It’s a slow day in a little East Texas town. The sun 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 tourist from back east is driving through town. He stops at the motel, and lays a $100 bill on the desk, saying he wants to inspect the rooms, in order to pick one in which to spend the night. As the man walks up the stairs, the hotel owner grabs the note, and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to settle his debt with the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his feed and fuel supplier at the Farmers’ Coop. The guy at the Co Op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has been facing hard times, and has had to offer her services on credit. The hooker rushes with the note , to pay off her room bill at the hotel. The hotel owner then places the $100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller does not suspect anything.
The traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the $100 bill, saying the rooms are not up to his needs, pockets the money, and leaves town. No one produced anything.
No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now out of debt, and can look to the future with a lot more optimism. And that is how governments are running the world today.
