Posts Tagged obesity
Big Brother’s beady eyes
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, European Union, Health, Tax and Spend on 14/05/2008
Is summer now the season for publications pushing increased government intrusion into private conduct? The warm air has been accompanied by the somewhat chillier sensation of the release of two reports with some joyously Orwellian titles: The Politics of Public Behaviour from Demos and Creatures of Habit? The Art of Behavioural Change from the Social Market Foundation. From the mechanisms discussed in both these titles, it seems that the aspiration to get the state more involved in people’s lives remains as strong as ever among many policymakers, but combined (perhaps dangerously) with fresh research into behavioural economics.
A prescription for disaster
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Health on 24/10/2007
Professor Julian Le Grand has a radical strategy for tackling the supposed problems of ill health in the UK: smoking permits (which might require a doctor’s note), an ‘exercise hour’ for company employees, a ban on additional salt in foods, more free fruit in general and more stern notes sent to the homes of children that have been found to be obese. Le Grand calls this broad sweep of measures ‘libertarian paternalism’, claiming, perversely that none of these actually restrict individual freedom. Wouldn’t ‘libertarian paternalism’ be more normally understood as a friendly word of advice without the backing of force?