Remember the Laffer Curve?

As a result of high taxes on cigarettes, UIC economist David Merriman estimates that “75 percent of cigarettes smoked in Chicago come from packs that don’t bear city tax stamps.”  Many, of course, also lack county and state stamps. And according to the Tribune.

In 2006, city revenues from cigarette taxes came in at a little less than $32 million. By 2008, they had declined to about $25 million. This year, they’re projected to drop again.