Currency War

by Lawrence B. Lindsey

  “Not exactly. But you’re getting the idea.”

  “So it’s not enough that I feel betrayed by you and by my country, I now have to betray someone else. Not exactly a close friend, but certainly a professional colleague. In case you didn’t know, the way the world economy sticks together is that central bankers don’t betray one another. We may argue, but we don’t set the other guy up, ever. How can your colleagues trust you in a future crisis when you have a reputation for doing things like that to your colleagues?”

  “I know, my dear. We will do it in a way without your fingerprints.”

  “Just my grunts and cries of pleasure.”

  “Ouch. Glad you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”

  “You’re confusing sarcasm with humor,” Ben said. “When exactly were you going to tell me this? Tonight in bed? Oh no, I forgot, the whole world would know then.”

  “I’m telling you now.”

  Ben began to shout, something he rarely did. “So now you’ve moved from not telling me anything to telling me on a walk far from our home that no one gets to hear. And for good measure, it was a walk I set up so that we could have a private conversation about us!”

  Bernadette put a hand on each of his shoulders. “Ben, calm down. Look at me. I was told to use you as someone to talk to and not involve you when I dropped news to the microphone. I could have done that. I didn’t do that. It would be, as you said, treating you like an escort.

  “And you’re right. This is shitty. The whole thing is shitty. Statecraft is shitty. It’s a shitty business. But it is what it is. And you said it yourself, they play for real. There is a difference between the two sides in this struggle, not as much a one as we might hope, but there is a difference. Here, if you’re on the losing side you get to write your memoirs. There, you’re lucky to live and luckier if they let your family live.

  “You know in China, a family is billed for the bullet that the State puts through their loved one’s head? We aren’t perfect, but we sure are better than the alternative. This is a battle we have to win.”

  “So why do I have to put a colleague’s life on the line? Is it because we are just enough better than they are that I should be grateful for being given the opportunity?”

  “You’re right again. Forget it. I never said it. I will call Lopez right now and tell him to get those god-damned bugs out of the house this instant. We won’t have that conversation and Li will never be set up, or at least not set up by you and me. We’ll let someone else do it.

  “Only then you and I won’t have any control of the situation. So if it is Li who ends up on the losing side and if he comes to us, it won’t be you and me who have any leverage on how to deal with him. It’ll be someone else. Because it was they who did the hard part and planted the seed of doubt that led to the whole thing.”

  “God, you’re good.”

  Bernadette smiled. “I’m the fucking best there is.”

  “All right. Let’s hear the whole sales pitch now that I’ve been snagged. Tell me more about this so-called leverage we might earn. So far I have exactly none. Maybe it’s my ego, but I really don’t like being a helpless pawn. Especially when the ones actually moving me around the board are about to make a play that ruins my professional reputation. Exactly what kind of deal are you suggesting?”

  “I’m not in a position to make a deal. That’s what you money guys do. Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You are the one with the conscience here. I’m just an operative, a pawn to use your phrase, and I always have been.”

  “ ‘Operator’ would be a much better word,” Ben said. “Think about the strings you are able to pull. The one thing you are not is the suburban housewife who writes novels to ease the boredom. I can’t think of a one who has the CIA Director sending a car to fetch you and the First Lady treating you as her new best friend.”

  Bernadette felt her face redden. Ben was right. She had been trained to serve. Duty, honor, king, country. All her life. She really had viewed herself as a pawn, just like one of the characters in her novels. True, a James Bond could bend the rules at the edges. But M always had a firm hand on the leash. It was strange to think of herself as off the leash. But she was. And Ben had let her slip the knot.

  “Okay,” she said. “I will go to Lopez. For that matter, to Cynthia if it comes to that. The deal will be that if Li gets into any trouble, we will grant him and his family asylum. Kind of overdoing it by the standards of my profession, but you’re right. It’s time that we give ourselves a little responsibility for trying to clean up the mess we helped make.”

