Free Terror on Wall Street, a Financial Metafiction Novel by Kenneth Eade, Gordon L. Eade Page A

“That’s no surprise.  I heard some of the people out there saying that they went to their banks to get out their money and the banks refused to give it to them.”
         “That’s because it’s not their money.”
         “You sound just like Harry.”
         “Once you deposit that money into your checking account, it becomes the bank’s money and you’re just another one of their creditors.  That’s why they have been going digital with money. Credit cards, debit cards, wiring money – it’s all digital.  There is no cash to cover all those transactions.”
         “And that’s why Harry told us to have at least a six-month supply of cash on hand.”
         “And to use about 10% of your investing money to buy gold.”
         “I’m beginning to see that his course was really worth the tuition.”
         “Where should I go, Ike?”
         “Just keep going, as long as traffic is flowing.  When we reach the countryside, we can get off and look for gas.”
         “It’s only a twelve hour drive.”
         “It could be longer than that.  And once we run out of gas, it’s game over.”
         Snookie and Ike crawled along the interstate, watching plumes of smoke in the distance as Chicago burned.
     
    ***
    Carlos’s plane finally took off, and Harry looked down at the burning city with sadness.  He squeezed Jennifer’s hand.
         “Look at that.  I always loved that place.  I thought it would have been climate change that killed it, not citizens burning their own city down.”
         “Climate change?”
         “Yeah.  They didn’t have a plan for that any more than they did for the economy.  Just a lot of talk.”
         “And the economy did us in first.”
         “Let’s not give up hope, Mr. Rodriguez.”  

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SIXTEEN
     
      THE PROFIT IN POLITICS
     
                 
     
    Harry wrote three words on the board in succession:
     
    1.  Problem
    2. Cause
    3. Solution
     
         “We will be joined by some experts tomorrow who will tell us what they have learned about the damage that has already been done to the average investor, insurance firms, and pension funds.”
     
         Harry paused for a moment at the board, staring ahead as though he were deep in thought.
     
         “Professor?”
     
         “Yes, Mr. Brammon?”
     
         Harry realized that he had been staring into space.
     
       “Oh, excuse me … um, before we bring the experts in, I want to hear why you think we got into this mess, who’s to blame, and how another event can be avoided. Mr. Brammon, let’s hear from you first.”
     
          “Well, professor, I think that Wall Street is responsible for the problem and that it can be solved with additional rules and regulations.”
     
         “What about you, Mr. Rodriguez?  Do you think we can blame the whole thing on Wall Street?” 
         “Well, I think the problem is much deeper than you suggest. For years your country has been, little by little, destroying those elements of your economic system that had made it successful. In a free market system, funds flow to places where the highest returns are available.  This automatic system assures that goods and services are provided at the highest quality at the lowest prices. When you start tinkering with how resources are used, you run the risk that you introduce inefficiencies.”
         “So you agree with Mr. Brammon that the government is to blame, not because it didn’t regulate enough, but because it regulated too much.”
        “The government and the central banks that control the money supply are all to blame.  In a capitalistic system, returns on investments are allocated according to the risks involved, and the higher the risk, the higher the monetary reward. In my country – Mexico – our economic system does not work this way and so our people are not so