Question: An article in the Centre Daily Times (April 19, 1997, p. 8A) included data from the United States and several European countries that indicated a negative correlation between the cost of cigarettes and annual per capita cigarette consumption. Does this result mean that if the United States increased its cigarette tax to increase the price of cigarettes, the result would be that people would smoke less? What are some other explanations for the negative correlation between cigarette price and annual cigarette consumption?