econ #1

 
It is a slow day in the small Saskatchewan town of Pumphandle, and the streets
are deserted.  Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody is living on
credit. 
 
A tourist visiting the area drives through town, stops at the motel, and lays a
$100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one
for the night. 
 
As soon as he walks upstairs, the motel owner grabs the bill and runs next door
to pay his debt to the butcher. 
 
The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the
pig farmer. 
 
The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the
Co-op. 
 
The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local
prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her
"services" on credit. 
 
The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner. 
 
The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveler
will not suspect anything. 
 
At that moment the traveler comes back down the stairs, states that the rooms
are not satisfactory, picks up the $100 bill and leaves. 
 
No one produced anything.  No one earned anything.  However, the whole town is
now out of debt and looks to the future with a lot more optimism. 
 
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a "Stimulus Package" works.

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