There's a modicum of snark in these posts reacting to Greg Mankiw's NY Times column on taxation. Given that we've just studied distortionary taxes in Chapters 19 and 21, it might be instructive for you to take a look at economist's voice today.
Greg Mankiw complains that if taxes go up for people with incomes as high as his, he won't work as hard and that means he won't be able to leave as much for his kids. Incentives matter he says. If that's the case, I wonder why someone who is trying to take away the incentive for his kids to work hard and be successful on their own doesn't leave academia and become a high paid consultant.