Certainly it makes pragmatic sense to reward and punish people in cases where it will have an effect on their behaviour (say on how hard they work), rather than for things they can’t change at all (who their parents were). Most life outcomes are an unclear mixture of the two, which makes it hard to know what to do.
Certainly it makes pragmatic sense to reward and punish people in cases where it will have an effect on their behaviour (say on how hard they work), rather than for things they can’t change at all (who their parents were). Most life outcomes are an unclear mixture of the two, which makes it hard to know what to do.
On this general topic, I agree with the argument for an extra tax on tall people described here, even though I would lose out: http://darp.lse.ac.uk/papersdb/Mankiw-Weinzierl_%28AEJ10%29.pdf.