1 Less Tank Per Day Debunked

Day 1,440, 15:58 • Published in USA USA • by Gnilraps


Department of Rectification
Day 1,440 of the New World
30 October 2011
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The claim was made, recently, that Americans earning market wages will be one tank poorer per day because of the new tax plan. The claim is that after a ~10% increase (from 15% to 25😵 in income tax, a 2% decrease in VAT, and a 5% decrease in import tax, that when all is said and done, those working for a regular market wage will have purchased one fewer tank each day.

In a recent interview, I called this claim "BS", by which I meant Bull Sh*t. I was referring to that claim as one of many lies being told about the new tax program.

In the comments section of that interview I myself was called a liar, presumably over this issue. I would like to present the following figures as evidence that "One Less Tank Per Day" is, in fact, total BS, by which I mean Bull Sh*t.



The increase in Income tax from 15% to 25% using an average wage of around $155 USD took an extra $16 USD out of a daily wage. The decrease of 2% in VAT would reduce taxes paid on an average-priced tank by $0.6 USD per tank. The reduction of Import tax by 5% is harder to measure but increased competition almost always leads to reduced prices - especially in eRepublik. So perhaps tanks are costing another $1 USD less than they would have under the older less competitive Import tax. A conservative estimate would perhaps be $0.5 cheaper. In reality, this figure will fluctuate as world markets fluctuate and importers will tend to sell their products in whatever market is offering them the best hope of profit.

Tanks generally cost $6 per food fight while food generally costs $3 per food fight, so if a self-supplying player is spending 2/3 of his income on tanks, that is approximately $94 (of income from working) spent on tanks per day. That is about 3-ish tanks. 2/3 of the $16 difference in taxes paid is $10.56 from which we deduct at least $1.8 ($0.6x3) for the lowered VAT plus however much you want to attribute to the lowered Import tax. So at MOST a player is able to spend $8.7 less minus however much less the importers are driving down prices. Using an estimate of $0.5 per tank lower price due to importers, that makes $7.2 less spending money for tanks per day. Again, at $30 per tank that amounts to perhaps 1 fewer tank per 4 days or less than 2 fewer tanks per week. Even without accounting for the reduced prices due to increased competition, at $10.56 less spent per day on tanks, that is still just over 2 tanks per week fewer. But we are not done yet.

Many players are producing and selling their production and earning NON TAXED income that way. EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR that gets spent on a tank that is earned from a non-wage source is stretched by at least $0.6 per tank plus whatever additional price decrease the importers are driving.

Keeping in mind that a tank is good for 5 fights, and using reasonably conservative figures, if a player is purchasing 10 tanks per day (if a player is fighting 50 clicks per day with tanks), and that player is spending 2/3 of his income on tanks and paying for the remaining 7 tanks from income gained through self-produced goods sold at market, that player has broken even under the new tax plan.



It was also floated in the comments thread of that interview article that "Today an average American worker earned less by the price of 1.27 tank than the day before the hikes were proposed."

This figure can only defended if every other market variable is ignored completely. The fact that region bonuses have decreased and a 30% Gold Sale has been introduced makes any comparison of today's market to the market of 9 days ago complicated at least. It is totally disingenuous to compare today's market with a 9 day old market and suggest that a single factor can explain every difference. Oversimplified assertions like "One Less Tank Per Day" or "1.27 fewer tanks per day" ought to raise eyebrows. Economics are not that simple.



I have not lied about this tax plan. The truth is, using an average wage of $155 (wages tend to fluctuate from around $140 to around $170, back and forth) for anyone fighting more than 88 times per day, I can absolutely assert that this new tax plan affords them MORE spending power on tanks than the previous tax plan. (This assertion is based on 2/3 of wage-earned income being spent on tanks and DOES NOT EVEN FACTOR IN ANY COMPETITIVE PRICE DECREASE FROM THE LOWERED IMPORT TAX.)



Furthermore, this assessment has not yet taken into account that the food side of the equation moves the break-even point even lower on the fights-per-day scale. Because the VAT tax on food was decreased by 5% (as opposed to the 2% decrease in weapons VAT), the actual number of fights-per-day at which the new tax plan actually financially benefits the wage-earning Citizen is somewhere lower.

Because it is impossible to evaluate exactly how much the added Import competition has reduced the market prices of food and weapons, it is impossible to assert hard numbers of exactly how far below 88 fights per day a wage-earning Citizen has to fight in order to benefit from the tax plan.

However it is a safe assertion that the more you fight, the more you will benefit from the new tax plan.

Fighting is certainly optional in this game. The new tax plan is hardest on those who choose not to fight for their country.

I am in favor of a tax plan like that.



I appreciate anyone who took the time to sort their way through this unusually text-heavy article from 16 Shells.




16 Shells endorses:
The Book of Jude the undead hippie.
Voice of America
Non-dip-shit kooguys' kooguy's fire
Chae Dee Business
Meet the Press
Poor Man's Blanket
The National Broadcast System
Department of Defense Orders
The WHPR
eNPR
The Treasure Map
Allied War Report
and getting your butt into a military unit.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled clicking