Greek way of doing business


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 tavern owner 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

Exactly what went around on email 10yrs ago about how the economy works, but with "bailout package" inserted

I posted a version of this a few weeks ago in a long thread about economics.

I certainly wasn't the first.

Someone else posted it a week ago after someone greeked it up to suit current headlines.

You've posted it again.

You won't be the last.

----

Second... that is so much like the old joke that it might be based in it???

One Hundred Dollars

It is the month of August, a resort town sits next to the shores of a lake. It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.
Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town.
He enters the only hotel, lays a $100 bill on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one.
The hotel proprietor takes the $100 bill and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the $100 bill, and runs to pay his debt to the pig raiser.
The pig raiser takes the $100 bill, and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel.
The supplier of feed and fuel takes the $100 bill and runs to pay his debt to the town's prostitute that in these hard times, gave her “services” on credit.
The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the $100 bill to the hotel proprietor to cover the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.
The hotel proprietor then lays the $100 bill back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.
At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms. He takes back his $100 bill, saying he doesn't like any of the rooms, and leaves town.
No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with great optimism.

Mark _australia said...

And besides, if you want Greek a pro is more than €100

I was told

Told by who? The pro?

None of them were in debt to start with.

They all owed $100 and were owed $100 at the start (net worth $0), and they all finished with $0.

Except the bloke looking for the room - he started with $100 and finished with $100.

I don't think that's how a bailout works. But it's a cool story, my favourite bit was the pig farmer.

Some years ago a small rural town in Spain twinned with a similar town in
Greece. The Mayor of the Greek town visited the Spanish town.
When he saw the palatial mansion belonging to the Spanish mayor he wondered
how he could afford such a house.
The Spaniard said; "You see that bridge over there?
The EU gave us a grant to build a two-lane bridge, but by building a single
lane bridge with traffic lights at either end this house could be built".

The following year the Spaniard visited the Greek town. He was simply amazed
at the Greek Mayor's house, gold taps, marble floors, it was marvellous.
When he asked how this could be afforded the Greek said; "You see that
bridge over there?"
The Spaniard replied; "No."