Sunday, May 15, 2011

Hawaladar

The return of inflation had been very good to Albert Finney. A newly-retired hedge-fund principal, he had latched on to resource stocks. He had also taken positions in the now-huge commodity carry trade. The central bankers had indeed scotched the demon deflation, but at the cost of reviving the Beelzebub of inflation. The year that Albert decided to retire early, 2020, saw official inflation hit 14%. Unofficial inflation was much higher.

Contrary to what his still-active colleages thought, he had not retired because he had burned out. He did so because he was worried about the economy burning out. The inflation juggernaut was unstoppable, even with legislative sterilization remedies; Albert knew well that in the long run, the currency would all be dead. Resolving to do something about it, he found himself joining a conspiracy of goldbugs determined to save as much of the economy as they could.

In doing so, he would place a heavy adult responsibility of his teenage son Neil and his distant relative Dylan. How heavy, both would find out...

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