@techreport{NBERw14976,
 title = "The Optimal Taxation of Height: A Case Study of Utilitarian Income Redistribution",
 author = "N. Gregory Mankiw and Matthew Weinzierl",
 institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research",
 type = "Working Paper",
 series = "Working Paper Series",
 number = "14976",
 year = "2009",
 month = "May",
 URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/w14976",
 abstract = {Should the income tax include a credit for short taxpayers and a surcharge for tall ones? The standard Utilitarian framework for tax analysis answers this question in the affirmative. Moreover, a plausible parameterization using data on height and wages implies a substantial height tax: a tall person earning $50,000 should pay $4,500 more in tax than a short person. One interpretation is that personal attributes correlated with wages should be considered more widely for determining taxes. Alternatively, if policies such as a height tax are rejected, then the standard Utilitarian framework must fail to capture intuitive notions of distributive justice.},
}