Saturday, January 10, 2009

It's Early, But...

Just to let y'all know that a few of the car shows are already beginning to send in their info to be posted on the calendar. The first: The American Legion, in Naples ME. Wasn't much last year, but they seem to be doing it up right this time around, judging from the preliminary info they have sent.

Don't mind saying that those fine folks picked up a copy of our Complete Car Show Guide last fall, so I think we can look forward to a fine show in Naples this year.

As soon as info is specific and all settled, I will begin posting to the calendar. Meanwhile, if your club is getting their show info together, don't forget to let HotKarz.com know. We'll be happy to promote it.

See ya in the spring!

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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Silver Lining

The current economic conditions have hurt many. But even in a recession there is a silver lining that should not be ignored. Here are a few examples:

  • Fuel prices are way down
  • Airfares are bargain-priced
  • Vacations - there are thousands of destinations that are going for peanuts. Some cruises as low as $49 per day
  • Stocks of good, solid companies are now easily afforded by almost anyone, and bound to go up
  • Home prices are way down, for those in the market

Sure, recession hurts. But for those who can act on the bargains a recession creates, there is wealth ahead.

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Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Barstool Economics

Thought this was worth sharing....

Bar Stool Economics, simply but effectively explained !!!!

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.

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, based on what they pay, 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 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, with the poorest getting the most savings. 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

For those who understand, no further explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

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