Fifty Falling Stars

by Wesley Higginbotham

  “Sounds nice.” Mary said.

  “What you thinking about doing tonight?” JJ asked.

  “I don’t know. I gotta see what her plans are. I think she wants me to go down to the Occupy Chicago protests tomorrow night.” Clay said.

  “Be careful with that.” Mary said.

  “Why?” Clay asked with a smile. “You part of the one percent?”

  “Not even close. But things are getting pretty crazy in those Occupy places. The news coming out this week is only going to make it worse. Hopefully Chicago will be better than the fires and attacks that have kicked back up in Oakland.” Mary said.

  “I’ll be careful, Mary.” Clay said. “I should really get going. Thanks for the afternoon, Mary. We’ll be here early, ready for tomorrow.” With that, Clay pushed the rest of his pack to her and walked back into the building.

  Clay called Leesha on his way home. “Hey ,baby, what you up to?”

  “Nothing much. Just prepping some of the food stuffs for the big march tomorrow.”

  “What big march?” Clay asked.

  “You see the news today? The market is crashing again and there’s already talk of the government bailing out the banks again. We ain’t gonna let those asshole bankers get away with stealing our money again. The one percent can’t keep bleeding us like this!”

  “Easy, baby. You know I work for them ‘assholes.’ They’re paying for me to take you out tonight.” Clay said.

  “What do you mean?” Leesha asked.

  “I got the afternoon off and wanted to spend some time with my pretty girl.” Clay said.

  “Oh, sweetheart, you know I can’t tonight. I’m gonna run down to the protest area and take this food and supplies for the march. We’re gonna shut down the business district tomorrow. We’re expecting ten thousand people to march. You remember Jessie Kaminski? You met her a few weeks ago when we went down to protest. Anyway, she’s heading up the Chicago Occupy movement now, and she really needs my help getting all of this stuff prepped. We gotta get this done. We have to show these pigs that they can’t just keep abusing the ninety-nine.”

  “So, what I’m hearing,” Clay ventured, “is if I want to see you, I need to come help you get all this shit moved.”

  “That would be awesome, baby. I’m over here at the college union house. We can load up your Tahoe and get a lot of this shit down to Grant Park where we can get everything all set up. You are so sweet to help me. I’m gonna remember this after the march.” Clay liked the sound of that and headed to meet Leesha. He gave his folks a call on the way to let them know he would be late tonight.

  Clay picked up Leesha and they loaded the supplies into his SUV. He enjoyed the drive over with Leesha. She was so pretty and so passionate about what she believed. She talked the whole way about how wrong it was for the government to keep giving out money to the banks and ‘fat cats’ while they screwed her and her fellow students out of their future by not providing jobs and not caring about how she was supposed to pay off her student loans. She was excited about the President’s speech and his “courageous resolve” to keep America out of another war. Clay couldn’t help but smile at her as she talked.

  They arrived at the perimeter of the protest. The police performed a quick inspection and allowed them through to the interior to deliver the supplies. Clay got a little nervous. He had only been down here a couple of times, weeks before the protest had picked up again after winter. Leesha was excited to show him where she had been protesting, off and on, for almost a year. Things back then had been pretty tame. A few die hard protestors had camped out for months at a time, but they had been somewhat orderly. Now, as he looked around, Clay saw a lot more people than before. People crowded everywhere. This was a different place than he had visited before. Leesha directed him to a big tent in the center of the park where she said Jessie was directing all of the supplies. The setup impressed Clay. Food lines, portable bathrooms, and material lines for making signs and other protest items stretched for dozens of yards.

  Jessie caught sight of Leesha as they entered the tent. After a quick reintroduction and thanks from Jessie, several people escorted Clay back out to his SUV and unloaded it. After the supplies were distributed, Lisa caught back up with them and invited them to stay for a speech she planned to give.

