18 § DGC Magazine June 2009 Issue

haT

The

ell

aPPened

By Clre Wle

once again reprting frm the near future ...

Tt WTf expre  wt i'll lwy remember. frt,lt d lwy, t' te e e mpre  my vtt te uted stte.T be mre plte i'll cll t tt "wt te ell ppeed"lk. Eter wy, y kw wt i'm tlk bt. it'te td-yrd tre   exted lder, ttbmcked dmy   dlecet by w' leredtt te pre dl   ert  ctlly te cl lt,te ted ck   mewer w' jt peeder prperty tx emet d dcvered tt tetxcrt me e lve   plce.Tt' w amerc lk  tey cpe wt te dly

madness of hyperination.

-----Te u.s. w my me ce. Bt w i lve  gld ild,

that marvelous manmade oating edice dedicated to

te prec metl trde. utl or Eteemed Edtr Mrk herpel twted my rm, i d't bee bck t te

U.S. in ve years and didn't have any intention of going.

nt ever . Bt Mrk d met bt wt

a story about the human side of hyperination. And then

e d met bt  re. ad ll expee pd.ad  de trp t te Crbbe terwrd.

So I nally said well okay. Maybe. And Mark said,

"icld  tel  te bec d  me every

day by a 25-year-old stud mufn." And with the prospect

 tt rewrd, i w wll, ce , t ce my pr ld meld.i tld freed -- k Mr. B t te sppe & a, tegld ild ver emprm were i ell ld, lver,d pltm d-dd t trt -- tt tere'd bee det  te mly. ad i eded r hmetw, usa.i  wy tt "det  te mly" le w tre. i

Pt

http://www.ickr.com/photos/sunsetsailor/2311783613/

20 § DGC Magazine June 2009 Issue

amec e m extee m, te e  ct  tee' bee  te. rt m te mmeti e t hmetw itet apt, i tcett k. it' te k  meb w' beebete bt 't et ctempte te pee evee. Te k  meb w jt eewt te c tt e met we e , "Ttme." Te k  meb w t t be (bt 't qte e t ), "hw c te vebee  tp --  w c i?"st,   't ppe t beve te tece,  te peece   w t  pce 

soldiers on the streets, at rst everything seems

m. amt. Te pt p bte  --

those that survived the crash and deation before the

 wet pe. dve w m te pt te W-Mt  ce te eem t be 

a land-ofce business, too -- in between the boarded

p cmpte ee, c t, e bk, me-mpvemet te.ye, amec e pe , jt  te ptc pe we te tte te "tmpm"  "qtttve e."We, te'e t pe  qte te w te ppe. i ct, wt te'e   t t et  me  t  te c.Te e w pcke me p eee t tp t  W-

Mart on the way home. That's when I got my rst look

t te e wee. We t tee t beete twce- pce jtmet. ye, twce , jt

like the Germans did during the 1923 ination in theWeimar Republic; only then -- irony of ironies -- thenancially whipped Germans were measuring their

detcmk t  tbe u.s. .

Some shelves were brim full; others empty. But

ctme (w k exct ke te vemetw tt  tem --  wm  ct-kecme) wee tc wt te c c t te ceckt t. le wee . fcetwte wt xet  ee. a te cck pet w tw te 1:00 p.m. wtc , te ttck be ppe wt ep bket bet et p. lte p. at e ceckt,v epte t t, t t v,v t -p  ctc kck. Cp --t vee ect , bt e ct cp nt g e -- bke t p  e temcet w. Bt te c met tt b tt e me t t te c ete bee tepce wet p.1:00 p.m. Te te b t te t  te tetcke me ve w te   ve  tte-- ,  t -- me t te sw fc, te E, teKeej,  ,. Te ete tmtc eeteve pce  te te pw. Ctme wme te 1:00 p.m. mk e, mbe, te  e.Wt ee c te ? i te wte te t b wt te eee, te b  pt te pe t mt ct te tme me  te m.M e r  i wee m te w 'tmke t. Bt e w ppc. "i've ee we,"e e. Bee, e' m te ck w et p twce  . a e   t t ve   c, pce  . he c bt pp  be.a,  t t t, e.sttee  tt e te w. f tt,

