it sounds like it couldn't happen or that something was coming out of nothing.
On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 7:40 PM, Maxim Linchits <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't mean to dismiss the usefulness of the story, what's the puzzle > here exactly? > > On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 11:01 AM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: >> [from my father-in-law] >> >> The $100 bill >> >> It’s a cold day in the small Saskatchewan town of Pumphandle and >> streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and >> everybody is living on credit. >> >> A traveler comes to town and lays a $100 bill on the hotel desk saying >> he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night. >> >> As soon as he walks upstairs, the hotel 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 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 now looks to the future >> with a lot more optimism. >> >> And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a "stimulus package" works. >> >> [this last line isn't true, but I'll tell you my answer later.] >> -- >> Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your >> own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. >> _______________________________________________ >> pen-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >> > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
