Death and taxes

The risks of fatal vehicle crash for young drivers rise precipitously with more drinking, reaching a 100-fold increase in risk for youths with 6+ drinks. Considerable external damage arises from drunk driving, providing firm logic for government intervention. If the ‘cost’ of an alcohol tax is the foregone consumer surplus of drinkers, then the cost per life saved using higher alcohol taxes is less than $10,000 per life at low taxes, even...