On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 21:31:08 -0700, F. Alfredo Rego <hp3000-L-
[log in to unmask]> wrote:


>How does the conclusion (in particular, "The last two eat 49.6%")
>follow from Brian's initial axioms?

It doesn't follow from Brian's initial axiom. Essentially his example
divides the population in tenths and tells you what they pay in taxes. But
it only address what they pay not what they have to begin with.

I saw these example in another list. So I pulled down the US government
stats on wealth distribution, which only gave percentages of wealth of each
20% of the population. That's why I had to split the example each 2
persons. 20% of the people with the highest incomes, earn 49.6% of the
income. The bottom 20% of population earns 3.6% of the income. I think this
is 2002 or 2001 stats.

My numbers don't derive from Brian's, but his popular metaphore only gives
half a picture, what you pay, so I added in the other missing half, what
you had to begin with. The metaphore is flawed in that implies everyone
eats the same, or is at least silent on the issue.

If you look at the numbers closely, the wealthier are still paying more as
a percentage of worth than the less well off, but picture is not as slanted
as it was.

Jerry Finn.

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