Winning, but Losing, at the Penny-Pitch: A Look at the Coming Collapse of the European Union
When I was a boy, a carnival would come through town annually, with a Ferris wheel, a merry-go-round and, of course, a midway: rows of makeshift stalls where fairgoers might win a prize by throwing a ball at weighted milk bottles, shooting a rifle at metal ducks, or pitching pennies at small glass bowls.
If you were to succeed in any of the above, the standard prize was a small stuffed bear (Although many large bears were displayed, generally, the few actual penny-pitch winners only succeeded in winning one of the smaller bears). Still, to a child’s mind, even this was cause for celebration, as you went home a winner.
I was one of the lucky ones. I actually did take home a prize on one occasion. I had been going to the fair faithfully every year and would save up my pennies for weeks in advance, so I’d have plenty to invest in bear futures on the midway.
It was only a day or two after I brought home my prize that I realised that I had spent several dollars in pennies winning a stuffed bear that probably (back then, in the 1950’s) only cost fifty cents to produce and, after I possessed it, actually had zero value to me…I had no use for a cheap stuffed bear.
So, here’s the penny-pitch progression:
- Promise of significant benefits for what seems a minimal initial investment.
- Excitement builds with continued investment.
- Elation when a prize is actually won.
- Realisation that the prize is of less actual value than anticipated.
- Realisation that the aggregate cost of the prize was so high that the money would have been better spent on something else.
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