Economics Even Politicians Can Understand

Economic Models Explained With Cows

SOCIALISM

You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM

You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM

You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.

BUREAUCRATISM

You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and
then throws the milk away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM

You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies,
and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM

You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica
lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION

You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk
of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has
dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM

You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed
company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the
bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer
so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a
Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who
sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The
annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one
more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States ,
leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION

You have two cows. You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the
roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION

You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of
an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a
clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION

You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat
once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have
lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows.

You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.

You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.

You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION

You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners
for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION

You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you
have full employment, and high bovine productivity. You arrest the
newsman who reported the real situation.

A BRITISH CORPORATION

You have two cows. Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION

Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the shit out of you and invade your
country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of
Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and
go for a few beers to celebrate.

Comments:

I can't remember my source for this article, so it will remain anonymous.

Our current economic system appears to mirror the Enron Venture Capitalism description more and more each day.

Comments