Let’s say your brother in law, Barry, comes to you for a loan. He needs a little extra money for this big idea he’s got brewing. All he needs is $4500.00 dollars.
You don’t want to just say no, and he seems convinced that this will do some good, so you look at his investment history to get an idea of his past successes.
Barry recently borrowed about $30,000.00 from you with nothing to show for it. He spent it, he can’t repay it, and you didn’t get anything out of it but another bill to pay. But hey, that’s not his fault and if you give him another $4500.00, he says it will make it all worth it.
There’s no evidence that anything he wants to do will ever end his abuse of your wallet. But if you don’t give him the money he’ll call you names in front of everyone and try to make you feel guilty. He’ll even get some of his friends–people he spent your money on last time–to join in the name calling.
So do you loan Barry the $4500.00 or do you say no?
Before you decide, add eight zeroes to every number I just gave you.
4500.00 becomes 450 billion.
30,000.00 become 3 trillion.
What do you think?
