Rumours

This is in response to Sawan's blog on the Financial crisis...lemme narrate two stories that I read long time ago but seem really relavant in times like this..I dont remember the exact words but have tried to capture the gist...since they are pretty lengthy I decided to convert it into a post...here goes ...

1) Once there was a bank in a village the owner was much liked and all that...one day the owner was talking to his wife and the maid happened to overhear some bits and pieces of the conversation...the wife was a spend thrift and the man was telling her to curb her habit or he would have to declare himself bankrupt..The maid heard the words "I will have to declare myself bankrupt!"... without thinking or trying to find out the context in which these words were spoken she panicked...and told the milkman who happened to be at the back door that the bank was going to close as the owner was declaring himself bankrupt...the milkman told the baker... the baker in turn told the vegetable vendor...the vegetable vendor told the butcher... as such the news spread and all the villagers arrived at the bank to withdraw their savings...as the banks usually do not hold all their money in liquid cash... there was a shortage and people panicked and there was a perfect riot with much damage to the banks property...as noone was willing to listen to reason... the owner was left with no option but to liquidate all the holdings to pay off the villagers...thus a silly rumour led to the demise of a perfectly healthy bank...

2) The second story is set in the time of the great depression of 1929...there was small town which was reeling under the pressure of the depression...one day a stranger came to the fur trader and ordered a Mink coat...Even in todays world a mink coat is an absolute luxury...the fur trader was over the moon and began thinking finally he would be able to buy his wife the jewellery she has been wanting for a while...the fur trader went to the jeweller and placed an order for a nice piece of jewellery...the jeweller inturn wanted to buy some nice furniture and hence went to the carpenter...this set the cycle of trade in motion...soon the town was bustling with activity...it no longer resembled the place where there was depodency all around but seemed to be thriving and prosperous economy...a few days later another stranger came to the fur trader and showed him a picture and asked him whether he had seen the man in the picture...the fur trader replied in the affirmative and was naturally inquisitive and asked why he was looking for this man ... to which the stanger replied that the man in the picture was mad and had run away from the facility a few days ago...but since the madman first came to town and placed an order for the mink coat... the town had been transformed and the fur trader himself had brisk business and would not suffer if noone now came to collect the mink coat... thus the madman help pull the town out of the depression :)... hope you enjoyed reading these two short stories