The Viennese Waltz(23)
“No, Your Majesty. My issuing money would be foolish.”
Sarah was not by nature a pushy person—at least, she didn’t think she was. But she didn’t like being bullied nor did she like those around her being bullied. “Actually, Your Majesty, your issuing money would be equally foolish. No, it would be more foolish! Karl wasn’t personally involved in Kipper and Wipper, only his family was. You, on the other hand, were one of the major beneficiaries.
“Holy Roman Empire money is the next best thing to waste paper in the USE, in large part because Karl’s Uncle Gundaker is Emperor Ferdinand’s finance minister and he, like Karl, wasn’t involved.”
“Actually, Gundaker was instrumental in getting us the deal.”
Sarah stopped and took a deep breath. “I didn’t know that, Your Majesty, and it’s really beside the point. If the name Gundaker von Liechtenstein was enough to ruin the credibility of HRE paper, what do you think Albrecht von Wallenstein is going to do to Bohemian paper?”
“She is right, Your Majesty,” Morris said.
“Maybe so, but it doesn’t make me like being called a thief.”
“I didn’t call you a thief, Your Majesty,” Sarah said. “If you and the others had known in 1618 what we know now, it would have been different. You could have introduced silver-backed paper money, used a partial reserve system with a guarantee of silver on demand and added more money without ill effect. But you didn’t have the knowledge. It was acquired bit by bit over centuries. No one knew. But, however noble your motives, today the names Liechtenstein and Wallenstein are not names to instill confidence in monetary policy.”
“What name is then?”
“Up-timer,” Karl said quickly. “Perhaps Abrabanel, but ‘Someone von Up-time’ would be best. Preferably someone who worked at the Grantville Bank or the Credit union . In fact—” He waved at Sarah. “—Sarah would be among the best choices, if she were interested in the job.”
“I’m too young,” Sarah said.
“I disagree,” said Uriel Abrabanel. “Sarah’s paper on comparative economics and the effect of the American dollar is read all over Europe. As are several others.”
“And I’m not looking for a job,” Sarah added. “Besides, what you really need is the bank to be independent of the crown, even if you got me to head it. It wouldn’t matter unless it was made clear that you couldn’t order me to create money because you wanted a new palace.”
“I’m not so sure of that,” said Uriel Abrabanel. “‘Up-timer’ is a word to conjure with, especially in financial matters.”
“Remember all the fights between Coleman Walker and the President, ah, Mike Stearns—” Sarah corrected herself. She thought of Mike Stearns as the President of the USE because he had been the leader of her nation in a couple of very formative years. But, in truth, his fights with Coleman Walker had been as much when he was the Chairman of the Emergency Committee as when he was the President of the New U.S. “Those fights were a lot of what gave the American dollar its credibility. It was clear that the government couldn’t just create money, that the money had to represent something real. Even if almost no one knew what GDP meant, everyone was convinced it meant something.”
Uriel nodded. “I agree. But that was then, and this is now. Now everyone knows that up-timers can create money and that money is good. I think as long as you didn’t increase the money supply too much, just Sarah Wendell von Up-time would be enough to provide credibility.”
“I hate that expression,” Sarah said, referring to the “von Up-time.” It was a tag that the Daily News had put on up-timers with an op-ed piece that claimed that they were the true nobility. And it was becoming fairly popular with some up-timers and a lot of down-timers. “And, like I said before, I am not looking for a job. Besides, even if the person you get to head your bank were an up-timer, even if it was Coleman Walker or my dad, it wouldn’t make any difference if everyone thought the king could order them to print more money.”
Uriel and Morris were both nodding. Uriel said, “It must be arranged so that the continued value of the money is given precedence over the short-term gain from just adding more.”
“And it must be seen that that is the case,” Sarah said. “Your Majesty, you need someone that people will trust and who will argue with you. Publicly.”
By now King Albrecht was looking at Morris Roth. Don Morris shook his head. “I’m too closely associated with you, Your Majesty. I’m not sure people would accept my independence.”