It is a slow day in a damp
little Irish town. 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 town, 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 pub.
>
>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 traveler will not suspect anything.
>
>At that moment the traveler 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 town
is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism.
>
>And that is how the EU bailout package works.
Jim
