FINANCIAL TIMES

You've read the papers about the Irish Bailout Package. ?


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 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 town 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.