Japanese Academic Economist suggest "Let's tax the beautiful"

Courtesy of Courrier International and Google Translate, I can share with you a story of a crackpot japanese economist. Takuro Morinaga who officiates at Dokkyo University came up with this brillant idea of taxing beautiful men more than ugly men. Why? This is to make them look more attractive to japanese women, and hopefully allowing them a chance to start a family and bring kids into a society that is shrinking. Sounds insane. It probably is.

These Japanese men better be careful.
They are being targeted for being too beautiful..

Takuro Morinaga's idea is simple - Reduce the tax for the ugly and make the beautiful pay more and in full. To do this, the tax department would need to set up a beauty committee who would judge and classify people they meet into four categories. The four categories are beautiful, normal, moderately ugly and very ugly. And each of these categories would be taxed differently. The beautiful would need to pay more tax and in full without any offset while the very ugly benefit from a reduction of up to 20%.

With this tax system, Takuro Morinaga believes would give anyone who is not beautiful a chance to get married as it takes away some of the advantages of being beautiful. His idea for this tax to me is kinda insulting to japanese women. That they only care about the yen. Oh well, only academics living in their dreamland can come up with such surreal ideas. And you wonder why we have the Great Financial Crisis.

I have "Google Translate" the original article from Courrier International if you are interested in reading it........



Interviewer - The idea of taxing hunks - you have launched recently in a TV show - is the buzz on the Internet. What is it? 

Takuro - This is sort of single men in four categories - beautiful kids, normal, moderately ugly and the ugly - and increase of 100% tax rate applicable in fine, which would double their income tax. The moderately ugly, however, benefit from a reduction of 10% and 20% of ugly. Currently, the income tax is a progressive tax rates that increase with six depending on the income bracket: 5%, 10%, 20%, 23%, 33% and 40%. In the case of a hunk enjoying comfortable incomes located in the top, the tax rate would be 80%. If we add local taxes, which levy 10%, a handsome and rich would leave in addition 90% of its income in taxes.

Inteviewer - How do you think this can it be used to check the increase in the number of Singles in our country and the phenomenon of marriage later and later? 

Takuro Morinaga? No this is not him.
Just a funny pic to illustrate why
some men might find it hard to
get married.

Takuro - What shocked me the most during the last census [in 2010], is to see that almost 50% of Japanese men aged 30 to 35 years were still single. Why is that? The system of lifetime employment collapsed in our country [since the bursting of the bubble economy in the early 1990s] and the practice of marriage for life, which was supported by the latter collapsed in his tower. In the past, neighbors who interfere with all or the wife of a superior is spontaneously offered to play matchmaker for young men, even for those with unattractive. These were "enquiquineuses" handing opportunities for meetings by holding out with young people. At the time, they could afford to move young women of marriageable age in the following argument: "Although it is not very attractive, he works in a good company. With it, you'll be alone all your life! " But today, with the end of the system of lifetime employment, work and income are based on merit. In addition, we are currently witnessing the bankruptcy of the national pension system. Now, only a handful of men have both the job security, income stability and stability of the old days, once that compensated the lack of physical attractiveness. These matchmakers around us, no matter how well intentioned they may no longer play their role in being sure of their making. Women can no longer judge a man in a long term perspective, they focus on those that they like to first glance. Hence the emergence of ikemen [equivalent of "pretty boy", ikemen is a neologism formed from Iketeru, "cool, attractive", and English men, men]. It's terrible! Today, the fact that so handsome with two or three women at once no longer shocks anyone, whereas previously it would have been accused of being a runner and double game play! Currently, in Japan and the United States, the economic gap between the 1% of winners and losers of 99% is problematic, but there is a much greater disparity between men based on their ability to seduce women. I believe money alone can reduce this gap. Based on the results of a survey on the structure of employment, a think tank has calculated the number of married men in the 25-30 years depending on income levels. It showed that over 70% of men with annual incomes of more than 10 million yen [about 95 000 euros] were married. However, the more income fell, the number of marriages decreased and, as we approach the one million yen [9,500 euros], only one in six men were married. I asked the following question to my students at Dokkyo University [in the suburbs of Tokyo]: "Between a handsome rich poor and ugly, which would you choose for a husband?" To my surprise, the two options have won the same number of votes.

Interviewer - As a woman, this result does not surprise me that much ... (laughs). As you put the question to students, this result is quite normal. If they were a little older, I'm sure the ugly rich have largely prevailed. 

Takuro - Is it not? The only way to compete with ugly beautiful, it's balancing revenues. The simplest method is to tax the handsome guys who have the monopoly of seduction.

Interviewer - We are in the thick of it! 

Takuro - Taxing beautiful - especially those of them who have high incomes - will weaken their position and increase the chances of ugly. The ugly, who had no access to the market to date of marriage, will be more confident because of the increased income due to tax reduction. If revenues are lower fine than the ugly, women will come to revise their criteria. We can therefore limit the progression of celibacy, and the birth rate will stop falling. Moreover, the decline in tax revenues from taxpayers ugly will be largely offset by the fine that will be required. If you assign the surplus to social protection, pension funding and will ease Japan's future will be brighter.

Interviewer - Who will judge a man is handsome or ugly? 

Takuro - We will create a board of assessment the beauty that will sit a jury of five women selected at random, who will render a judgment by the majority, as jurors in a trial. I know some dispute this system, arguing that differences in taste may render the verdict hard, but I do not think there are such differences. If women really had very different tastes from each other, then we would not be in the current situation, where a handful of hunks just monopolize success.

Interviewer - Now to talk about inequality between women. What is your proposal to correct them? AERA has published in a previous issue a survey of 200 women on the amount that men had paid for them until they reach the age of 40. Imagine that three of them responded that they had received the equivalent of more than 20 million yen [190 000]. Some even admit they have never needed their portfolio when they came out with a man. It semblebien we have the same problem in the women: only women are pretty advantaged. 

Takuro - I have long studied the femme fatale. And women who seduce men and lead by the nose are not necessarily beauty. To please men and enjoy their largesse, this is the way - the gestures, the maneuvers - which counts more than appearance. Some women have the art of being kept, regardless of their physical. For them, would have their taxable income calculated according to the fringe benefits they receive from men.

Interviewer - What do you think the tax on unmarried men, whose implementation has been seriously considered [in 1941 ] as an incentive to marriage? 

Takuro - If we tax the single, all men, including moderately ugly and ugly wishing to marry, will be taxed and penalized ... so they will be even poorer, losing any chance of finding and a wife should give up on their offspring. I think tax hunks should be seriously considered as an incentive to marriage more egalitarian.