Does a smile worth paying for?

Imagine companies decided one day to charge for servicing us with a smile. Press 1 if you would like this service with a smile (small charge applies). Press 2 if you don't like to be served with a smile (get a discount). Press 1 and a beautiful Colgate-smile will soon be with you. Press 2 to save money. Why do we take it for granted that people will serve us with a smile on their face?

A smile doesn't pay for services so why do we expect it from others? They say we should all pay our tax with a smile. I tried...but they wanted cash!! Now that they made me lose my naivete, I am wondering. A smile is worth nothing to the government when you give it freely. But it might be worth something to the economy.

When people are sad and depressed from losing their jobs and dreams, going around with a smile is economic viagra. The government should make my smile tax-deductible and lower my taxes. Fine, you want cash?

Press 1 to pay with a smile (discount applies). Press 2 to pay the full amount...

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trim fat for less tax

if trimming fat should always be rewarded in a recession then for every kilo an obese child loses, parents get a tax break. if weight is regained, tax rates go up again. any loss in tax revenues gets recovered from reduced health care costs. if we require principles that are easy to understand and healthy to implement, let's swap fat for tax then! :)

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How the gov can help with student debt repayment

Not all graduates whose education costs $30,000 or more a year will land high-paying jobs and fully repay the student loans fast and get out of debt. I see two ways of creating a system of debt-free graduates. The government fully repays the loan upon graduation if the starting salary is below a certain range and adjusts income tax a little higher for the individual in that income bracket. Or the government doesn't repay the loan but doesn't collect taxes either until the loan is fully repaid.

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Take year-off loans to travel

How about a new type of loan for students or workers who want to take a year off (or more) in a foreign country and work as volunteers for a cause? The loan will be repaid in work hours, not in cash. The applicant will indicate how many hours he is willing to work a day and based on the minimum wage for the country calculate the total amount of the loan for the specified duration.

The bank or other organization disperses the loan in daily installments based on whether the applicant checked for work or not that day.

This is what it might make sense for a bank to do that. Usually banks hand out lump sums to charities or non-profit organizations and save on taxes. Why not hand the money to the volunteers directly who will work for the charities? The difference is that More people will probably volunteer if they hear they can take a year-off loan to travel that they repay through work than if a charity advertises its work and asks people to join it.

It will also be good PR for the first bank that tries it as it will enable it to build brand and loyalty with young people based on an experience that was fun early on in their adult life. The bank will thus be able to sell more of its products to them in the future banking on that loyalty and brand it built early on.

http://www.thinkaloo.com