"It's a slow day in a little east Texas town. The sun is beating down, the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.
On this particular day, a rich tourist from the East Coast is driving through town. He stops at the motel and lays a US$100 bill on the desk, saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.
As soon as the man walks upstairs, the 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 at the supplier of feed and fuel. The guy at the farmers' 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 to the hotel owner. The hotel proprietor then places the $100 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 bill, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.
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 governments are conducting business today."
