Bling bling taxation and the fiscal virtues of hip hop

The article extends Ng’s (Am Econ Rev 77(1):186–191, 1987) model of optimal taxation of diamond goods—goods that are valued solely for their costliness. We extend his findings by analyzing how other goods should be taxed in the presence of pure diamond goods; modified Ramsey rules are derived in a basic single-type model as well as in a two-type model with redistribution. One key finding, that may be surprising and rather provoking, is that close complements (hip hop music) to diamond goods (bling bling) should be heavily subsidized.