Now I understand.
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, he 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, who has also been facing hard times, slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has had to offer him her '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 traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that none of the rooms are satisfactory, pockets the money and leaves town.
No one produced anything! No one earned anything! However every one is now happy and debt free!
AND THAT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS HOW THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM WORKS.
