I was thinking recently about the number of days in the year that seem to have some special fundraiser attached to them.
Daffodil Day (Cancer)
Hard Hat Day (Niall Mellon Township Trust)
Sandwich Day (Africa)
Volunteering Day (Volunteering)
Car Free Day (Alternative Transport)
Earth Day (The Environment)
There are even whole weeks blocked off
Game Playing Week (Dyslexia)
Bike Week (Cycling)
Science Week (Science)
You get the picture, I could go on…and on.
In thinking about all these special days and weeks, I wondered to myself whether it might be
time to create a fund raiser to tackle the next huge crisis that’s sweeping Ireland. Negative Equity.
What I’m think here is National House Week with the funds raised going to people who find themselves in negative equity. Like Daffodil Day and Hard Hat Day and the rest you buy a little trinket to show you support the cause. I’m thinking a pyramid pin or a monopoly house.
The twist is that unlike those other fundraisers, you immediately turn around and sell the trinket to someone else for a profit. This buying and selling continues for the duration of National House Week. Who knows how much these trinkets will change hands for, or how much wealth can be created in that one week of feverish buying and selling.
Of course at the end of National House Week all trading will come to a complete halt. Those left with pyramid pins at the end of the week will not be able to sell them. They won’t have any way of getting their money back. That’s the risk of National House Week.
On the bright side the trinkets can be worn, so they have a utility value.
I don’t know if it would raise much money, but after 4 or 5 years of running it, people might get their heads around what a speculative bubble really is.
