[Peace-discuss] The Greek Bailout

[Laurie Solomon]

Subject: The Greek Bailout



A little lesson in basic economics. The beauty and wonder of cash “flow”…

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 prostitute 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 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 village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism.

And that, folks, is how the Greek bailout  package works.







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