Smaller paychecks and bigger year-end bonuses would make Americans save more money, a University of Michigan economist says. F. Thomas Juster explains that on the average, Americans save only 6 percent of their annual income, regardless of interest rates or tax incentives. The Japanese save more than three times that amount.
The reason, Juster contends, is that Japanese workers receive a substantial portion of their yearly pay in a single, lump-sum bonus. ”The larger the bonus,” Juster says. ”the higher the savings rate. It doesn`t matter whether the bonus is expected or unexpected.”
To encourage savings, Juster suggests that the government give tax breaks to businesses that pay part of their workers` salaries through profit sharing. Individuals might also be encouraged to have more taxes withheld from their paychecks to increase
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the size of tax refunds, he says.
”If our refund checks were sizeable enough,” he argues, ”we might put them away for a nest egg rather than spending them quickly.”
Fridges galore
Percentage of U.S. households owning certain appliances, according to Appliance magazine: refrigerators, 99.9; automatic washers, 70; electric ranges, 62; electric dryers, 50; microwave ovens, 49; dishwashers, 47.5;
disposals, 45; gas ranges, 42.5; room air conditioners, 27; gas dryers, 16;
dehumidifiers, 11; compactors, 4.
Eureka
The old tale about the apple dropping on Isaac Newton`s head and fostering the theory of gravity is an example of serendipity. The Brain Mind Bulletin cites the work of three researchers who examined the ”happy accidents” of science and came up with some interesting findings.
Did you know, for instance, that:
— ”While studying a mouse tumor, Howard Green of Harvard Medical School discovered a way to culture skin for transplantation to burn victims.”
— ”The accidental observation that a wooden-hulled ship interfered with communications at the Naval Research Laboratory led to the development of the radar used to defend against German submarines in World War II.”
— Chromatography, a method of chemical analysis, derived from a scientist, A.J.P. Martin, noticing that coffee changed the color of ink on a napkin.
Tombstone tally
The makers of grave markers commissioned a telephone poll of 1,008 adults and found that 53 percent of those surveyed intended to purchase grave plots and tombstones for relatives or themselves. Only 12 percent wanted to be buried above-ground in a mausoleum.
