Economics
The Ten-Centimetre Fork
Germany's governments promise business less bureaucracy. On 1 October Potsdam began taxing coffee cups, pizza boxes and forks. The statute is three pages long; the city's guide to applying it has eighteen sections, three other cities read the same tax differently, and Potsdam did not check how much of its rubbish is take-away packaging. The one study with a control group found the bins no lighter.
In Potsdam the length of a disposable fork is now a tax question. Since Thursday the city has charged 20 cents on every piece or set of disposable cutlery handed out with food. Section 2 of its official guide says the charge applies to …
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