[Please click here for reference and link to Debt Clock]
Okay, so I’ll try to type faster in the future.
Yes, debt is growing here in Canada, and around the world (and when I say ‘around the world’ try to picture a giant vice squeezing the planet between its jaws and making our eyes bug out), but are we completely helpless?
As I suggested in a previous post - no.
I think the money is out there and there are likely many brilliant ways to pay down debt that experts have long over-looked.
E.g., local and federal governments could create a wider revenue stream from the water bottling and retail process, a $100 billion per year industry.
Call it a luxury tax and stand back and watch while it accomplishes three worthwhile things.
One. It will help governments pay down crushing debt loads.
Two. It will likely spur many people to drink less water out of plastic bottles.
Three. Fewer plastic bottles translates to lower recycling costs.
Can you think of another product that could have a wider revenue stream flowing back to government coffers that would accomplish worthwhile things along the way?
Let me help you.
What’s round, black and white, sweeter than honey, and can go from your hand to your mouth and then hips in 30 seconds?
You got it. An Oreo cookie.
The cookie and cracker industry is so huge it makes more money per year than you can imagine.
People in the US bought $266.5 million worth of Oreos last year alone. (I suspect Canadians spent about 10 times less, but it’s still a significant amount of money to spend on one type of cookie out of dozens of brands).
$317.2 million was spent on Chips Ahoy! and $172 million on Oreo Double Stufs, again using US figures.
Top spot, however, was taken by private label brands, which earned $589.6 million.
[Please click here to see if your favourite cookie was in the Top Ten.]
While wondering how governments would fare if they got their hands on some of that dough I came across the following details:
Cookie producers have adjusted cookies formulas to enable their customers who have food allergies to be able to indulge in their sweet tooth without affecting the taste.
(They’re so helpful!)
A survey conducted by Impulse Research for the Downtown Cookie Co., in New York, has found that 53 percent of adults surveyed prefer chocolate chip cookies over other varieties. The second most popular variety was peanut butter...
(Nothing but health and goodness for North Americans, eh?)
Categories of branded products that reported loses were pasta, fresh bread, frozen pizza, crackers, and ready-to-eat breakfast cereal. Cookies posted a slighted gain.
[Please click here for many more cookie details.]
Why, cookie sales are almost bullet proof, aren’t they?
Not only would governments have a pretty sweet time paying down debt with cookie dough, a slightly higher cost might reduce the number of times we feed our aforementioned sweet tooth, thereby reducing the amount of weight we carry on the aforementioned hips and our health costs at the same time.
That’s what I call a triple whammy.
Of course, most of us know why cookies sell so well. They taste so darn good, don’t they?
And what do cookies have in common with hundreds upon hundreds of other items we eat and snack on more than we really should?
For one thing, sugar.
Sing along with me:
Sugar in the morning,
Sugar in the evening,
Sugar at supper time.
Pay more tax on sugar
We’ll save more than a dime.
A healthy tax or revenue stream linked to sugar would restore the health of countless government budgets, save countless millions in health care and dental costs alone, and spur manufacturers to reduce the sugar content in 61,497,872 food items.
And don’t tell me we can’t afford to pay an extra dime for a can of Coca-Cola.
***
Please click here to read Part 3 "Is the Money Out There?"
One more cookie fact:
Sales of cookies and crackers are showing slight gains from a year ago (2008) despite tightening household budgets.
Can Canada pay off the national debt?
It would be as easy as eating a cookie.
.
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