How the Greek bailout package works

[CJ]

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.

 

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works