Introduce the chosen news article and its source.

Provide a brief overview of the main points discussed in the article.

Summarize the positive (descriptive) and normative (value-based) analysis of the policy or situation.

Present a reasoned conclusion on the policy's effectiveness, considering efficiency, equity, winners and losers, etc.

Use a graphic to visually demonstrate the standard equilibrium model's application to the policy or situation in the article.

Analyze whether the model’s predictions align with the article's content.

Identify and explain relevant economic concepts related to the article.

Describe how the article ties into class economic principles.

Government Intervention: This article is an example of a government intervention since there is a tax on vapes in order to decrease vapes in the market. The government's main goal is to decrease the vapes being produced and consumed since they view it as a negative externality and bad for teenagers health. The main goal of the tax was to "reduce vaping among young people."

Supply Shift: Due to the tax on vapes, the supply will shift to the left. One of the key supply drivers is government policy, and a tax is meant to shift supply to the left. When supply is shifted to the left, price increases and, quantity of vapes decreases.

Externalities: Vaping among young people is viewed as a negative externality by the government, more specifically by California in this article. The article mentioned that the tax is meant to "protect young people from the dangers of vaping." Vaping increases public health costs and can impact the environment due to plastic and pollution.

The Consumption of Vapes: Due to the tax on vapes, the quantity demanded will move to the left along the demand curve for vapes. Although the article found it a change for only 6 months, we still view it as a movement to the left on a graph, since consumers who vapes in California are affected by the price and the tax. The article showed the quantity of demand decreased because of the decrease of social media posts about vapes as the indicator.

Vape Tax Impact: The tax on vapes will change how buyers and sellers interact in this market for vapes. The tax will increase vape prices and producers will change their supply since the price will be higher for them.

Tax Burden: When there is a tax, the tax burden can fall on either the consumers, producers, or both. It all depends on how elastic the market. In this articles context, vapes could be assumed (not confirmed) as an inelastic good, so the burden may fall on the consumers more.

Substitutes: For vapes, a possible substitute is cigarettes. Both products are taxed as excise taxes, so it entirely depends if it is financially worth it to switch to cigarettes. Consumers of vapes have different preferences, so it depends on preferences if they'd like to look for a substitute.

Effectiveness Over Time: Both vaping taxes and historical tobacco taxes show initial effectiveness in reducing usage. However, the sustainability of these effects varies. While tobacco taxes have led to long-term declines in smoking rates, the temporary nature of the vaping tax's impact suggests that additional measures are necessary to maintain reductions in usage.

Behavioral Response: The response from the market and consumers also differs. In the case of traditional tobacco, the industry faced significant restrictions on advertising and promotion, which helped to solidify the impact of taxation. In contrast, vaping companies have been able to adapt quickly, increasing marketing efforts in response to taxation, which complicates the effectiveness of such policies.

Public Health Campaigns: The success of past tobacco policies was bolstered by comprehensive public health campaigns that raised awareness about the dangers of smoking. Similar campaigns targeting vaping, particularly on social media platforms popular with youth, could enhance the effectiveness of taxation and other regulatory measures.