Stavros the fisherman and the Nasty Greedy Bankerman

This blog is inspired by the following. Once you've read mine, go check Webeneezers out.

http://webeneezerscrooge.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/the-matrix-meets-greece-2-stock-market-update/

Meet Stavros....

Stavros is a Greek Fisherman. He is sad.
He is sad because the restaurants won't buy his fish.

They won't buy the fish, because they don't have any customers. They don't have any customers because Greece doesn't have any tourists.

So what happened to the tourists?

Once upon a time everything was good. People were good, jobs were good, it was all good. Everyone was happy.

Then one day a rich millionaire bank owner said,
"You know we are all making loads-of-money... well lets make even more loads of money!"

"How can we make even more loads of money?", said the other rich millionaire bankers.
"Well," said the first "We have banks for the little people for safe keeping, and we have banks for the big people for the casino. We dont make much on the safekeeping, but we make loads-of-money at the casino! Why don't we take the little peoples money and spend that on the casino! Then we can make LOADS-of-money!"

"Great idea!" said the other rich bank owners, all except for one. This rich bank owner didnt have any big people money, just little people money. He couldn't make all the loads-of-money. "But I dont have any big people money and I dont want to risk the little peoples money on the casino. It's naughty and we will get told off"

"So what!" the others said as they went outside and had a party.
Now the banks made loads-of-money with the little peoples money, and things were great, the people were great, and the jobs were great.

But the banks all wanted to make EVEN MORE loads-of-money so, because they had made so much money already they offered the little people even cheaper loans so they could take the little peoples money and make even more loads-of-money.


But the rich banker millionaire with only little people money said "Hey, if I don't win on the casino then the little people will lose their money and then everyone will know what we have done with the little peoples money"

"So what!" the others said as they went outside and had a party.

Then one day, the rich banker billionaire with only little people money lost.

"NOOOO!", The others said "Now we will all get found out! If we buy the little peoples debts then no one will know!", so they bought the little peoples debts.

The trouble was that he wasn't the only rich banker millionaire that had been losing. They all had been losing, and now the only ones left were the really really rich banker millionaires, and they had all the little peoples debts.


And then one day the little people found out, and they were so worried that they went to the banks and asked for their keepsake money back.

The rich banker millionaires didn't have enough, so they asked the government for money. And the government provided it through taxing the little people.

The end...

Except it wasn't the end. Thousands of "little" people lost their jobs, and then their houses. And they couldn't go on holiday anymore to Greece.

You see the little people wanted a home of their own. So they went to the bank. They're Great!

And the bank said just fill in the "we want to borrow lots of money" form, but don't put in the real figure of your income because you won't get a mortgage.

So they did, and they got the mortgage, and then the banks went bust, and then the people lost their houses, and then people stopped going on holiday to Greece, and they stopped going into restaurants, and finally the restaurants stopped buying fish from Stavros.

So the President of Greece said we dont have any tax money. But we have to pay for the police and the hospitals. Lets talk to a big bank. Lets talk to Goldman Sachs. They're great!

Goldman Sachs told them to fill in the "we want to borrow money" form, but don't put your real income down, because you wont get it.

So they did, and they got the loans, but still nobody came to restaurants to buy the fish, and Stavros got poorer and poorer.

Until one day Greece said "if you dont help us, we will be bankrupt" and everyone went NOOOOO! Because if a country like Greece goes bankrupt then a country like Spain can go bankrupt and then the UK and then the US!!!

Then the whole world will be bankrupt. All except the rich banker millionaire who has all the money in the world.

So Stavros got angry and he went to Athens and told Greece.

"Why have you done this", and Greece said

"Because the banker told me." And Stavros said,

"But he told everyone else bad advice too".

And Greece said "I know, he is a Nasty Greedy Banker Man!"

And Stavros was very angry, but he could do nothing because the rich banker millionaire with all the money in the world is very rich and very powerful and owns everything.

So Stavros marched on the banker building to complain, and on his way he was joined by Carlos from Spain, Miguel from Portugal and Paddy from Ireland, and then more people joined, and more still until everyone went to the door of the Nasty Greedy Banker Man to complain.

And the Nasty Greedy Banker Man was scared. As he should have been because he was too greedy and people are hungry.

So he decided to give all the loads-of-money to all the people waiting outside his door. He shared it equally and promised never to be so greedy again.

Stavros is happy now.

The End.

(Can you tell it's a fairytale?)