Who's Getting More?

RAY: Here's the answer. Let's say that Tommy starts off at a 100 bucks a week. If he gets a 10 percent raise he'll be making 11/10ths of what he makes now, which is $110 a week.

TOM: That was last year.

RAY: Right. When he gets his pay cut of 10 percent he'll be making 9/10ths of what he's making this year which is 9/10ths of 110 bucks, which is 99 bucks a week.

I start off at the same 100 bucks and I get cut by 10 percent, so what did I make, last year?

TOM: Ninety bucks last year.

RAY: Right. And then I get a raise of 10 percent.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: So I'm making 11/10ths of 90 bucks, which is, are you ready for this?

TOM AND RAY: 99 bucks!

TOM: So we ended up a buck short of what we had started with two years ago. And NPR saves two bucks a week. They're probably telling us, "Hey guys, you're right back where you were!"

RAY: Better read the fine print.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]