(A jolly little piece which is currently doing the rounds on the Internet)
It is a slow day in a little Greek Village. The rain is
beating down and the streets are deserted.
Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives
on credit.
On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving
through the village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk,
telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick
one to spend the night.
The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor
has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay
his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to
repay his debt to the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his
bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.
The guy at the Farmers' Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to
pay his drinks bill at the taverna.
The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute
drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer
him "services" on credit.
The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room
bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note.
The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the
counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up
the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.
No one produced anything.
No one earned anything.
However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to
the future with a lot more optimism.
And that is how the bailout package works!