Free The Dismal Science by Peter Mountford

don’t hear from you by then, it’s a go. Is that okay?” he was barking especially firmly, evidence of the degree of his concern. There would be an initial short piece, he said, which would be followed by a feature, and maybe more, depending on how his editor responded.
    Vincenzo stopped rummaging through his things for a minute. He’d already filled one and a half plastic bags with garbage. He drew a deep breath. Exhaled slowly. “This is thestart of something good for me, I think.” He walked over to the window. “It’s—” he shrugged. He leaned forward. Standing there, he could almost hear the crowd below. With his face right next to the glass he could almost see them, but not quite.

5
    SCANDAL
    The following morning Vincenzo—who had slept more or less normally, surprisingly enough—donned his mustard corduroy slacks, a too-large Redskins hooded sweatshirt he’d been given years ago but hadn’t yet worn, his camel hair greatcoat, his gardening loafers, and his daughter’s white crocheted skullcap to protect his bald dome, and then, looking like a homeless man who’d had his way with a Neiman Marcus freight container, stomped off in search of a Washington Post . In Los Angeles, in Chicago, such an outfit would be merely eccentric, but in straitlaced DC he looked genuinely insane, a fugitive from reality. Still, amazingly, disappointingly, the man behind the counter at the Brookville Market didn’t appear to be surprised. The man was black, young, plainly fed up with the cheerful white suburbanites who traipsed to and fro, fragrant with exotic perfumes, within the shop. But this was Vincenzo’s moment, the first evidence of his undoing, such as it was, and he wouldn’t have minded a little recognition from theclerk. It wasn’t to be. Instead, he was just an oddity, some well-off old guy with a madman’s fashion sense.
    On his way home he stopped, despite the lacerating wind, and set the newspaper down on the hood of someone’s Jeep. He hadn’t seen the article on the front page, so he checked inside, feeling both mildly panicked and relieved that it might not have been published at all. But then, on page three, he saw a small picture of his face beside the large headline: WORLD BANK VP QUESTIONS U.S. ROLE . The article was prominently displayed. It encompassed almost the entire right column.
    He read:
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  WASHINGTON — A veteran economist and vice president of the World Bank abruptly resigned yesterday, offering an unusually frank critique of the United States’ influence on World Bank policies.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Vincenzo D’Orsi, who had been with the Bank for twenty-four years, indicated that he’d witnessed a long-standing pattern of diplomatic pressure from the United States toward senior members of Bank management. “This pressure comes in regarding issues that are not related in any way to World Bank programs, but are rooted in political disagreements,” D’Orsi said.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Specifically, D’Orsi cited an incident that occurred yesterday, when he said the United States’ chief representative at the Bank, William Hamilton, attempted to pressure D’Orsi into reducing Bolivian aid if Evo Morales, a Bolivian presidential candidate who opposes U.S. influence in the region, is elected in next month’s presidential election. “Aidprograms are not intended to be awarded or withdrawn based on the outcome of an election,” D’Orsi stated.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Reached at his office yesterday, Hamilton declined to comment. The World Bank’s director of communications, Vera Gallash, stated that she had no knowledge of any disagreement between D’Orsi and Hamilton and had