Inconsistency of scale-invariant curvature coupled to gravity

We show that the scale-invariant curvature action for paths, the point-particle version of Polyakov's extrinsic-curvature action for surfaces, does not couple consistently to gravity. The curvature action for paths yields a massless representation of the Poincare group with fixed helicity and so potentially provides a description of single photons and gravitons. We present a physical interpretation of the inconsistency in terms of the nonlocalizability of the photon and point out a conceptual kinship with the local supersymmetry of a spinning particle