Search Results: do you smoke

The last financial crisis in 2008 was a long time ago so by 2017/18 I was on the lookout for signs it was going to happen again. Debt was high again so there could've been another crisis where people defaulted on loans and it caused a chain reaction but nothing happened. Then Covid came in 2019 and I thought for sure now this will be the trigger that causes everything to go up in smoke but no they just borrowed more money. They kept interest rates low way longer than any responsible person would do it. Now inflation is a problem too. I'm just wondering if they keep try and artificially get out of a crisis at some point the walls will be closing in on all sides and there will be no escape anymore.

The question is, wouldn't it be worth it to face a smaller problem earlier instead of punting it down the road and see when this time bomb blows up. I heard somewhere that soon the interest on the national debt alone will be bigger than the entire military budget. And that itself already includes a lot of wasteful spending. Right now I don't even feel like I can predict anymore when there will be another crash because the government will try to step in to try and stop anything bad happening. In theory you can keep doing that for ever until the debt can't be repaid and the dollar is worthless. Of course they won't want it to go that far. But it's practically impossible to judge when they think the right time is to step on the brake economically and stop mortgaging the future for today.

I feel like every economic principal has pretty much been thrown out the window in the last 20 years and now people in charge just do what they feel like doing. Whatever will cause them the least grief and get people off their ass that's the right decision. Doesn't matter if it's actually smart thing to do when you look at the big picture, we don't do that anymore.

My state has some of the lowest cigarette taxes in the country. We also have one of the highest rates of smoking and one of the highest poverty rates.

Both men and women with incomes below the federal poverty level had a significantly higher smoking prevalence than those who lived at or above the poverty level. This means that people on public assistance: housing aid, Medicaid, SNAP, etc are more likely to smoke.

Children living with smokers are at greater risk for bronchiolitis, pneumonia and other respiratory infections. They are also more likely to acquire and be hospitalized for asthma and develop middle-ear disease. Moreover, they are at increased risk of dying before their fifth birthday. Given the cost that smokers cost on society by using taxpayer funded healthcare to cover their lung disease and heart disease, and missed days at work, accidental fires, etc. Should cigarette taxes be raised?

Every year, smoking costs the U. S. more than $300 billion, which includes both medical care and lost productivity. Unfortunately, some people will have to pay more depending on the state in which they live. The Societal Costs of Smokers