Let's say you own a grocery store

[austin78704]

And let's say there are just two days in the week. We'll call them Today and Tomorrow.

Today, you're gonna have 100 families come to your store and shop. All 100 have enough budget to buy what they came for--they might comparison shop some, but a family that comes in for milk leaves with milk.

Tomorrow, you're gonna have just one customer. He's a bachelor, and he has exactly as much money as those 100 families of today.

Which day of the week will move more groceries off your shelves?

Which day of the week will employ more people?

Which day of the week will keep the truck drivers busy?

Which day of the week will the farmers be more interested in?

Which day of the week will have more "trickle down" throughout the economy?

The rich aren't necessarily the enemy, but the idea that an economy with a solid middle class and an economy without are interchangeable is stupid. It's not a point of contention, or a matter of opinion--it's stupid.

[Toucano]

1. Is this a veiled assault on rich Bachelors?

LOL!

You point is very good with one exception: The rich are the enemy.

[aikoaiko]

2. I agree! No milk for rich bachelors!!!!!

;)

[ChairmanAgnostic]

36. Mother's milk

Sliced lemons, limes oranges, I kilo sugar, three liters grain alcohol, pen liter heavy cream or milk.
Combine all, and if you want one stick cinnamon and two cloves. Seal tightly, set in dark closet for two weeks.

Strain all matter out of hunky fluid mix. Then using coffee filters, strain liquid into decanter or pretty bottles.

This is mohair's milk. Smells heavenly, tastes better, and has a kick of a freshly castrated horse. Sip c a r e f u l l y. And ignite no flame in the vicinity.

[Cleita]

3. I know what you are saying.

You are saying that 1,000 people with ten dollars in their pocket will spend most of that money. One rich person with the same amount of money in their pocket probably won't. It disproves the whole trickle down theory, so why aren't the conservatives doing their math?

[BeFree]

4. Good point

A simple economic lesson about the distribution of wealth. I like it.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

7. but it leaves out questions

like why should an income from investments be taxed at a lower rate then income from working ?
Where are all the jobs from the Bush tax cuts?
The only thing that save the early Bush years was the housing boom feeding the middle class with refinance money.
and remember the economic collapse ? wast just 2 years ago .

[BeFree]

13. Good questions

The guy who works his ass off often pays more in taxes than someone who has inherited millions and sits on his ass all day. That ain't right.

[TheMadMonk]

44. Because in part at least, they are living off those tax breaks.

Have you noticed how fast the money evaporates when businesses go belly up? So much of today's wealth exists only as marks on peices of paper and electronic records.

Actual tangible assets as a rule make up only a small proportion of a rich individual's wealth.

And the same goes for the renumeration of the rich. Only a small proportion of it comes in the form of spendable cash. The rest is in intangibles that while tradeable, are very difficult to cash at face value. Strangely enough, the tax office demands that it be paid in cash or MATERIAL equivalent, not shares and CDOs. With the way the entire financial system is structured right now, higher taxes would leave the rich with all their paper riches, but very little cash to spend. Much like what happened with the British aristocracy, with their entailed unsellable estates.

Now that is not to oppose higher taxation of the wealthy. In fact I think that they should go back up as quickly as possible. Either the wealthy unwind some of that paper wealth voluntarily, or force the system to crash so something better might rise from the ashes.

[Fire1]

5. Good analogy. n/t

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

6. are you pitching for more failed trickle down or gentrification ?

[austin78704]

12. What?

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

15. not buying your over simplified justification of voodoo economics

[tblue37]

16. He is *attacking* trickle down theory, *not* justifying it! nt

[austin78704]

17. Makes me wonder

How much of the back-and-forth around here is due entirely to poor reading?

[TheWraith]

20. I would have a lot to say about your lack of reading comprehension...

...but most of it would probably get my post deleted by the mods.

[blondeatlast]

22. Got "missed the point entirely"?

:wow:

[Lorien]

24. ***Whooosh****

[blondeatlast]

21. Reading comprehension epic fail. Wow. nt

[rucky]

8. K&R and permission to use it on my dumbass friends.

[DIKB]

39. Ditto.

[TexasObserver]

9. Most economic analogies attempted here are dismal failures, but yours is accurate.

[rustydog]

10. I disagree, the rich as a group are the enemy

They have congress's attention and backbone firmly intrenched in their wallets and call the shots.
A diminished middle class and an exploded poor workforce would be the ultra-rich's dream come true.

The first thing the GOP will do if they re take congress...Do not let the Bush tax cuts on the top 2% expire...THE FIRST thing they will do!

