Three contractors
are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House; one from New Jersey ,
another from Tennessee
and the third, from Florida .
They follow a White
House official to examine the fence.
The Florida contractor takes out
a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil.
"Well", he says, "I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400
for my crew and $100 profit for me."
The Tennessee
contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, "I can do this job
for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me."
The
New Jersey
contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the White House
official and whispers, "$2,700."
The official,
incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you
come up with such a high figure?"
The New
Jersey contractor whispers back, "$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we
hire the guy from Tennessee to fix
the fence."
"Done!", responds the government
official.
And
that friends, is how it all works
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