  “And when do we get those god-damned mics removed from the house?”

  “The plan was for Monday, when we are at work.”

  “What is this?” Ben said. “Some kind of union deal where the Agency folks can’t work on weekends? Or do you have to pay them time and a half and somehow the black budget doesn’t cover those kinds of expenses?”

  “The one thing we can’t have is the other side thinking that we knew their mics were there, so they have to do it when we are not home. Waiting until Monday gives us more leverage because we can agree to send a couple more messages in the meantime.”

  “I’ll give you one,” said Ben. “One more message, and it’d better be good.”

  “Fair enough,” Bernadette said.

  “When?”

  “The ideal time is when Washington power couples, of which we are one, have their quality time together. During the Sunday morning talk shows.”

  “And what are you going to say?”

  She thought about this. It was a little too long for Ben’s taste.

  “Well?”

  “You’re going to have to trust me on this,” she said.

  “Depends. What’s the plant?”

  “It’s not in the what,” said Bernadette, “it’s in the how. We’re in bed. There’s foreplay. Then I stop and say, ‘What’s wrong, it’s like you’re not here.’ And you say something like, ‘Those damn Chinese, I wish to hell I knew what they were going to do next.’ Only you can make it sound more convincing than that.

  “Then I’ll say, ‘It’s all right. We’ll get that for you soon enough. We have a mole.’ You go, ‘A military insider isn’t going to do me any good.’ And I say, ‘The mole isn’t in the military.’ You say, ‘Baby, you’re brilliant,’ and we slowly start fooling around again.”

  “Do I have to say you’re brilliant?”

  “Yes. And after that you damn well better ravage me because I want to give all those fucking voyeurs a memorable parting send-off. Something that will have them chattering long after they can no longer listen.”

  “And then we get rid of those god-damned bugs?”

  “Then we get rid of those god-damned bugs.”

  Ben smiled and looked deep into her eyes. “All right,” he said. Then he took her in his arms. “I love you, and more importantly in this moment, I trust you.”

  “I love you too, Ben Coleman. And I trust you too.”

  * * *

  Monday evening found Ben and Bernadette flipping between Fox, One America News, CNN, and MSNBC.

  “Did you notice,” said Bernadette, “that Fox and CNN ran the same lead story about Enough Is Enough and how their campaign might lead to protests? How often does that happen?”

  Ben replied, “Once in a blue moon. But in the electronic age even blue moons can be manufactured.”

  “This one certainly was,” Bernadette said. “It’s only been forty-eight hours since the start of their ad campaign and now talk is everywhere about people hitting the streets. The NSA told us Enough Is Enough mobilized more than a dozen single-issue groups to follow up with their own social media releases and website videos. It’s like their plan from the beginning was to start the picketing after the issue had been primed by national cable buys.”

  “Those media buys gave the channels incentive to carry stories supporting what those who bought the time were saying,” Ben said. “In a way, it’s t
heater.”

  “Our guys up on the Hill told us that the effect was immediate,” Bernadette said. “By tomorrow afternoon nervous nellies in Congress will be on the floor to demand that the president do something. You can almost smell the jet fumes as they catch the red-eyes back from their home districts.”

  “Whoever put this together is smart,” Bernadette said. “I hear it is two media guys from losing presidential campaigns, one from each side of the aisle. It’s hard to get used to how important entrepreneurship is here. Back home the BBC calls the shots, and the papers are too proud to be bought off so easily in what they cover. Here it’s like the news is for sale.”

  “Wait until Sunday,” said Ben. “Thursday’s the day for final decisions about who will appear on the Sunday talk shows. Senators with strong anti-China positions are aiming to put themselves at the top of the list. The more memorable—or outrageous—the floor speech, the more likely they are to make the cut.”

  “It’s like they’re getting free advertising,” Bernadette said.

