hmm

[Antitrust32]

Ohhhh!! I got another one in my inbox! I like this one as well! :

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 on 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 any more. In fact, they
> might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
>
> This is the barstool version of Senator Obama's tax plan
>
> David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
> Professor of Economics
> University of Georgia
>