Interesting idea, but I don't think that's a realistic proxy, particularly when you look at the automation-per-dollar "efficiency" of computers relative to othe

Interesting idea, but I don't think that's a realistic proxy, particularly when you look at the automation-per-dollar "efficiency" of computers relative to other industrial processes— like, how much compute do you get for the power that it takes to boil water or weld together a car or something? Or what about a case like a self-serve till at the grocery store? The power those consume is probably actually comparable to the power consumed by a till with a person operating it. There are good reasons to tax energy and carbon, but critics are right that it ultimately is a tax on everything. An automation tax needs to find a way to specifically tax the gains made by putting humans out of a job, similar to what organized labour achieved for a generation of longshoreman when containerization killed their industry in the 60s and 70s (as documented in Marc Levinson's excellent book The Box).