Everyone, other than the tourist, did essentially get $100 of their debt removed. In one sense, that was a benefit to the town. Unfortunately, the tourist had no say whatsoever about his money being "used" to assist this town with it's financial woes.
Relates very much to the stimulus passed by the American government last year with total disregard for the feelings, opinions, etc. we had about "our money" being used in such a way.
By the end of this story, everyone in the town "felt" better, but nothing was actually "made" better.