"L. E. Modesitt - The Great American Economy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Modesitt L E)

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Sometimes the builder of a better mousetrap doesn't want anyone
to know about it!

THE GREAT AMERICAN ECONOMY

"What a miserable day it is," groused James Boulin Chartwell, III.
As junior member of the Council of Economic Advisers, he often groused. When he didn't grouse, he
grumbled.
George didn't exactly agree with his boss. True, the smog had cut the visibility outside to less than a
hundred yards. The April day was grayer than usual, but what else could you really expect in the
Greater Washington Reservation? "George! Do you know that our figures are off by One Hundredth
of One Percent?"
George sighed. He'd known since yesterday when the monthly in-flation statistics had been printed
out that there would be trouble. For the third month in a row there had been a small, but significant,
inflationary trend in the Gross Na-tional Products figures. The unplanned increase could not be
ex-plained by increases in wages, con-struction costs, defense spending, conservation and reclamation
projects, or anything else.
"George! Do you hear me? The President is Not At All Happy about this. If it gets out that there has
already been an annual rate of inflation of over one tenth of one percent this year, that could swing Public
Opinion heavily in the elec-tions. You know we can't keep it a secret much longer."
James Boulin Chartwell, III, re-filled his glass with One Hundred Percent Pure mineral water.
"I take it, sir, that you would earnestly desire me to discover the cause of this Blight upon our Great
American Economy." George was about ready to quit, if only he could persuade himself that leaving the
Reservation would not be the end of his career.
"I don't give an obsolete gold piece what you do. But you ought to want to know how this could
happen, when Government Expenditures are registered to the Last Penny, and when our comput-ers
keep track of the Private Sector to the Very Last Dime." James Boulin Chartwell, III, was a firm devotee
of the bureaucratic school that spoke in Capital Letters.
George sighed again. It would be a long day.
"George! Don't you understand? It Can't Happen. It just Can't Hap-pen." James Boulin Chatwell,
III, finished his second glass of One Hundred Percent Pure mineral wa-ter.
George shrugged. He knew why it wasn't supposed to happen. The growth of the non-government
sec-tor was computed on a full-cov-erage, day-by-day, real-time basis, taking into account all variables
such as price and wage increases, construction rates, investment rates, and savings. The basic
government budget was programmed into the computers as well. Adjustments in the basic growth rates
were made on a weekly basis by changing the magnitudes of variable items in the government budget.
The system was about ten years old in its present form. It had worked reasonably well, although many
gov-ernment agencies complained bit-terly about budgets that varied from week to week. Defense and
Urban Affairs, of course, were above variable controls. Status was working in a department with a Fixed
Budget.
"Well," demanded James Boulin Chartwell, III, "do you think that you can Solve The Problem?"
George shrugged again. He wanted his morning Coke.
"I'll see what I can find out."
As he left the office, he smiled at Mildred. She glared back, as usual. She disliked George's flippant
atti-tude toward the Very Respected Junior Adviser.
George wandered down to the cafeteria. It was after coffee break and deserted. He picked up a
cup, filled it with ice, and pounded on the soda dispenser until it delivered his Coke. He debated sitting
down, then went back to the office he shared with two secretaries and three other junior economists.