8% said they had quit since the ban.
from : duncanoleary
17th August 2007