  “The most valuable kind,” said Ben. “Voters back home are tuned in and all of a state’s media take a cue when one of their own is on. Editorial coverage back home creates an echo chamber.” He paused to watch the screen, then added, “I don’t mean to be too cynical, but for a senator, the real advantage is national coverage. They needed the exposure. There’s a saying in Washington, ‘The most dangerous place in town to stand is between Chuck Schumer and a bank of television cameras.’ ”

  Bernadette laughed.

  “See, most senators view themselves as future presidents and every member of the House looks at himself in the mirror and sees a potential senator.”

  “Ambition, I get,” said Bernadette, “and politicians are the same everywhere. But here it’s all about building name recognition in the public at large. In a parliamentary system like Britain’s, your audience is your fellow politicians. They expect you to be wise and thoughtful and not to have a toothy grin and get coverage by being outrageous.”

  They flipped to CNN. It was a report on conditions in China and one could tell, even with the sound off, that it was a negative report as Beijing’s smog was the backdrop. More than half the pedestrians were wearing surgical masks. Some person in a mask was interviewed and the English translation was a complaint about conditions. Then the reporter turned to his unnamed sources and talked about the latest round of protests.

  “Let’s try MSNBC.”

  The screen went to stock footage of port facilities filled with piles of container boxes ready to be loaded onto ships. Then it flashed to numbers detailing China’s trade surplus and its impact on American jobs. Next were people standing in unemployment lines. They returned to their Washington newsroom and their waiting anchor.

  Next they went to Fox. On the screen was a suburban Walmart.

  “That’s the one in Falls Church!” said Bernadette.

  “It is, I’m sure. Do you think these guys travel far? The reason all the scenes are in New York, Washington, or Los Angeles is because that’s where are all the reporters are.”

  The Walmart segment was predictable, foreshadowing the picketing at big box stores that sold goods labeled “Made in China” and employees unhappy about having to report to work in spite of potential protesters.

  Ben shook his head. “They always leave out how those goods were cheaper and that the greatest part of that savings was passed on to consumers, particularly with basic goods. It once took a median income worker about seventeen minutes of work to buy a package of men’s underwear back in 1960. Now it takes less than three minutes.”

  Bernadette grinned at him. “Only you would know a fact like that.”

  Next up was The Home Depot headquarters outside Atlanta. To make up for a lack of comment from the business’s higher ups, Fox cut to a bearded man in his late forties with a bookshelf brimming with academic journals. A caption associated him with a local school of business as he discussed how the chain bought nearly a quarter of its merchandise, except for wood products, from China. “But the money made on those products make up about a third of its total profits,” he said.

  Bernadette sat up. “I thought Fox was supposed to be conservative and pro-business. That was a double whammy. They implied Home Depot is dependent on China and uses cut-rate prices to gouge consumers.”

  “Well, we know where the polls are going,” Ben said. “The President is going to have to become more hawkish at some point.”

  “That takes care of the instructions Lopez is going to give at the next team meeting,” Bernadette said. She sat up and patted her husband on the knee. “Forgive me, my darling, but I’ve got to turn in for the night. I have a suspicion the First Lady is going to be on the phone tomorrow. I’m getting a headache just thinking about it.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  BEN KNEW EXACTLY WHAT PEGGY’S first words would be as he walked into his office. With the bugs gone there had been a blissful week of peace on the home front along with the usual celebration when the making up was done. But peace at home meant trouble among his colleagues and the week’s worth of silence was too good to be true. Something had to give, and Ben figured it was to happen within the next forty-eight hours.

  “Mr. Chairman, Governor Li asks that you call him as soon as possible.” It took no more than a nod from Ben to set Peggy’s fingers flying on the secure phone.

  Ben settled into his chair and put on the speaker phone, waiting for the call to be connected. When his Chinese counterpart uttered a greeting, he was ready.

  “Governor Li,” he said. “It is an honor to hear from you this morning.”

  “Mr. Chairman, it is always a pleasure,” Li said. “And very good for the world that we are still on speaking terms. I hope that can continue.”

