By: banshee on Martedì 15 Luglio 2003 20:39
The Alan Greenspan School of Fixing Stuff
Imagine that you take your car in to be fixed , and the mechanic is a graduate of the Alan Greenspan School of Fixing Stuff. You have taken the car into be fixed several times before, and each time he has installed a new carburetor, but the car doesn't ever seem to get running right.
The mechanic, whose name is also Alan, says, "Yep, you need another new carburetor. A bigger one." And you say, "But a friend says that two of the pistons have disintegrated!" Alan says, "Yep, and that is why we need a new, bigger carburetor; to make the other pistons work harder and be more productive. You heard about productivity, right?"
You add, trying to be helpful, "But there seems to be an electrical fire in the ignition system, too!" Alan leans over the engine and says "Yep, there's a fire in the wiring of that back cylinder there! That'll probably soon conk out another cylinder, so you are going to need an even BIGGER carburetor to make the surviving cylinders even MORE productive!"
Trying to impress him with your automotive know-how, you volunteer that the carburetor is now so large, and so ineffective, that you are getting two miles per gallon. Alan knits his brows together, and opines "Yep. And that's why you need a bigger carburetor. That'll make the engine more productive, and you will save gas in the long run."
You, hoping to get off this productivity thing, direct Alan's attention to the fact that two of the tires are flat. ""Well, this bigger carburetor I'm going to put on your car will make your engine so productive that you can easily drive on just the rims, and that will save you the expense of buying new tires!"
In exasperation you exclaim "I can't afford any more carburetors! I have already maxed out my credit card paying for the other carburetors you've installed!"
Alan says, "No problem! I have a printing press in the back room, so I'll just print up some money so that I can loan it to you at 1% interest! And with the added productivity on your car, you will be more productive too, and then GDP will expand, and the additional income you receive will pay for the new carburetor, and the community will be much better off, too!"