  Lisa spoke about the problems in America over the past few months, especially the events of the last couple of days. The way the protestors repeated everything the speaker said unnerved Clay. “Thank you all for coming.” Lisa began. “We have a lot of work to do over the next few days and weeks. As many of you have seen, America may be going back to war. The economy is on the verge of another crash like we saw in 2008. Wall Street ‘fat cats’ are going back to the government with their hands out, again. We must stop this! We are the ninety-nine! Our voices must be heard! If they will not listen, we must make them listen! Tomorrow we will march and tell Washington and their cronies in corporate America that enough is enough! We do not want another war that will cost hundreds of American lives and billions of dollars! We demand that the government quit selling our future to big corporations! We will not tolerate the one percent stealing more and more from us, even as they send people to take our homes! We need jobs and social benefits to see us through these dark days! We paid our fair share. Where is theirs? We all have responsibilities that the government needs to help us meet. We have mortgages and student loans and healthcare cost that the government needs to help us pay or provide us with the means to pay.

  “I won’t lie to you, my friends. Tomorrow, we may see resistance from the police. They are not our enemies. They are just the tools of big corporate lobbyist trying to silence us! The cops should be on our side. We are fighting for them and their pensions as well. If they don’t understand that and try to silence you, fight back! We cannot afford to let anyone silence us! You must carry the message! You must speak out and help the cops even if they don’t want it! You must not let them silence or oppress you! We have rights! We have the right to assemble and be heard! If the establishment will not hear us, then we have a responsibility to transform that establishment into one that will! Be ready, friends. Tomorrow will be challenging, but we will prevail!” The crowd roared their approval.

  Clay felt uneasy about the protest. The protestors had become more and more adamant, but this escalated into what he felt might be dangerous. He wasn’t sure what Lisa had meant, but he thought he heard her tell the people to fight the police. That usually didn’t end well. So far the Occupy Chicago movement had been benign, but others on the west coast had erupted into small riots at times. He hoped Chicago wouldn’t follow suit.

  He checked his watch. It was getting late. He had to be in early tomorrow to help out with whatever had Mary so worried. Leesha walked him to his vehicle. “Babe, I know you re deeply committed to this thing, but please be careful.”

  “What are you talking about?” Leesha asked.

  “Lisa. Her message tonight has gotten everyone all riled up. She was basically saying that they should fight the police. Look around. People here are getting out of control. It’ll only take one incident to set them off.”

  “Clay, we are the ninety-nine. We have a right to be here and be heard! What are you trying to say? You think we’re wrong?!” Leesha asked.

  “No, no. You have a right to be here. I just want you to be careful. This place has gone from a protest to something that could turn into a full riot.”

  “So, you don’t want me here? You think I can’t fend for myself? I’m here with my brothers and sisters, and we will be heard.” She explained.

  “If I had my way?” Clay asked. “I’d keep you out of this shit tomorrow. I’ve got a bad feeling about it.”

  “Well, I’m gonna be here, in the front lines, fighting for all of us.”

  “I know that, baby. I just want you to be careful. You know I’m attached to you.” He said.

  “If you were really attached to me you’d support me.” She said.<
br />
  “You know I do but…”

  “I mean be here with me.” She said.

  “I can’t. I gotta be at work early tomorrow. Look, it’s almost eleven. I need to get going. You know I love you. I just want you to be careful tomorrow. I know better than to try to talk you out of getting into this. Please promise me that’ll you’ll be careful and leave if things start to get out of control and this turns into Oakland.” Clay pleaded.

  Leesha’s expression went from angry to something else, then to almost happy, before slipping back to anger again. Oh shit. What did I say this time? Clay thought

  “You, love me? That’s the first time you said that.”

  He thought back on what he had just said and realized it was true. He smiled down at her, her big brown eyes shining up at him. “Yeah, I guess I do. So, please just be careful tomorrow.”

  She ran into his arms and kissed him. “For you, I will. You go get some rest for your big day tomorrow.” She let go of him and started walking back to the tents.