I haven't bumped into Bill Gates at Safeway yet, or Walton, or George Bush, or :insert Milionaires name here:

That doesn't mean they don't shop at my store. I just kinda doube it. Since I don't buy cars or boats costing over 80,000.00 dollars, homes that cost over a million, vacation at various exclusive spots around the world, I do not think the middle class affects their economy at all. But they do affect ours.

[KamaAina]

30. Remember when Poopy Bush didn't know what a scanner was?

It had been that long since he'd set foot in a grocery store. :eyes:

[UpInArms]

35. he also did not know the price of a gallon of milk

totally clueless and had no connection to reality.

as are all of those people who never actually have to worry about paying the bills and grocery shopping for the food for a family.

[rustydog]

11. I disagree, the rich as a group are the enemy

They have congress's attention and backbone firmly intrenched in their wallets and call the shots.
A diminished middle class and an exploded poor workforce would be the ultra-rich's dream come true.

The first thing the GOP will do if they re take congress...Do not let the Bush tax cuts on the top 2% expire...THE FIRST thing they will do!

I haven't bumped into Bill Gates at Safeway yet, or Walton, or George Bush, or :insert Milionaires name here:

That doesn't mean they don't shop at my store. I just kinda doube it. Since I don't buy cars or boats costing over 80,000.00 dollars, homes that cost over a million, vacation at various exclusive spots around the world, I do not think the middle class affects their economy at all. But they do affect ours.

[Swede]

14. Can we sell beer?

You make a good point.

[flvegan]

18. Economics fail.

100 customers one day, and only one the next? At a grocery? Short a natural disaster, the supply/demand basis of this doesn't work. Your point is good, I'll give you that. The analogy is poor.

I'm going to rec this on the point alone, again because I think it's a very good one.

[Canuckistanian]

19. That's actually a clever analogy

Affluent customers are still only SINGLE customers - they can only consume so much per day in terms of commodities.

And it's commodities that keep an economy going. NOT yacht factories or golf clubs or even Mercedes dealerships.

I like it.

[Lorien]

25. Similar to the one I always use for overpopulation

Which is very simple; If you have ten rats in a locked barn and there are five sacks of grain the rats will survive all winter. If you have 10,000 rats in a locked barn with five sacks of grain they will eat the grain, then attack one another. The few that survive the violence will likely starve to death before the next harvest allows for more sacks of grain. When you boil a situation down to it's simplest elements it's easier for most people to wrap their brain around it.

[krispos42]

23. Exactly

I told my uncle something like this; he didn't get it. I asked him how many houses would be bought by 10 families making $100,000 a year vs. 1 family making $1,000,000 a year. How many cars, sofas, microwaves, clothes, etc.




I don't think he got it.

[RB TexLa]

26. You are using a product with an inelastic demand. If my income triples I am not going

to eat three times as much food.

[Kablooie]

27. Depends how fat the bachelor is.

[shireen]

28. excellent analogy.

Simple. Concise. Logical. Yet so many of our national leaders don't get it!

[myrna minx]

29. K&R n/t

[ceile]

31. K&R

[SidDithers]

32. Does the rich bachelor spend as much as the 100 families?...nt

Sid

[veganlush]

33. K&R!!!!!!!!

BURN THE MILK OF THE RICH BACHELORS!!!

[defendandprotect]

34. Agree -- heartily -- and info that's long recognized . . ..

and wealthy withdraw quickly from economy --

and the RICH stuff stocked for them sits on the shelves --

And -- wealthy like sales as much as anyone else, btw!

[bergie321]

37. Here is how I think about it

The middle class could survive without the rich.

The rich could not survive without the middle class.

[Redstone]

38. And your point is...?

Redstone

[femrap]

40. Great example....

maybe a tea bagger could understand it.

[SlipperySlope]

41. Let's say you own a yacht store

And let's say there are just two days in the week. We'll call them Today and Tomorrow.

Today, you're gonna have 100 families come to your store and shop. None of the 100 have enough money to buy a yacht.

Tomorrow, you're gonna have just one customer. He's a bachelor, and he has exactly as much money as those 100 families of today. He has enough money to buy a yacht.

Which day of the week will move more yachts off your lot?

Which day of the week will employ more people?

Which day of the week will keep the yacht delivery drivers busy?

Which day of the week will the boat builders be more interested in?

Which day of the week will have more "trickle down" throughout the economy?


The key difference I see between the two stores; the 100 families *have* to buy food. The bachelor doesn't *have* to buy a yacht.

[Ignis]

42. K&R and a belated welcome to DU.

Please post more often. :D

[UrbScotty]

43. Missed being able to rec it by 5 minutes!

Maybe a kick will suffice? :-)