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Our Tax System Explained: "Bar Stool Economics"

4 points by acangiano 18y ago

nothackernews 18y ago
Not hacker news.
- gunderson 18y ago
  True... it's for former-hackers who succeeded financially and now pay a lot of income tax.
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
Harkins 18y ago
What's not mentioned in the story is that the tenth guy owned the bar. Not only was he drinking for free, he keeps his overhead down by not paying the first four guys (migrant workers) much of anything and occasionally chats with other bar owners to make sure nobody charges too little. The other nine guys might have learned this, but the local paper needed the bar's advertising dollars and the local politicians are the tenth guy's golfing buddies.
- yummyfajitas 18y ago
  In that case, after they beat up the tenth guy, they can only afford about half as much beer as before. Or rather, they would be able to afford half as much beer if the bar were still operating... This is very bad, since the first 4 guys really need a drink, having just lost their job. By the way, really not HN. Somebody post this on reddit, it will make their heads explode.
- ajross 18y ago
  True enough. The other missing bit from the metaphor is that the 10th guy is actually buying most of his beer (and overwhelmingly more beer) at the "long term" rate, which is the same rate that the other guys would pay. So while his bar tab looks high, he drinks at home for almost free. Needless to say, he doesn't spend much time in the bar. Also, while it's stepping outside the clever metaphor: the 10th guy is literally tens of thousands of times wealthier than the 1st guy. Most normal people would consider that an important moral point in any discussion about who is paying "too much" for their beer.
mattmaroon 18y ago
What he neglects to mention is that the requisite cost of living for guy 10 is not any higher than for guy 1. But guy 1 pays a much higher % of his overall earnings to the government due to capital gains taxes and low estate taxes. Ask Warren Buffet what he thinks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLD0p1QpcI8&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLD0p1QpcI8&feature=relat...

4 points by acangiano 18y ago

nothackernews 18y ago

Not hacker news.

gunderson 18y ago
True... it's for former-hackers who succeeded financially and now pay a lot of income tax.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]

Harkins 18y ago

What's not mentioned in the story is that the tenth guy owned the bar. Not only was he drinking for free, he keeps his overhead down by not paying the first four guys (migrant workers) much of anything and occasionally chats with other bar owners to make sure nobody charges too little. The other nine guys might have learned this, but the local paper needed the bar's advertising dollars and the local politicians are the tenth guy's golfing buddies.

yummyfajitas 18y ago
In that case, after they beat up the tenth guy, they can only afford about half as much beer as before. Or rather, they would be able to afford half as much beer if the bar were still operating... This is very bad, since the first 4 guys really need a drink, having just lost their job. By the way, really not HN. Somebody post this on reddit, it will make their heads explode.
ajross 18y ago
True enough. The other missing bit from the metaphor is that the 10th guy is actually buying most of his beer (and overwhelmingly more beer) at the "long term" rate, which is the same rate that the other guys would pay. So while his bar tab looks high, he drinks at home for almost free. Needless to say, he doesn't spend much time in the bar. Also, while it's stepping outside the clever metaphor: the 10th guy is literally tens of thousands of times wealthier than the 1st guy. Most normal people would consider that an important moral point in any discussion about who is paying "too much" for their beer.

mattmaroon 18y ago

What he neglects to mention is that the requisite cost of living for guy 10 is not any higher than for guy 1. But guy 1 pays a much higher % of his overall earnings to the government due to capital gains taxes and low estate taxes. Ask Warren Buffet what he thinks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLD0p1QpcI8&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLD0p1QpcI8&feature=relat...