  As Clay began to get into his SUV, Leesha called back to him. “Hey Clay!” He looked up at her. “I love you too!”

  Clay left the protest and made his way home with a big smile on his face. She was so passionate, so headstrong, and so sexy. He had gotten lucky with this one. He just wished he could shake the bad feeling he had about where the protests were headed.

  Chapter 2

  Anxiety chewed at Tom as he worried that the meeting would not go well. As liaison to the Federal Reserve, he was here to brief the Secretary of the Treasury before the emergency meeting of the Federal Reserve Board later this morning. The Dow dropped more than a thousand points yesterday, the largest selloff in history. Everyone expected Friday’s opening numbers to be down another five hundred points.

  The Secretary’s admin answered the phone, nodded, and hung up. “She’ll see you now, Tom.”

  “Thank you.” Tom said as he stood up. He straightened his yellow tie and dark blue suit before walking into the Secretary’s office,

  “Good morning, Madam Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Mr. Undersecretaries.” Great, Tom thought, the Under Secretaries for Domestic Finance and International Affairs. This will not go well at all.

  “Good morning, Tom.” The Secretary of Treasury said. “Please tell us why we are here. What’s that Fed planning to do about yesterday’s market meltdown?”

  Right to the point. Tom supposed it was best to get this out sooner rather than later. “As you know, the markets took the heaviest losses ever in a single trading session yesterday. The openings for this morning are looking a little better, only down another five hundred points.”

  “Yes.” The Secretary said. “We know this. Get to what the Fed is planning to do.”

  “They are still trying to formulate a plan, ma’am. I’m here to give you the situation. As of right now, they do not know what they are going to do.”

  “What do you mean they don’t have a plan? How could they not have a plan?” She asked.

  “Ma’am, if you would please let me explain, there are some things that you may not be aware of.” Tom pleaded.

  “Go ahead, Tom. Fill me in.”

  “As you know, the announcement by the Chinese to pull out of Eurozone bailout took the markets by surprise. That caused the big selloff yesterday. The implications for Europe are dire. Greece will definitely default within the next two weeks. We expect Italy to begin defaulting about a month after that. Spain will go after that. The chain reaction of defaults will spread to France and Germany within the next few months. Please keep in mind, this timeline is assuming relatively normal operations without panic from the public.” Tom explained.

  “What do you mean by ‘panic,’ Tom?” The Under Secretary of International Affairs asked.

  “Well, sir, we’ve all seen what has happened in Greece every time they are forced to take another austerity measure. Riots in the streets, burning buildings, general chaos. The fear is that several countries in Europe will experience rioting on a similar, if not more exaggerated, level. The Euro is on the verge of collapse. The pullout of the Chinese almost certainly means that it will. We expect Europe could see a continent-wide run on the banks. If that happens, our timeline is nothing more than a rough guess. Many feel that the defaults and collapse of the Euro and, possibly, the European Union could come within weeks instead of months.”

  “What projected impact does that have for the US?” The Under Secretary for Domestic Finance asked.

  Tom looked at the Secretary of the Treasury as he responded. “Fear of this collapse, the war between Israel and Iran, and our possible involvement in that conflict has pushed the overnight rate to quadruple since yesterday. Banks are scared to lend to each other, much less anyone else. We can expect this rate to continue to rise.

  “Madam Secretary, the credit market is shutting down. Once all of this becomes public knowledge, the panic could make it even worse. We could see the credit markets grind to a complete halt by the middle of next week.”

  “So, Tom, are we talking about another round of bailouts and quantitative easing to get us through this like we did in 2008?” She asked.

  “The Fed doesn’t know if that will be a viable option, ma’am.” Tom said.

  “What the hell do you mean they might not think that is an option? It worked last time and we got the credit flowing again. Why wouldn’t it work this time?”

