The British Economy for Dummies

A friend sent me this note that explains, in plain English, how we are running our economy:

It is the middle of June and raining.

The little British beach town is deserted as it’s tough times.

Everybody is in debt and everybody lives on credit.

Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town.

He enters the only hotel, lays a £50 note on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one.

The hotel proprietor takes the £50 note and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the £50 note, and runs to pay his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the £50 note, and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel.

The supplier of feed and fuel takes the £50 note and runs to pay his debt to the town's prostitute who, in these hard times, gave her "services" on credit.

The prostitute runs to the hotel and pays off her debt with the £50 note to the hotel proprietor, to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.

The hotel proprietor then lays the £50 note back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.

After a short while, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms and takes his £50 note, saying that he did not like any of the rooms, and leaves town.

No one earned anything but the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the British economy operates today.

(Hattip to Will)