5 ms·

Exactly. Though it bears pointing out that Mankiw was doing this as a parody of progressive taxation, not as a serious proposal.

by scarmig 14y ago

gwern 14y ago
I'm not sure it's such a bad idea. It's a non-distorting tax and the unearned benefits of height seem clearly established. Why not?
- irishcoffee 14y ago
  Better idea: Lets tax everyone who gives tall people advantages. The tall person didn't choose to be tall. Their parents didn't have a say in the matter either. Shall we tax them for making a tall heir? You know who had a say in tall people having "advantages"? Everyone who gives them said advantage. Tax them.
  - lutusp 14y ago
    With all respect, bad idea. The next logical step would be the ability to choose any arbitrary trait to punish for producing an unfair advantage, like being smart (an overrated trait in many circumstances). Abraham Lincoln was both tall and smart -- such a program would have ruined him. :) Also, ideas like this only add to the power of governments. I think most people will argue there should be a limit to governmental power. People differ on what that limit should be, but I think most would agree that taxing height or some other trait goes too far.
    - irishcoffee 14y ago
      We are in agreement, that was my whole point. =))
    - gwern 14y ago
      > being smart (an overrated trait in many circumstances). I disagree, the advantages of being smart appear in an astounding number of contexts, from making a lot more money than everyone else to living longer to having better teeth etc (and yes, most of the many IQ correlations survive after conditioning on the obvious stuff). The real issue here is that intelligence correlates with income to such a degree that progressive income taxation (very common) may already be playing this role.
  - crdoconnor 14y ago
    >You know who had a say in tall people having "advantages"? Everyone who gives them said advantage. Tax them. Ok... so the next step is how do you measure in a consistent and non-gamifiable way who is giving these advantages? If you can't answer that, it won't be a good tax.
crdoconnor 14y ago
If there's any kind of proposal or law that favors the rich, the super rich or the ultra rich, Greg Mankiw will be in favor of it. He's a morally and intellectually bankrupt academic. He's currently defending Reinhart and Rogoff, for instance.

Exactly. Though it bears pointing out that Mankiw was doing this as a parody of progressive taxation, not as a serious proposal.

by scarmig 14y ago

Exactly. Though it bears pointing out that Mankiw was doing this as a parody of progressive taxation, not as a serious proposal.

gwern 14y ago

I'm not sure it's such a bad idea. It's a non-distorting tax and the unearned benefits of height seem clearly established. Why not?

irishcoffee 14y ago
Better idea: Lets tax everyone who gives tall people advantages. The tall person didn't choose to be tall. Their parents didn't have a say in the matter either. Shall we tax them for making a tall heir? You know who had a say in tall people having "advantages"? Everyone who gives them said advantage. Tax them.
- lutusp 14y ago
  With all respect, bad idea. The next logical step would be the ability to choose any arbitrary trait to punish for producing an unfair advantage, like being smart (an overrated trait in many circumstances). Abraham Lincoln was both tall and smart -- such a program would have ruined him. :) Also, ideas like this only add to the power of governments. I think most people will argue there should be a limit to governmental power. People differ on what that limit should be, but I think most would agree that taxing height or some other trait goes too far.
  - irishcoffee 14y ago
    We are in agreement, that was my whole point. =))
  - gwern 14y ago
    > being smart (an overrated trait in many circumstances). I disagree, the advantages of being smart appear in an astounding number of contexts, from making a lot more money than everyone else to living longer to having better teeth etc (and yes, most of the many IQ correlations survive after conditioning on the obvious stuff). The real issue here is that intelligence correlates with income to such a degree that progressive income taxation (very common) may already be playing this role.
- crdoconnor 14y ago
  >You know who had a say in tall people having "advantages"? Everyone who gives them said advantage. Tax them. Ok... so the next step is how do you measure in a consistent and non-gamifiable way who is giving these advantages? If you can't answer that, it won't be a good tax.

crdoconnor 14y ago

If there's any kind of proposal or law that favors the rich, the super rich or the ultra rich, Greg Mankiw will be in favor of it. He's a morally and intellectually bankrupt academic. He's currently defending Reinhart and Rogoff, for instance.