Hone’s ‘Hone Heke tax’

Hone Harawira proposes a transactions tax.  He calls it his ‘Hone Heke tax’—presumably because it’s intended to chop down tall poppies.

That’s certainly how it worked when it was first introduced.

It was first introduced by Genghis Khan. Yes, seriously. This is not satire. It was first introduced by Genghis Khan, when Buddhist adviser Yelü Chucai advised him to exploit conquered peoples instead of simply slaughtering them —with, of course, the threat of slaughter backing up the extraction of the tax.

Chop down tall poppies slowly instead of slaughtering them at will. That’s the secret of the Hone Heke tax.

Lovely, huh?