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Each day, 10 men went to a restaurant for lunch together. The bill for all 10 came to $100 each day. The first four would pay nothing because they were so poor. The fifth would pay $1; the sixth would pay $3; the seventh $7; the eighth $12; the ninth $18. The 10th man – the richest – would pay $59 (Although the 10 men didn't share the bill equally, they all seemed content enough with the arrangement – until the restaurant owner threw them a curve).
"You're all such good customers," the owner said, "so I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20. I'm going to charge you just $80 in total." The 10 men looked at each other and seemed quite surprised, yet happy about the news!
The first four men, of course, werent affected because they weren't paying anything for their meals to begin with. They would still eat for free. The big question was how to divvy up the $20 in savings among the remaining six in a way that would be fair for each of them. They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33, but if they subtracted that amount from each person's share, then the fifth and sixth men would end up being paid to eat their meals. The restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each person's bill by roughly the same percentage, and he proceeded to work out the amounts that each should pay.
The results? The fifth man paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $14, leaving the 10th man with a bill of $50 instead of $59. Outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got one dollar out of the $20," said the sixth man, pointing to the 10th man, "and he got $9!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too! It's not fair that he got nine times more than me!" "That's true," shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get back $9 when I only got $2? The rich 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 outraged men surrounded the rich man and beat him up. The next day, he didn't show up for lunch, so the nine proceeded to eat without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they faced a problem that they hadn't faced before. They were $50 short.
The moral:
If you overtax the rich, they just might start opting out of dinner.
"You're all such good customers," the owner said, "so I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20. I'm going to charge you just $80 in total." The 10 men looked at each other and seemed quite surprised, yet happy about the news!
The first four men, of course, werent affected because they weren't paying anything for their meals to begin with. They would still eat for free. The big question was how to divvy up the $20 in savings among the remaining six in a way that would be fair for each of them. They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33, but if they subtracted that amount from each person's share, then the fifth and sixth men would end up being paid to eat their meals. The restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each person's bill by roughly the same percentage, and he proceeded to work out the amounts that each should pay.
The results? The fifth man paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $14, leaving the 10th man with a bill of $50 instead of $59. Outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got one dollar out of the $20," said the sixth man, pointing to the 10th man, "and he got $9!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too! It's not fair that he got nine times more than me!" "That's true," shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get back $9 when I only got $2? The rich 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 outraged men surrounded the rich man and beat him up. The next day, he didn't show up for lunch, so the nine proceeded to eat without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they faced a problem that they hadn't faced before. They were $50 short.
The moral:
If you overtax the rich, they just might start opting out of dinner.
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