andrew_gelman_stats andrew_gelman_stats-2010 andrew_gelman_stats-2010-338 knowledge-graph by maker-knowledge-mining
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Introduction: Tyler Cowen links to a blog by Greg Mankiw with further details on his argument that his anticipated 90% marginal tax rate will reduce his work level. Having already given my thoughts on Mankiw’s column, I merely have a few things to add/emphasize. 1. Cowen frames the arguments in terms of the “status” of George Bush, Greg Mankiw, Barack Obama, and their proposed policies. I hadn’t thought of the arguments as being about status, but I think I see what Cowen is saying. By being a well-known economist and having a column in the New York Times, Mankiw is trading some of his status for political advocacy (just as Krugman does, from the opposite direction). If Mankiw didn’t have the pre-existing status, I doubt this particular column would’ve made it into the newspaper. (Again, ditto with many of Krugman’s columns.) So it makes sense that arguments about the substance of Mankiw’s remarks will get tied into disputes about his status. 2. Neither Cowen nor Mankiw address
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1 Tyler Cowen links to a blog by Greg Mankiw with further details on his argument that his anticipated 90% marginal tax rate will reduce his work level. [sent-1, score-0.6]
2 Cowen frames the arguments in terms of the “status” of George Bush, Greg Mankiw, Barack Obama, and their proposed policies. [sent-4, score-0.184]
3 By being a well-known economist and having a column in the New York Times, Mankiw is trading some of his status for political advocacy (just as Krugman does, from the opposite direction). [sent-6, score-0.336]
4 If Mankiw didn’t have the pre-existing status, I doubt this particular column would’ve made it into the newspaper. [sent-7, score-0.185]
5 Neither Cowen nor Mankiw address the problem that Mankiw estimates his current marginal tax rate at 80%, whereas only two years ago he estimated his marginal tax rate under a hypothetical Obama administration at 93%. [sent-11, score-1.247]
6 One might argue that, whether the marginal tax rate is 93%, 90%, 80%, or even 70%, it’s still a lot–it’s a drag on the economy and a disincentive for productive people to work. [sent-15, score-0.772]
7 This might be true, but that gets back to my original point from two years ago, that Mankiw is still working despite these tax rates. [sent-16, score-0.359]
8 In fact, before his recent column came out, I was thinking that Mankiw was working despite what he judged as a 93% marginal tax rate. [sent-17, score-0.733]
9 I agree that, ability to pay aside, there’s something demoralizing about knowing that a large fraction of your marginal income goes to the government, much of it for programs that you don’t approve of. [sent-19, score-0.311]
10 In Mankiw’s case, though, there is a solution: he could use his marginal income (which, as he said, he doesn’t need right now) to hire some research assistants. [sent-21, score-0.311]
11 I don’t know the details of the tax law, but I’m sure his marginal rate would be much much less than 93% or 80% or the other numbers he’s talking about. [sent-22, score-0.6]
12 The discussion of Mankiw’s column seems to have caused him to rethink one of his ideas. [sent-24, score-0.183]
13 And the likelihood will go up after President Obama puts his tax plan in place. [sent-31, score-0.255]
14 At the time, I suggested that perhaps Mankiw is working not for the money but for the fun and also out of some sense of moral obligation (for example, to do his part to stop a proposed government policy that he opposes). [sent-34, score-0.401]
15 For whatever reason, Mankiw has added some of these motivations into his calculus and now writes: I [Mankiw] face a choice among a wide range of activities, each of which offers some combination of pecuniary and non-pecuniary benefits. [sent-35, score-0.297]
16 When the government taxes pecuniary benefits, I spend more time on those activities that yield non-pecuniary benefits. [sent-39, score-0.491]
17 But he still needs to recognize that he does some things for motivations that are neither familial (saving money for his kids), pecuniary, or for fun. [sent-42, score-0.34]
18 I’m not saying he needs to be taxed at 93% on these efforts, though; he could perhaps set up a special cookie jar for his extra income and spend it in a productive way on his research so it won’t get swallowed up by inheritance taxes in 30 years. [sent-44, score-0.682]
19 This could have the effect of furthering his advocacy and policy goals and give him the sense that his extra money is going somewhere useful. [sent-46, score-0.347]
20 Cowen argues that details-oriented commenters like me are missing the point: the issue is not Mankiw’s particular circumstances but rather the larger issues of the efficiency and morality of high tax rates. [sent-49, score-0.255]
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Introduction: Tyler Cowen links to a blog by Greg Mankiw with further details on his argument that his anticipated 90% marginal tax rate will reduce his work level. Having already given my thoughts on Mankiw’s column, I merely have a few things to add/emphasize. 1. Cowen frames the arguments in terms of the “status” of George Bush, Greg Mankiw, Barack Obama, and their proposed policies. I hadn’t thought of the arguments as being about status, but I think I see what Cowen is saying. By being a well-known economist and having a column in the New York Times, Mankiw is trading some of his status for political advocacy (just as Krugman does, from the opposite direction). If Mankiw didn’t have the pre-existing status, I doubt this particular column would’ve made it into the newspaper. (Again, ditto with many of Krugman’s columns.) So it makes sense that arguments about the substance of Mankiw’s remarks will get tied into disputes about his status. 2. Neither Cowen nor Mankiw address
Introduction: Greg Mankiw writes (link from Tyler Cowen ): Without any taxes, accepting that editor’s assignment would have yielded my children an extra $10,000. With taxes, it yields only $1,000. In effect, once the entire tax system is taken into account, my family’s marginal tax rate is about 90 percent. Is it any wonder that I [Mankiw] turn down most of the money-making opportunities I am offered? By contrast, without the tax increases advocated by the Obama administration, the numbers would look quite different. I would face a lower income tax rate, a lower Medicare tax rate, and no deduction phaseout or estate tax. Taking that writing assignment would yield my kids about $2,000. I would have twice the incentive to keep working. First, the good news Obama’s tax rates are much lower than Mankiw had anticipated! According to the above quote, his marginal tax rate is currently 80% but threatens to rise to 90%. But, in October 2008, Mankiw calculated that Obama’s would tax his m
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Introduction: Greg Mankiw writes (link from Tyler Cowen ): Without any taxes, accepting that editor’s assignment would have yielded my children an extra $10,000. With taxes, it yields only $1,000. In effect, once the entire tax system is taken into account, my family’s marginal tax rate is about 90 percent. Is it any wonder that I [Mankiw] turn down most of the money-making opportunities I am offered? By contrast, without the tax increases advocated by the Obama administration, the numbers would look quite different. I would face a lower income tax rate, a lower Medicare tax rate, and no deduction phaseout or estate tax. Taking that writing assignment would yield my kids about $2,000. I would have twice the incentive to keep working. First, the good news Obama’s tax rates are much lower than Mankiw had anticipated! According to the above quote, his marginal tax rate is currently 80% but threatens to rise to 90%. But, in October 2008, Mankiw calculated that Obama’s would tax his m
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