Americans can thank the government's attempt to xprices of "essential goods" at less inationary levels.Licensed, "ofcial" businesses selling fuel, bread,

mece,  te "mt"  e ete wet t  be, wet e,  pt p wt te te   t    ppe ve.o, bt  c t et ,   kw w. o te e teet   te empt pk t, jtwtc  te mke tke tck  te pckpwt te b ptc tk  te be. P  t--  bette et,  ve ce --  'e et mke t te 300 me.Bt tk bt m' mt t m! hee'met tt ppee we i w  te tte.a eke t bem ce t te mett e w  t cmmt ce  t  teCpt  scmet, C, t  cet  tme  ptet ve  pce  vemetbtce. Te me we p. s  te m --

toting a gallon of gasoline to set himself on re with.

s  cp. Te e te m  t  kwte.a t  pepe ce te TV   ttte tt, we wt ppee. n, t wtppee t te tt m. Te wte tkw wt ppee t te pec   !1-----

DGC Magazine June 2009 Issue § 21

it' . ate te c  2009-2010, pepe be

saving again for the rst time in decades. They savedthrough the following deation (much to the despair

 ecmt, w cme tt  e t pe

was causing the deation). Even when ination began

ceep t be t -- 10%, 12%, 17%, eve 25%--   we pepe kept  v, ecmz, ec cmpt. Te wee ce, ct. i be ct t mc, te te ce. i ew c wet t ec, te bt e. Te e-ee gm' mxm bt  t p, we tem t,mk ,   wtt.

But when ination headed for the 30% mark, they nallygured it out: It wasn't just this price or that one rising.

Evet w  p. Bece me -- cte me te'  ce et e    -- w  w. Tt' we te be t pe,pe, pe. Te pet ke ke  w've w tte tcket   te teet. Tew pe   tee w  tmw.Te w c pe, tt . nt eveb' be.Tt' te t  tce. Be  teteet. Te'e evewee, eve  te cet  eb. o ' ee e me  wme -t-, t k  t, bt  wk  , jt  me  bck  g'  te ft get depe.Tee e te ee  't tce  e: p pepe t p  te e wt te t  et bece te c't  c xe  me.We te ee vemet e t bet t keeppme t me t c ect ecpet (tepme be  pme e b e t teee cet  me), pet  te e: te

poorest poor who had nothing in the rst place, the

wk p we we 't keep p wt pce

increases, the old men whose private pensions rst gotclobbered by Wall Street and then by the Big Ination.

a   .B te tme te ee vemet ct t 

to conscating private pensions ("for the duration of the

emeec"), te wee't wt  m, w.lt nvembe, 87 ptet e   tte-pctc pt bece tee w  me  , et,  mece.2 Te ew me bmecpt  ee memet. Te tt w tt,b te tme te me cte t te pt ctme t w t te   te ew ecteme w  te  t, te pt' etebet w't e t b  btte  p.Bme, bme, bme, bme, bme! it' te  ttee' pet . ae m te u spect  "ee beme"  "cpt memet"we w bme te "e" (we ppet 

conscated as soon as they're discovered, creating

te c  be). a  ce, we bme teab, te Cee, te Epe, te pect,  t eveb except te t epbe te pbem.y kw w i'm tk bt, 't ?y tt t w b  2009 we te u.s. ee

government was nancing 50 percent of its operations

t bw  me-pt? Tt wt. Evet,  5 pecet ... te 1 pecet,

then merely some innitely small percentage ... of U.S.

vemet pet wee e t  m "e" me,  t tt eve me  petee  be  ct . Te et ... jt ptte e-e t- te,  ete meze t cct tem.3st,  w't be pe t e tt tee ce pepe e e  we  t me. oe  bckmket pect, bt p k  expeecete. Te'e mk  mt --  ttcvet t t e . (ye, we pp e

with those honest businessmen on Gold Island; better

t e wt vemet.) ate cce t

of the hyperination is purveyors of pleasure. Anybody

w e , w  b,    e  epte   we, bece eveb w  me et ve jt wt t pe  et, pe et.Te t c ppe  te c  pepe w ette cme ect m te ee vemet. stte c vemet empee  ctct ee  wt te ew ctze (  ce).Bt  've t  ppee t te ev, 'e k. hee e me pepe w e pp,  t

least getting along better than the rest: federal jailers;contractors building detention camps; executivesrunning the nationalized auto companies and banks;soldiers; lobbyists; Washington, D.C. lawyers; federalbureaucrats; and of course, politicians. After all,

ptc ve t "ve  m te emeec ceb ee," 't te? s t'   bet teet t eett te'e we-e  pp.o e, tee'  t c tt e mk t kete bt -- t te c t be.