Taxing tall people
Harvard economist Greg Mankiw and graduate student Matthew Weinzierl have proposed taxing tall people at a higher rate than short people. Their argument is twofold. First, height correlates with income, so tall people have more money, which means that a tall tax will bring in more revenue. Second, people can’t change their height, so taxing tall people doesn’t create economic distortions, as opposed to taxing the industrious, which discourages them from working so hard.
Do Mankiw and Weinzierl actually endorse such a system? Far from it. Rather, they argue, the proposed tax clarifies our thinking about taxation in general. They say that height is a “justly acquired endowment”: it is not unfairly wrested from anyone else, so the state has no right to seize its fruits. By the same logic, they imply (though they do not state outright) that the government has no right to force someone with the “justly acquired endowment” of entrepreneurial genius to pay a higher tax rate.
I think Mankiw and Weinzierl are missing the best argument for the tall tax, namely “What about the CHILDREN?” Children are short! Especially young children. The tall tax is good for children, and good for America. All we need is a Presidential candidate to champion the tall tax. Are you listening, Dennis Kucinich?