Microsoft billionaire and quasi-monopolist Bill Gates recently proposed that we should tax robots. But should we really tax robots? Why not impose a tax on every line of computer code instead? Or why not tax computer programmers who sport beards? Via Wikipedia: “In 1698, Peter I of Russia instituted a beard tax to bring Russian society in line with Western European models. [1] To enforce the ban on beards, the tsar empowered police to forcibly and publicly shave those who refused to pay the tax. [2] Resistance to going clean shaven was widespread, with many believing that it was a religious requirement for a man to wear a beard. [3] The tax levied depended upon the status of the bearded man: Those associated with the Imperial Court, military, or government were charged 60 rubles annually; wealthy merchants were charged 100 rubles per year while other merchants, and townsfolk were charged 60 rubles per year; Muscovites were charged 30 rubles per year; and peasants were charged two half-kopeks every time they entered a city. [4]” Notice the “progressive” nature of this old Russian beard tax. (The footnotes are below the fold.)
Save me from Bill Gates…
prior probability 