[extropy-chat] [SALT] The DEpopulation Problem, this Friday (for forwarding)

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Brian Lee <brian_a_lee at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >From: Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com>
> >To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> >Subject: Re: Re: [extropy-chat] [SALT] The DEpopulation Problem,this
> Friday 
> >(for forwarding)
> >Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 13:48:45 -0700 (PDT)
> >
> >--- Brian Lee <brian_a_lee at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > >From: Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com>
> >
> >How do you argue that? The deduction comes off the front end of
> income.
> >The more you earn, the less that deduction is worth because it is a
> >decreasing percentage of your income. Ergo, if you are in a higher
> tax
> >bracket, any given deduction is worth less UNLESS it happens to drop
> >you into a lower bracket.
> 
> No, any deductions come off your highest percentage first. Tax
> brackets work 
> by taxing a certain percentage of your income. For example the
> federal 
> brackets were (for a single person) in 2001 were:
> Between  But Not Over  Base Tax  + Rate  Of the Amount Over
> $0 $6,000 $0 10% $0
> $6000 $26,250 $600 15% $6,000
> $26,250 $63,550 $3,637.50 27% $26,250
> $63,550 $132,600 $13,708.50 30% $63,550
> $132,600 $288,350 $34,423.50 35% $132,600
> $288,350 - - - - - $88,936.00 38.6% $288,350
> 
> So if someone makes 300k and gets a $3000 deduction it is worth 38.6%
> of $3000 or $1158.
> But if someone makes 35000, then the $3000 deduction is worth only
> 27% of $3000 or $810.

Your logical problem here is that $810 is a much greater percentage of
$35k than $1158 is of $300k, and both numbers are significantly less
than the cost of raising each child. If your cost per child is $5k,
that $5k is also a much greater percentage of $35k than of $300k. Since
the $35k guy gets only $810 off his $5k cost of raising his kid, and
the $300k guy gets $1158 off that $5k cost, the richer guy can afford
not only more kids, but can afford to spend more money on each kid.


=====
Mike Lorrey
Chairman, Free Town Land Development
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                         -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism


	
		
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