I don’t know where it originated, but my my cousin in Scotland sent me this economics analysis. I must have laughed for 20 minutes…then I started to cry. Now all I can do is pray.
Her story is based in Greece but maybe we can all relate.
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.
January 4, 2012 at 7:13 pm
Thats funny!!
January 12, 2012 at 8:59 pm
Hmm… this might just work to help America’s current economic slump! The Treasury Department could print an extra batch of money and let each family temporarily use it to pay off all debts. Once that “special” money found its way through every family in America, we would all be debt free! How much “special” money would need to be printed? According to http://www.usdebtclock.org/ the average family debt in America is $683,000. With over 2.5 trillion dollars of currency in circulation, this additional influx of $683,000 of bogus currency would have virtually zero impact — except that we would all be debt free!
January 12, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Okay Wayne. You have our vote. 🙂
January 13, 2012 at 8:02 am
That essentially what the stimulus plan and obamacare are–printing money. I call this generation embezzlement. There’s no way our generation will ever pay back this mind-boggling debt. And future generations will get suffocated between higher taxes and the burden of caring for an aging America. Either Obama and his kind will continue to print money which will result in staggering double-digit inflation and an ever-lowering standard of living, or we’ll all be speaking Chinese. We’ve got to stop the bleeding in 2012.
January 13, 2012 at 9:03 am
You are absolutely right on every point, Larry! Any ideas how to stop the downward spiral? (I’m serious.) By the way, I am delighted to connect with another cousin, and look forward to reading your blog.
January 13, 2012 at 9:30 am
Of course my comment was tongue-in-cheek sarcasm (I should have put a smiley face at the end). Obviously, paying off debt with more credit is going to catch up with someone eventually, like the hotel owner. Most of us know there is only one real and lasting solution to this downward spiral of greed and that solution is not political. It’s a change in the human heart to start living life God’s way. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s likely to happen on a large scale this side of eternity.
January 13, 2012 at 10:59 am
Wayne, I know you well enough to know your comment was made with tongue firm planted in cheek. And “amen and amen” to your point that the only ultimate solution is Christ. Meanwhile, I think America has got to adopt a balanced budget amendment. We have to live within our means, just like every person, family, city, and state has to do. And that means the government has got to curb its appetite for tax and spend. George Will wrote an excellent column this week relating to that, which I share:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/government-the-redistributionist-behemoth/2012/01/05/gIQAFqqpfP_story.html
January 13, 2012 at 10:31 am
I know it was tongue-in-cheek, Wayne. The funny thing is, I did put a smily face when I said we’d vote for you (also tongue-in-cheek to some extent since you’re not running for office) but I’m not tongue-in-cheek when I say I’d vote for, and am seriously praying for a candidate who would honor God and the principles on which our country was founded.
January 5, 2018 at 9:02 am
Reblogged this on Paladini Potpie and commented:
I came across this post that I wrote almost exactly six years ago. The economy seems to be much better than it was back in 2012, but it was still fun to reread about these financial gymnastics. Enjoy!