Wall Street Minds, Wealth Redistribution And The White House
There is this story about small town in Honduras nestled on the coast of the Caribbean. With about one visitor a month, the economy wasn't boding well for the town and all its citizens, it seems, were living on credit and in debt.
A well-heeled stranger shows up in town. He proceeds to the town's restaurant hotel and lays a $100 bill on the reception desk and asks to sit down in order to dine and later be shown the rooms. The owner of the establishment takes the $100 bill and runs out to pay his debt to the produce and meat packaging supply house.
The Butcher takes the 100 dollar bill, and runs to pay his debt to the rancher. The rancher takes the hundred dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the feed supplier. The feed supplier runs off to pay his debt to the gas station for his fuel costs.
Now that the supplier of fuel has some cash, he takes the hundred dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the town prostitute that, because of hard times, gave her service on credit. The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the hundred dollar bill to the hotel proprietor in order to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.
Now that the $100 has returned to the hotel owner he lays the $100 bill back down on the counter. The stranger now filled with a delicious meal pays for it with pocket change and decides not to rent a room and takes the $100 back and leaves town.
The story behind the tale is that, since everyone in the town was in debt, just the mere circulation of money with no real wealth created in any ones pockets, allowed for bills to get paid and improved everyone's balance sheet. No one put money in the bank but progress was felt.
Now the wealthy tourist was impressed by his meal and had nice things to say about the town and it became a news story. Soon after, 8 new tourists make their way to the town hotel. The owner overcome by the bonanza of new customers wants to raise his room charges and menu prices. The butcher, rancher and feed and fuel suppliers are in the throes of raising their prices. And the prostitute needed to raise her prices in order to cover the increased room rates.
The moral of the story is that as long as everyone is proactive paying off debts, money circulates. Bailouts haven't done anything other than pay off some liabilities transferring them from one balance sheet to another. However, when real positive news emerges and "green shoots" optimism takes hold, floods of new purchases will surge and off we go to the races. Will the dollar oversupply be too much? In order to be ahead of the crowd, get your Wall Street Journal subscription today. - 23226
A well-heeled stranger shows up in town. He proceeds to the town's restaurant hotel and lays a $100 bill on the reception desk and asks to sit down in order to dine and later be shown the rooms. The owner of the establishment takes the $100 bill and runs out to pay his debt to the produce and meat packaging supply house.
The Butcher takes the 100 dollar bill, and runs to pay his debt to the rancher. The rancher takes the hundred dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the feed supplier. The feed supplier runs off to pay his debt to the gas station for his fuel costs.
Now that the supplier of fuel has some cash, he takes the hundred dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the town prostitute that, because of hard times, gave her service on credit. The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the hundred dollar bill to the hotel proprietor in order to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.
Now that the $100 has returned to the hotel owner he lays the $100 bill back down on the counter. The stranger now filled with a delicious meal pays for it with pocket change and decides not to rent a room and takes the $100 back and leaves town.
The story behind the tale is that, since everyone in the town was in debt, just the mere circulation of money with no real wealth created in any ones pockets, allowed for bills to get paid and improved everyone's balance sheet. No one put money in the bank but progress was felt.
Now the wealthy tourist was impressed by his meal and had nice things to say about the town and it became a news story. Soon after, 8 new tourists make their way to the town hotel. The owner overcome by the bonanza of new customers wants to raise his room charges and menu prices. The butcher, rancher and feed and fuel suppliers are in the throes of raising their prices. And the prostitute needed to raise her prices in order to cover the increased room rates.
The moral of the story is that as long as everyone is proactive paying off debts, money circulates. Bailouts haven't done anything other than pay off some liabilities transferring them from one balance sheet to another. However, when real positive news emerges and "green shoots" optimism takes hold, floods of new purchases will surge and off we go to the races. Will the dollar oversupply be too much? In order to be ahead of the crowd, get your Wall Street Journal subscription today. - 23226
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posted by X - Men @ 2:53 AM
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