If the government sets the tax rate at 100%, it will get no revenue, because nobody will want any income under those conditions; if it sets it at 0%, it will again get no revenue. A continuous revenue vs. tax-rate curve must have a maximum between these two points, so that if the tax rate is set at a point on the descending part of the curve, the government can increase its revenue by lowering the tax rate.
It says a lot about the politicians (and economists) who can't see the indisputable; but formerly overweight economist Laffer also reports losing something like 1 lb a day by immersing himself in cold water
¾ so a subscriber tells us, and he wants to know the relationship of time in, and temperature of, the cold bath vs. calories burned by the body.There is no universally valid answer, because the body's protective mechanisms against a cold environment vary among individuals. A heat insulation layer is formed by circulating less blood to the outer tissue, and more permanent insulation will eventually accumulate there if one makes a habit of it (one can usually see the veins of a devoted runner, but not of a devoted swimmer). If Laffer did lose weight that way, it may have been during the first minute or two, before his body's defenses were fully active. However, without meddling in medical questions, one can state some principles which must be true as a simple matter of physics:
1) The only significant energy intake of the body is food; the vast majority of this energy is used up to keep the body warm in a colder environment. Physical work and sports will increase the outflow of heat; the energy converted to actual mechanical work is ridiculously small. What nutritionists call a Calorie is a physical kilocalorie or 1.162 kWh (3,085.5 ft-lb), so that if it were not for the heat rejection, two tablespoons of sugar (100 Calories) would provide a 200-lb man with the energy to climb a ladder a mile high.
2) Low caloric intake will force the body to burn up fuel reserves (fat) to keep the energy balance; but diets based on other criteria cannot immediately be dismissed by physics alone, since exact measurement of heat transfer by the body is quite difficult (for the author of the diet, too, so that the chances for a fad are good).
3) If you are determined to use direct heat loss for weight control, you need not suffer all of Laffer's discomfort: Use the latent heat of vaporization [AtE Dec 78]. If you do not dry yourself after a shower, but let the water evaporate, it will draw the required latent heat out of your body (you will have to hop around briskly to keep warm). The latent heat of vaporization for water is about 600 kcal/litre, or about 7 nutritional Calories per fluid ounce of water evaporated; to which the use of cold water will add only about half a Calorie
|
|
Vol. 8, No. 6
Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive Volume: Volume 8 Issue/No.: Vol. 8, No. 6 Date: February 01, 1981 10:12 AM (For actual publication date see newsletter.) Title: Transition
Copyright © 2004 - Access to Energy Newsletter Archive
|