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10/04/10 --- Prices for things like food, medical services, and education have risen significantly in recent years. What follows is a fictional look at a future where severe inflation has hit every sector of the U.S. economy...
Edward was reading a copy of the "New York Times" he found in an abandoned car. The newspaper had finally acknowledged what was causing prices to increase so rapidly. As massive spending on the military and skyrocketing healthcare costs created more and more debt, foreign sources of credit dried up. Though there were some meager attempts to raise taxes and decrease spending, the nation's gridlocked political system left the federal government with no alternative but to print massive quantities of dollar bills.
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As inflation soared, larger and larger bill denominations were introduced. The fifty dollar bill in Ed's pocket was just enough to buy a gallon of milk and a small box of cereal. He had recently received a pay raise to $34/hour, but he was quickly running out of money. His telephone service had been shut off, and the landlord was warning of eviction if he didn't pay the last two months worth of rent ($8200). Nonetheless, he was lucky to have any source of income, considering that even the official unemployment rate was up to eighteen percent.
Edward picked up his raincoat and left the mobile home, carefully checking that all the doors and windows were locked. The walk to the bank he worked at was about a mile long, and he would be late upon waiting any longer. Passing a convenience store along the way, Ed thought he'd drop in for a quick snack, but he was astounded to see that even the cost of a chocolate bar had risen to eight dollars! Leaving the store, he noticed a rusty sign reading "Marlboro $9.99/pack", lying next to a trash can. That must have been a long time ago...
Ed reached the bank only to see a new sign reading "Withdrawals Limited". Asking the bank manager Greg what this signified, he was informed that customers could deposit as much as they liked, but were prohibited from withdrawing more than $75 per day. Apparently a shortage of paper money had developed, and he was to assure customers that the government would resolve it before long. Meanwhile, he had a hard time not thinking about how the limit would complicate paying his own bills. Maybe he could try using an ATM at another bank, if those were still working.
Just before noon, a particularly irate customer demanded $250 from his account, yelling "I know you have it". The teller declined his request, but the man drew a handgun. He pointed it across the counter, shouting "I need that money now!" Ed hurriedly counted the money out and the man left with it shoved in his pocket. Greg walked in from his office. Feeling quite shaken, Edward said "I hope we don't get any more like that." The manager nodded and started to telephone the police.
"What do we call this?", he asked Edward, "It's not really a robbery - the money came out of his account..." Ed thought about it for a moment, suggesting "disorderly conduct, perhaps?" Edward sat down and started eating lunch while the manager called the police. A co-worker, Heather, switched on the radio. A news report stated that violent protests had occurred in several cities due to high food prices and unemployment. On the bright side, a new five-million-dollar bill denomination was available.
The manager told Edward and Heather they could leave early, as the bank had all but run out of funds. Ed started on his walk home, through a town full of boarded-up buildings and deteriorating roads. Dogs snarled at him from a delapidated shack. Crows perched on the roof of the long-defunct shoe factory. Homeless people sat on benches. Ed began to think about how the country had reach such a state. He had heard people blame the situation on a hundred different individuals and entities...
Then it occurred to him: greed. The politicians, the military contractors, the hospital administrators, the college presidents, the CEOs (and so on), they all couldn't be satisfied without huge salaries that never stopped growing. The rich couldn't bear to pay even a few more percent in taxes, no matter how many millions or billions they possessed. Businessmen sent the manufacturing jobs to foreign countries with the lowest wages. The mortgage industry collapsed by trying to achieve unlimited growth, giving practically anyone a loan - with or without a downpayment.
At least he was sure about something, it was all because of greed. Another thought sadly occurred to him as he unlocked the door to his mobile home. The greediest were still living well. He had heard on the radio that the country had its first half-trillionaire, and the Senate recently gained an automatic pay raise to $1.5 million. One of the few things that never seemed to change...
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