Bar economics....

[SUBMAN1]

An oldie but a goodie!

-S

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

[Frame57]

Good one! Remember this one?

Three travellers go to a a hotel. The clerk tells them it will be thirty dollars for all three to stay. They each pay ten bucks each. Later the clerk realizes that they were over charged by five dollars and gives five one dollar bills to the bellhop to give back to the men.

The bellhop decides that because there are three men he will give them each one dollar back and keep two for himself.

The three men each receive the dollar back from the ten they gave, so each man has now paid 9 dollars each. Between them that now accounts for twenty seven dollars. So the bellhop has kept two dollars, that added to the 27 dollars the men have paid for the room, equals 29 dollars.

What happened to the remaining dollar?

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by Frame57

Good one! Remember this one?

Three travellers go to a a hotel. The clerk tells them it will be thirty dollars for all three to stay. They each pay ten bucks each. Later the clerk realizes that they were over charged by five dollars and gives five one dollar bills to the bellhop to give back to the men.

The bellhop decides that because there are three men he will give them each one dollar back and keep two for himself.

The three men each receive the dollar back from the ten they gave, so each man has now paid 9 dollars each. Between them that now accounts for twenty seven dollars. So the bellhop has kept two dollars, that added to the 27 dollars the men have paid for the room, equals 29 dollars.

What happened to the remaining dollar?

That's a trick joke! Never heard it before, but there is no dollar missing. Someone twisted that statement around. Took a double take to realize what happened.

-S

[nikimcbee]

Now which guy are you subman1 in the economic equation? I need to know before we go to that pirate bar of yours.

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Now which guy are you subman1 in the economic equation? I need to know before we go to that pirate bar of yours.

I'll disguise myself as one of the four. Does that work? :p

And besides, I'm married which automatically makes me poor!

-S

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

I'll disguise myself as one of the four. Does that work? :p

And besides, I'm married which automatically makes me poor!

-S

Kids?

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Kids?

No. Unless you count pets. I have a parrot. Might be fitting to bring him to the bar.

-S

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

No. Unless you count pets. I have a parrot. Might be fitting to bring him to the bar.

-S

Yeah, pets count. Does your parrot talk?

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Yeah, pets count. Does your parrot talk?

Only when he thinks you can't hear him (shy). Very quiet bird. The perfect kind.

He can be annoying though. Knows how to push your buttons. For the most part, a good pet though. he's looking at me right now - sitting up on top of my computer desk. He knows I'm talking about him!

-S

[nikimcbee]

I have a friend who owns several parrots (an african gray), and it is a jabberbox. I've heard stories of the whacky things it says: "Here comes ol' sticky" (refering to my friend:rotfl: ) , " make me a peanut butter sandwich", " i've been a baaaaad bird", It also scolds his dogs.:rotfl:

If I ever had a parrot, I'd leave my russian language tapes on all day and see what the parrot learns. I could speak Russian with my parrot.

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

I have a friend who owns several parrots (an african gray), and it is a jabberbox. I've heard stories of the whacky things it says: "Here comes ol' sticky" (refering to my friend:rotfl: ) , " make me a peanut butter sandwich", " i've been a baaaaad bird", It also scolds his dogs.:rotfl:

If I ever had a parrot, I'd leave my russian language tapes on all day and see what the parrot learns. I could speak Russian with my parrot.

Well, I watch what I say around him because I've heard him pick up something the first time I said it. All I would need is him to pick up some swear words and that would be it. Not sure I could handle that with him swearing all the time.

I'm very careful to train him properly. He will probably outlive me, so he is a lifelong pet. 60+ years in some cases. He's about 10 right now.

-S

[Sailor Steve]

This must be the official Subman rehashes recent jokes week. They were all posted here withing the last month or so.

Oh, and Frame57, they each paid $9, which does indeed make $27...MINUS the two the bellman kept makes $25, which is how much the bill was, not counting the $5 that was returned.

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

This must be the official Subman rehashes recent jokes week. They were all posted here withing the last month or so....

It was? Oops! I must have missed it. Sorry!

-S

[STEED]

Just in case this thread gets hot I'm digging in to my..................

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by STEED

Just in case this thread gets hot I'm digging in to my..................

Well, I am happy to oblige!