  The Under Secretary of Domestic Finance answered her. “It might not work like last time because we are already starting to see velocity on the previous bailout funds we’ve released since 2008. Inflation is beginning to climb. We’ve been trying to manage it as best we can. We feel that it can be contained to the 1970’s level stagflation levels over the next five years.” He paused. “If we dump that much more currency into the system, we could lose containment and end up in a hyperinflation situation.”

  Tom picked up the story. “We may also have another problem with the quantitative easing solution, ma’am. The other big Chinese announcement this week was that they are selling off their US bonds. We have had reports that the British and Japanese are planning to follow China’s lead and drop the dollar early next week.

  “In 2008, we were able to raise much of the funds by selling additional bonds. We only monetized a little of our debt then by having the Fed buy some of those bonds. Even then, it was a tricky matter to use intermediaries to act as middle men to purchase the bonds on a secondary market and avoid panic. This time, we may not have that option. If the other countries have lost faith in the dollar, then it is highly unlikely that we will find any buyers for new bonds. That would leave us the option of the Federal Reserve buying the bonds, resulting in a direct monetization of the debt. I am of the opinion that such a situation would make the Under Secretary’s inflation predictions a gross underestimation.”

  No one spoke for several seconds, the gravity of the situation hitting home. The size of the problem overwhelmed them, the fear of such a beast sinking into their souls. The Secretary of the Treasury finally asked. “So, we can’t stop this?”

  “Not that we know of. Ma’am.” Tom said. “The Board is working like mad to find a solution for today’s meeting. Interest rates from the Fed are, and have been, as low as we can go for the past several quarters. The bailouts are an option, but are filled with danger. With the world dumping our bonds, our money becomes worth less and less. The dollar dropped over fifteen percent of its value against other currencies yesterday, with the notable exception of the Euro. Once all of this hits the public, there very well could be a run on the banks in the US. We’ve already seen some activity heading that way in the electronic money market accounts.”

  “We won’t let it get out.” The Secretary said.

  Tom chuckled to himself, not sure he had heard her correctly. “What’s so damn funny, Tom?” She snapped.

  “You can’t contain this, ma’am.” Tom said.

  “We can and will! We’ll keep in down and buy us s
ome time to deal with this. More time to find a solution is what we need.”

  Tom smiled to himself. “And if you don’t want to play ball, Tom, you can get the hell out!” She yelled. She turned to her subordinates and started barking orders. “Terry, you and Robert get in touch with presidents of all major banks and the Fed. Tell them we are going to….”

  Tom cut her off. “You don’t get it, ma’am! This is bigger than the US, than Europe, than all of us! This is already on its way out the door. It can’t be stopped, even if we tried. This isn’t just some bump, some pothole in the yellow brick road to prosperity that we can drive on through. This is a goddamned black hole that we’ve stepped into! It’s going to suck us down no matter how hard we try to carry on or try to fix this.

  “I’ve been in the financial sector, one way or another, for over thirty years. In all those years, seeing the crash in the 80’s, again in the early 2000’s, the 2008 crisis, and everything in between, all I can deduce is that the gig’s up!”

  The Secretary glared at him. Yes, he could see it now. She was afraid. Hell, he was afraid. She composed herself and asked in a cold voice, “What do you suggest we do, Tom? Make it good because they’re probably the last words you will say as an employee of the Treasury Department.”

  Tom tried to compose himself. “We need to manage the fallout as best we can….. This bomb is going to explode. We need to be prepared to handle the aftermath as much as possible.”

  “What do you think we’re looking at, Tom?” The Under Secretary of Domestic Finance asked.

  “I think this will hit, and hit fast. I don’t believe our analysts have the timing right. It’s not that they aren’t the best and brightest. They just don’t have a working model to draw from.” Tom said.

  “Sure they do.” Said the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. “Things like this have happened before. The Weimar Republic in the early 1900’s, Argentina and Russia in the 90’s, and even the US in the Great Depression. We do have models for these types of situations, and we can find a way to save this.”