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Bar Stool Econ
September 21, 2010
Bar Stool Economics
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer andthe bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, itwould 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 seemedquite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
"Since youare all such good customers," he said, "I'mgoing to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the ten nowcost
just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way wepayour taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drinkfor 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 subtractedthat from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth manwould each end up being paid to drink his beer. So,the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man'sbill by roughly thesame amount, and he proceeded to work out the amountseach 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 continuedto drink for free. But once outside the restaurant,
The men began tocompare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointedto 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 got""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 getanything 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 drinksSo the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came timeto
pay the bill,they discovered something important. They didn't haveenough money between all of them for even half of the bill!And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, ishow our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get themost benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much,attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore.
In fact, theymight start drinking overseas where the atmosphere issomewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
UniversityofGeorgia
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
