Tall=Smart?

So two women at Princeton wrote some really dumb paper for the NBER stating that "taller people earn more because they are smarter."

Yeah, sorry - huh?

Everyone knows that nutrition and height are correlated. Back in the Dark Ages no one at vegetables or meat and soldiers were tiny (you've seen those suits of armor at the museums, haven't you?). Industrial Revolution came along and baddabing, baddaboom, average heights went up all over the world. Even China is catching up to Sweden in average height!

The paper says that kids at age 3 score higher on cognitive tests if they are taller, "before they've even started schooling." Well, nutrition and cognitive ability are (gasp!) also correlated! Who knew?

They attempt to disprove the other half of the taller=higher earner phenomenon, where employers prefer to hire and promote taller people, especially for managerial and executive jobs. But not very well. Mostly they just mention it at the beginning and forget to put it into their equations later.

So, are taller people smarter? Maybe. But they're not smart because they're tall. I think these ladies may need a refresher course in causality.

More research is needed....
do taller people get paid more for the same job?
do taller people get hired/promoted more/sooner than shorter people?

Economics can explain a lot of things, which is why I like it so much. But it's embarrassing when it really misses the boat.