Stimulus Package

This was sent to me by a friend who is a better economist than I am!

 Governments of all level are always talking about and promoting “Stimulus Packages”. Most people do not know how a “stimulus package” works, so outlined below is a good example.

 

It is a slow 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 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 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.