A Stimulus Story

Southpaw · June 5th, 2009, 03:03 AM

ain't it simple?

Quote:

A Stimulus Story

It is the month of August, on the shores of the Black Sea, 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
Euro note on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one.

The hotel proprietor takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the
butcher.

The Butcher takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the pig grower.

The pig grower takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel.

The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 Euro note 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 Euro note to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.

The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 Euro note 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, and
takes his 100 Euro note, after saying that he did not 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 a lot of optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government is doing business today.

Duckjake · June 7th, 2009, 01:18 PM

Isn't that how we've always done business?

I take $100 from my parents and give the baker $100 for bread. The baker pays the flour mill $100 for more flour. The mill spends $100 on repairs to their mill. The mechanic gives the $100 to Sears for tools. Sears pays me $100 for working there and I slip the money back in Dad's wallet.

The difference as Conrad continually points out is that each of the people in the example would owe interest and/or taxes on the $100. And so there wouldn't be any $100 Euro to give back to the rich tourist.

jefftheshark · June 7th, 2009, 01:30 PM

No, because in America, the prostitute ran off to Vegas with the money and gambled it away.

Meanwhile the rich tourist came back to discover the money missing, converted it into a loan for all involved, then foreclosed on the notes and now owns the whole damn town.

JTS

Duckjake · June 7th, 2009, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefftheshark

No, because in America, the prostitute ran off to Vegas with the money and gambled it away.

Meanwhile the rich tourist came back to discover the money missing, converted it into a loan for all involved, then foreclosed on the notes and now owns the whole damn town.

JTS

Wouldn't the Government of the country the town was in bail out the citizens first and they'd own the whole town?

jefftheshark · June 7th, 2009, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duckjake

Wouldn't the Government of the country the town was in bail out the citizens first and they'd own the whole town?

Nope.

Only the rich are being bailed out.

The citizens are being told that they are being bailed out in order to keep them from revolting.

But if anything, the citizens are undergoing a forcible transference of their wealth, while the government is merely the facilitator to the transfer.

JTS

Duckjake · June 7th, 2009, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefftheshark

Nope.

Only the rich are being bailed out.

The citizens are being told that they are being bailed out in order to keep them from revolting.

But if anything, the citizens are undergoing a forcible transference of their wealth, while the government is merely the facilitator to the transfer.

JTS

Sounds like business as usual. Various Governments have combined to take over half my income every year for the last decade at least.