  Ben caught the double entendre in Li’s comment. Conflict between the two countries meant relations were strained. The conflict that Bernadette had planted within the upper ranks of the Chinese government also meant that Li might not be around too long.

  “I am sure that it can for many years. The current unpleasantness is sure to pass.” Ben knew that was a lie. In fact, he was planning how to bring the Chinese to their knees and force them to stop destabilizing the American financial markets. More importantly, Li knew it as well. And given the tone in Li’s voice, Ben was sure that others were listening. Worse, he had just done something that likely would shorten Li’s tenure and maybe even his life.

  Li said, “I certainly hope you are correct. But these are interesting times.”

  “The old Chinese curse,” Ben said. “ ‘May you live in interesting times.’ ”

  “I am glad we understand each other,” Li said. “In the interest of further good relations, I was wondering if we could meet in London this coming weekend. I know the FOMC is meeting next week, but a private side conversation between us might indeed prove useful in addressing some of the differences we have. I have spoken to Governor Adams at the Bank of England and he would love to host a meeting that might ease tensions.”

  Private side conversation meant that Li was being listened to on his end. Ben’s secure phone was only secure up to the point of Li’s office. So Chinese state security was indeed listening. The rest of the conversation was going to be in code.

  Ben proceeded with caution. “I always enjoy getting together with you and this would normally be a difficult time, but I am going to have to check my schedule. I might be able to juggle things. I assume that this is a matter of some urgency?” Thinking, Okay, Li, the ball is now in your court.

  It was a delaying tactic and both men knew it. Li’s comment left many questions unanswered about the true purpose of the conversation. Ben was not naïve enough to believe that Li was speaking out of a heartfelt desire for better relations. If he was being put up to it by others in the government, the Chinese were almost certainly hoping both to gather intelligence and attempt to confuse the American side with separate messages.

  But Li mig
ht not have been put up to it and was acting freelance. Maybe the agency was right about Li turning and becoming a source. Ben doubted that. Li was always a forceful advocate for China, if not always for a system that had created a real mess for its economy. Then there was Bernadette’s view that Li would approach him for a personal favor, at which point Ben would know he had won. Or worse, that Li’s enemies such as General Deng had won, at least in the internal Chinese battles over policy. So many possibilities. Ben was intrigued and decided to be a little more forward leaning.

  “This is a very perilous time, Mr. Chairman,” Li said. “The word urgent is a fair one. Perhaps the always fascinating and charming Mrs. Coleman could join us.”

  That was an unexpected twist. Why would Li want Bernadette there? Was he trying to send a message to CIA as well? “I am sure she would love it, and we both would love the chance to get away. It is a great suggestion. But of course, I am going to have to check with her. She is so very busy these days.”

  “Is she writing another novel?” Li said. “Perhaps you could remind her that London makes a great setting for any kind of spy novel. So many things happen there. And besides, authors have more flexibility in their schedules than we government officials do.”

  Ben almost fell off his chair. Li may as well as called Bernadette the Red Ninja. Even calling her an author had been part of the same coded message. It was a clear reference to her not-so-secret background at MI6. Sure sounds like he wants CIA in on it. Ben decided to make sure. “Will Mrs. Li be accompanying you to Europe? I am sure the ladies would love to do some shopping while we chatted.”

  “No. Sadly, Baozhai must remain at home to look after our daughter. She really has no opportunity for travel when I am out of the country.”

  Ben recalled that Li’s daughter was old enough to be starting graduate school, which meant that she certainly didn’t need a babysitter. Perhaps Li was in some trouble if his wife could not leave the country with him. But it also meant that having Bernadette come was not a matter of socializing. This was an important phone call and a meeting was urgent. Ben decided to grab the chance. “I have to be in D.C. through Thursday. Perhaps I could take the overnight and be in London on Friday morning. Could we plan on an afternoon meeting Friday at the Bank of England? If need be, we can continue our conversation on Saturday. That way we both can take Sunday flights home. I will have to check with Bernadette, though.”