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, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works!
