Mummy, how does the EU bailout package work?

It  is a slow day in a dusty little Greek town near Thessaloniki . The sun 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 called Angela Merkle' is driving through  the town, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling  the hotel owner she wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one  to spend the night.

The owner  gives her 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  slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has  also been facing hard times and has had to offer him "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 traveller  will not suspect anything.

At that moment  the German traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, 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 looking to the future with a lot more optimism.

That is how  the EU bailout package works!