Fiscal Bailout

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

It is a slow day in a damp little Irish town. The rain is beating down harshly, and all 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 room-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 rushes 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 animal feed and fuel.

The guy at the Farmers' Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the friendly neighbourhood pub. The pub owner slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar - who, in spite of facing hard times, has always gladly offered him her ‘services’ on credit.

The hooker then rushes over to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note.

The hotel proprietor quietly replaces the €100 note back on the counter, so that the rich traveller will not suspect anything.

At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, states that none of the rooms are satisfactory, picks up the €100 note, pockets it and leaves town.

...No one has produced anything. No one has earned anything. However, the whole town is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism.

And that, dear ladies and gentlemen, is how a basic financial bailout package works !

  Edited October 11, 2011 by A Nonny Moose  

[Blueball 20]

lol. funny, but so true and this is how it works.

Bb

[Ocram's Razr 963]

That traveller could have stayed and boosted the local economy further.

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Wait, what?

Very funny article, Moose

[emperordaniel 1,281]

Interesting... I agree with OcramSeattle

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

You see how simple it is. You just have to make sure that the recipients don't misdirect the money by giving themselves unconscionable bonuses out of it instead of paying off debt. One of the main tenets of bail-outs is transparency and accountability with theft avoidance.

You'll notice that none of the money involved went to anything but existing debt. No salaries were paid and none of the money was distrained in any way.

  Edited October 11, 2011 by A Nonny Moose  

[Duke87 1,070]

Oh if only it were that simple...

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Oh if only it were that simple...

It's never that simple because bailing out a national debt does nothing for the private debtors in the country. Besides, some of the bailout money will go not to debt but to private agendas and Swiss bank accounts. Honesty and forthrightness are not usual attributes of top politicians.

[airman15 4,111]

Imagine if every economic system followed this philosophy.. I think we as an entire world would be much more prosperous.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Imagine if every economic system followed this philosophy.. I think we as an entire world would be much more prosperous.

It would eliminate private debt. The banks would go broke. That would look good on a lot of them.

Another point is credit cards: I remember when the only one in the world that anyone with enough income could get was the American Express purple card. It was hard to get, and you needed a minimum income of $8,000 p.a. I got mine when I went to work for a computer manufacturer at that rate. The point about the original AMEX card was that it was really a cash card. You had to pay the full balance every month, so it was just a convenience. The replacement is the debit card on your bank.

Balance (and interest) carrying cards like Master Card and Visa are the curse of our civilization. Easy credit is killing our civilization.

  Edited October 14, 2011 by A Nonny Moose  

[Ocram's Razr 963]

I use a Key Bank Debit MasterCard. My account balance makes it gold.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I use a Key Bank Debit MasterCard. My account balance makes it gold.

And at what interest rate are they ripping you off?

[Easy Bakes 253]

I use a Key Bank Debit MasterCard. My account balance makes it gold.

And at what interest rate are they ripping you off?

Debit cards dont charge interest.when you use it, its a direct charge to your checking account,like writing a check.

Fees are another matter.I dont think most charge you a fee if you are buying something

with your debit card,but getting cash from an ATM there is usually a fee unless its at the issuing

bank.

+ your regular monthly fees the bank charges you on the account.though in OS's case a large account balances

usually gets those fees waived and sometimes a pittance of interest.

I'm sure every one has seen the capitol one ads were thier touting thier new checking accounts are paying 5x the interest over national average. does it make a difference when the national average is .125%?

what a scam,they get you coming and going.

  Edited October 15, 2011 by Easy Bakes  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

My understanding is that if one of the trade-marked companies is on your debit card, you get hit with a fee. My bank card costs me nothing except the transaction fee which is waived because I am a senior. If I was not a senior all transactions, including deposits, are charged at a rate of 0.40 per transaction. You can get other snazzier accounts that have a monthly fee that covers all transactions if you are a heavy user. I have less than 10 transactions a month, and pay cash for small things.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

50¢ fee on debit, gas, and convenience stores.

[Meg 368]

I never understood the appeal of debit cards. It's giving each store direct access to your bank account and the bank is charging a fee for each transaction. Why not use either a credit card or cash?

[Meg 368]

I never understood the appeal of debit cards. It's giving each store direct access to your bank account and the bank is charging a fee for each transaction. Why not use either a credit card or cash?

[Ocram's Razr 963]

I don't get charged fees. I only charge where it is convenient but without fees.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I never understood the appeal of debit cards. It's giving each store direct access to your bank account and the bank is charging a fee for each transaction. Why not use either a credit card or cash?

The access is indirect. The bank card doesn't reveal your account number, nor the domicile of your account. It is just a transaction over the secure Interac network. The merchant gets hit with a fee, but I don't think it is as much as the credit card seniorages.