wiegie Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it! The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him. In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers; "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each. "The villagers rounded up with all their savings and bought all the monkeys. Then they never saw the man nor his assistant, only monkeys everywhere! Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works. OK, so I really don't think that this is how the stock market works, but I do think it has a worthwhile moral anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 ChimPonzie Scheme? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 I think h8tank told a very minor variation on that story to illustrate how welfare works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 ChimPonzie Scheme? OK it took me a second to get it, but that really is quite clever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Dance, Monkeys, Dance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 OK, so I really don't think that this is how the stock market works, but I do think it has a worthwhile moral anyway. Kinda like Holland and the tulip bulb deal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donutrun Jellies Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Kinda like Holland and the tulip bulb deal... They dooooo have a lot of tulips in Holland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 They dooooo have a lot of tulips in Holland. I was talking out the time (back in the 1500's, IIRC) people were paying the price of a house for a single tulip bulb, on the theory it was likely to cost two houses tomorrow. Wiegie should know about this - it's popular among economists. I got it from a book - something about the madness of crowds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted October 20, 2008 Author Share Posted October 20, 2008 Wiegie should know about this - it's popular among economists. yep more bubbles here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sh...al/bubbles.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 I tought you were going to link to this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 yep more bubbles here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sh...al/bubbles.html Everyone go to wiegie's link and read "The roaring '20's bubble". I double-dog dare ya... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackass Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 I was talking out the time (back in the 1500's, IIRC) people were paying the price of a house for a single tulip bulb, on the theory it was likely to cost two houses tomorrow. Wiegie should know about this - it's popular among economists. I got it from a book - something about the madness of crowds. I hear if you smoke tulips you can get a serious buzz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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