EFTA02433533

To: jeevacation©[email protected]] From: Farkas, Andrew L. Sent Mon 12/14/2009 11:42:00 AM Subject: Fw: Taxing bankers' bonuses - explained in beer Subject: Fw: Taxing bankers' bonuses - explained in beer From: Desmond Taljaard To: Barry Stemlicht; Jerome Silvey; Jeffrey Dishner; John McCarthy Sent: Mon Dec 14 03:34:33 2009 Subject: Taxing bankers' bonuses - explained in beer The Tax system, explained in beer. 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 LI. 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 EFTA_R1_01504811 EFTA02433533 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 pound 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 pound 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 hint up. EFTA_R1_01504812 EFTA02433534 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. For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible. IMPORTANT: The information contained in this c-mail message is confidential and is intended only for the named addressee(s). This message may be protected by the attorney/client privilege. If the reader of this e-mail message is not the intended recipient (or the individual responsible for the delivery of this e-mail message to the intended recipient), please be advised that any re-use, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail message is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please reply to the sender that you have received this e-mail message in error and then delete it. Thank you. EFTA_R1_01504813 EFTA02433535