Bar-Room Economics

Published:

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.
Cheers

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy
Partywith 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.
Hurray!

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"?
What?

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 their beer.

The bar owner suggested it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same percentage as he was paying before, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
Idea

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 paid $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 (the richest) now paid $50 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, pointing to the tenth man," but he got $9!"
Cussing Face

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got nine times more than me!"
Mad

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $9 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
Argue

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
Argue

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
Chair

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 had only enough money between all of them for half of the bill!
Sad  Sad Cheers Sad

And that, ladies and gentlemen, 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 where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

"For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible."

(Locked)
Entry #100

Comments

Avatar Todd -
#1
Yeah, and what's the bar owner doing making so much money? If he can afford to give a $20 break, then he must be making a windfall every time someone buys a beer, and we should take half of everything he makes and give it to the people who got the beer for free.

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