Antigone
Elite member
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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 €100.00 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs, thinking he could stay the night.
The owner gives him the 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 to the supplier of feed and fuel.
The man at the Farmers' C0-0p takes the €100 note and pays his drinks account at the local taverna.
The tavern owner slips the money 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 prostitute then rushes to the hotel owner and pays off her room bill with the €100 note.
The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter. At that moment the traveller comes back down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are unsatisfactory, 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 bailout packages work.......
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 €100.00 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs, thinking he could stay the night.
The owner gives him the 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 to the supplier of feed and fuel.
The man at the Farmers' C0-0p takes the €100 note and pays his drinks account at the local taverna.
The tavern owner slips the money 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 prostitute then rushes to the hotel owner and pays off her room bill with the €100 note.
The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter. At that moment the traveller comes back down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are unsatisfactory, 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 bailout packages work.......