Bar Stool Economics – Our Tax System, Simply Explained
Since there is so much talk about massively increasing the taxes on the wealthy from our Democrats in Congress, in order to create an even bigger nanny state than Soviet Russia. I thought it was appropriate to simply explain our tax system to my readers, in an entertaining way.
I think you will find this description accurate and easy to understand. It simply shows why the Democrat’s plan will only lead to future disaster.
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Bar Stool Economics
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten
comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something
like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said,
‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.’
Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the
first four men were unaffected.
They would still drink for free.
But what about the other six men – the paying customers?
How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his
‘fair
share?’
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33.
But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man
and
the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s
bill
by roughly the same amount and he proceeded to work out the amounts each
should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before.
And the first four continued to drink for free.
But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man.
‘I only saved a dollar, too.
It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’
‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man.
‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two?
The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison.
‘We didn’t get anything at all.
The system exploits the poor!’
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat
down and had beers without him.
But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something
important.
They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the
bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our
tax system works.
The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax
reduction.
Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not
show up anymore.
In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is
somewhat friendlier.
____
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
____
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not
understand, no explanation is possible.
____
Cheers Thinking Patriots,
Jason
Atlas Shrugged – perhaps the entrepreneurs (wealth creators) will just get fed up and stop giving their money to the bureaucrats (wealth destroyers) in Washington. They’ll go to Texas and start a new country, one that truly follows the Constitution and one that truly respects our Founders and our Founders creed – the Declaration of Independence. This new country will understand that are rights come from our Creator, not the state. Liberty will be reborn and the tyranny of the Washington elite will be broken. Let all the Obamaites move to D.C. and liberal states like R.I., Vermont, N.Y., Conn. and Massachusettes. Who then will support their ever increasing demands that their nanny state supply their every need? Where will the money come from?