Quickie world economics lesson
Found this on another message board I participate in (for ExPats living in Italy - there IS a website for everything!), it came up in a discussion about the French rejection of the EU constitution. I juggled it around a little (and left off the stupid Enron joke at the end), but it is a cute - albeit ridiculously oversimplified - illustration of the significant cultural differences around the world - it's no wonder the EU is having such a tough time getting it together!
And, on that note, I'm doing the same. I've got leftovers to eat :)
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.
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when the cow drops dead.
FRENCH CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You go on strike 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 clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon(tm) and market them world-wide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
A BRITISH CORPORATION -- You have two cows. Both are mad.
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 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION -- You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.
A HINDU CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You worship them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the numbers.
And, finally ... AN ITALIAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.
And, on that note, I'm doing the same. I've got leftovers to eat :)
posted by Viaggiatore | 6/02/2005
1 Comments:
What no ambrosia salad? What kind of American are you? I remember that every holiday dinner when I was a child and my grandmother was still alive needed to include that awful ambrosia salad with marshmallows, canned fruit, nuts and lord knows what else went into it. Of course, I am sure some vodka must have been in it if my grandmother was making it!!!
On another note, I can not even imagine a world without peanut butter! That's nuts!!
Good to know that you have not lost your taste for champagne. Not only is Martha proud of your efforts but so is Mr. Hospitality, as I understand my blog name needs to be. Geesh, you can tell that Kellee has moved to a once Fascist country where one cannot even decide one's own BLOG nickname!
Kellee, I miss you much and hope you have a peanut butter filled day!
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