1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Economics 101...

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by rrj_gamz, Mar 15, 2004.

  1. rrj_gamz

    rrj_gamz Member

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2002
    Messages:
    15,595
    Likes Received:
    198
    I just received this and I just had to post it...Enjoy...

    This is a basic Economics lesson for all, and well worth the read.

    Sometimes Politicians exclaim, "It's a tax cut just for the rich!", and it
    is just accepted to be fact. But what does that really mean? Just in case
    you are not completely clear on this issue, which is difficult for most of
    us to understand especially the way it's usually explained to us, we hope
    the following will help.

    Please share this with your friends as you see fit.

    Tax Cuts - A Simple Lesson In Economics

    This is how the cookie crumbles. Please do yourself the favor of reading
    it
    carefully.

    Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every
    day, ten men go out for dinner. 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 $7.
    The eighth $12.
    The ninth $18.
    The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

    So that's what they decided to do.

    The ten men ate dinner in the same restaurant 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 meal by $20."

    So now dinner for the ten only cost $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 eat for free. But
    what about the other six, the paying customers? How could they divvy up the
    $20 windfall so that everyone would get his "fair share"?

    The six men 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 eat their meal.

    So, the restaurant 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 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 now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

    Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued
    to
    eat 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 me!"

    "That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when
    I
    got only $2? 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 dinner, so the nine sat
    down and ate 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 at the table anymore. There are lots of good
    restaurants in Europe and the Caribbean.

    David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D
    Distinguished Professor of Economics
    536 Brooks Hall
    University of Georgia
     
  2. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Messages:
    61,860
    Likes Received:
    41,372
    *cough* payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, cough, medicare *cough*

    BTW, with his last line, is professor Kamershcen proposing that without massive tax cuts, rich people will start to use offshore tax havens to avoid paying their fair share? Yeah, thank god for those tax cuts, that will never happen now.


    BTW again, Prof. Kamerschen doesn't account for the fact that the check is 500 billion more than 10 bucks.

    Who's going to pay for that?:confused:
     
    #2 SamFisher, Mar 15, 2004
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2004
  3. No Worries

    No Worries Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 1999
    Messages:
    32,889
    Likes Received:
    20,668
    Rubbish.

    Carry on.
     
  4. Cohen

    Cohen Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 1999
    Messages:
    10,751
    Likes Received:
    6
    Not entirely.
     
  5. rrj_gamz

    rrj_gamz Member

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2002
    Messages:
    15,595
    Likes Received:
    198
    C'mon Liberals...This explanation, is as basic as it can get...I posted this with the intent to educate, but I'm afraid that those to whom this explanation was intended will still not understand, and therefore we will still be exploited by the liberals.
    ;)
     
  6. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Messages:
    61,860
    Likes Received:
    41,372
    Such patronism out of the mouths of simpletons.

    rrj, silly examples like this might make for good republican email fodder, but there are any number of threads analyzing this and other tax related issues on a much higher level.

    Have fun reading them.

    :)
     
  7. Chump

    Chump Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2003
    Messages:
    1,249
    Likes Received:
    0
    this has been going around for a number of years..attributed to a number of professors (in an attempt to give it validity)

    http://www.snopes.com/business/taxes/howtaxes.asp


    its interesting, but useless as a model of the real world


    this model gives the richest guy (10% of the people at dinner) 50% of the "tax cut" ($10 of the $20)


    Bush's tax cuts give the richest 1% a 29.8% share of the tax cut in 2004 and 44.8% of the tax cut to the richest 5%
     
  8. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Messages:
    61,860
    Likes Received:
    41,372
    LOL, that was the first place I looked but couldn't find it, I guess my mistake was by searching by the name of the professor....

    .
     
  9. No Worries

    No Worries Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 1999
    Messages:
    32,889
    Likes Received:
    20,668
    Yeah but there must be an really important reason why you are wrong and rrj is right.
     
  10. gifford1967

    gifford1967 Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2003
    Messages:
    8,306
    Likes Received:
    4,653
    Don't the conservatives on this board get tired of being routinely slapped around.

    This is not to say that all conservative positions are without merit, just that it seems the conservatives that participate on this board routinely post suspect material that is easily refuted and in the process make themselves and their positions look foolish.

    I actually have some admiration for their consistency and tenacity. The ones that stick around deserve credit for not retreating to right wing echo chambers like Free Republic.
     
  11. bamaslammer

    bamaslammer Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Messages:
    3,853
    Likes Received:
    4
    Anyone who does not goosestep the liberal line on tax policy is a simpleton. Why is, then, you believe that govt and not individuals are better stewards of their own money? Why are you anti-achievement, which is what liberals are when they actively support confiscatory tax rates? Pathetic. :rolleyes:
     
  12. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Messages:
    61,860
    Likes Received:
    41,372
    People who post dubious chain emails full of junkonomics and then claim that they are "educating" us are simpletons, rather amusing ones at that.

    You would be the same, except you're just not as amusing as you used to be, Yosemite. You need a new act.
     

Share This Page