______________________
The bad economic news in the wake of the new
tariffs
remind me of an old Russian tale:
Two grumpy farmers walk through a forest.
A frog migration gets into their path. One farmer
says to the other:
"I'll pay you five Kopecks if you swallow one of these frogs."
So the other fellow bends over and swallows a
frog, five Kopecks change hands.
A few minutes later the initial swallower of the
frog
retaliates towards the other fellow by saying:
"Now I'll pay you
five Kopecks if you swallow one of these frogs!"
no sooner said then done.
One more frog gets swallowed and the five Kopecks
return to their former owner.
This little tragedy repeats itself back and forth
until they both are sick to their stomachs.
Both looking a bit green in the face as they walk,
the original instigator has the original five
Kopecks back in his pocket; when he asks amidst burping: "Why did we eat those frogs?!"
______________________