MANKIW’S BEQUEST: “I basically concur with Tyler Cowen’s take on Greg Mankiw’s recent column–you can certainly disagree with the analytical choices he made in arriving at the government’s cut of his children’s inheritance, but the basic point is sound: we tax income many times as it is earned, which is especially hard on capital formation. The means testing of various benefits, from Medicaid all the way to 401(k) contributions, makes this effect even more pronounced. . . . But it’s also worth extrapolating this case study to folks who aren’t Greg Mankiw, but who face similar choices. Professors, and to a lesser extent journalists, compete for non-monetary status much more than most jobs. The guy who owns six McDonalds, and doesn’t want to open a seventh because that’s just one more place he’s got to be willing to go in and scrub the toilets when his assistant manager calls in sick . . . those people tend to be more sensitive to tax incentives than Greg Mankiw or Brad DeLong, whose friends will snicker if they buy a Porsche and a McMansion.”