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Inspiration, v. 4, issue 1, April 1946

Page 34

34
INSPIRATION

ON CURRENCY EXCHANGE

I'll run the risk of Prexy Stanley and Critic Koenig declaring part of this issue objectional on the grounds of its being non-fantasy, especially since it is Stanley who brought the matter up in the Winter FAN-TODS. So far as quantity, if not quality, goes -- the 31 page "history" should suffice for the fantasy part.

NFS wonder if currency from Canada is passed freely around the border areas. The answer has reservations, but is a yes so far as fairly large business establishments are concerned. Windsor, Ontario, a fair sized town, is just one mile south of Detroit (If you don't believe the direction is south, look at a map) so there is naturally quite a flow of travel across the border in both directions. With so many Canadians doing shopping on this side of the border, the larger stores all take Canadian currency at current exchange rates. But the man on the street is a bit more dubious and, except for pennies, avoids Canadian money. I can remember a few years back when values were equal that a handful of silver around here invariably disclosed several coins of Canadian origin, and when receiving change one was never concerned with the nationality of the money.

Probably the reason is that American money still circulates freely in Canada is that it is more valuable and there is more attraction for it. Even tho we do have inflation here, it is far less than almost anyplace else in the world. Canadian money, to an American, is tainted with a vague, if false, sense of distrust simply because it is lower in value. Should the situation be reversed, and the Canadian dollar be higher, doubtless Canadian money would pass freely in the U. S., while American money would be looked upon askance in Canada.

But the situation between the U. S. and Canada is as nothing compared with that between the U. S. and the rest of the world. In France, last year, an American dollar bill on the black market would bring several times the artificially pegged exchange rate in francs. Altho officially listed at a small fraction over 2c, the franc was actually worth less than a penny. All of which made it very tough on us GI's, since we were paid in francs at the official rate and were practically donating about $1.50 more to the French for every $1.00 worth of goods we bought. Cleaning up on exchange thru the black market was controlled by making it a court-martial offense for an American soldier to have American currency, and by careful checking of any excess amounts of money sent to the states. The same situation holds true in all other liberated or occupied countries, and the U. S. dollar is quite a prize.

Even a subject like this can be turned into science-fiction with some imagination, so let's consider how international, interplanetary, or interstellar exchange could work in an enlightened world of the future.

The best we've worked out to date in our present civilization is the Breton Woods plan, and not being a banker I'm a bit hazy on the details. But, essentially it seems to provide a system for stabilizing rates of exchange thru a jointly owned bank, any country in temporarily bad financial shape being helped out by the others. Some such system as this would seem to be needed as a basis for our future currency exchange problems.

Not being a banker or knowing anything about the subject is a help when dreaming up something like this, as you don't have to worry about whether or not it's actually practical. Sometimes I think most s-f authors work on that same theory that the less you know about a subject, the better you can write about it.

So first we set up our international fund (or interplanetary, interstellar, or intergalactic as the case may be) and figure out the comparative value of each sociology's unit of exchange by means of tables of exports, imports, manufacturing, cultivation, natural resources, and a ouija board.

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34 INSPIRATION ON CURRENCY EXCHANGE I'll run the risk of Prexy Stanley and Critic Koenig declaring part of this issue objectional on the grounds of its being non-fantasy, especially since it is Stanley who brought the matter up in the Winter FAN-TODS. So far as quantity, if not quality, goes -- the 31 page "history" should suffice for the fantasy part. NFS wonder if currency from Canada is passed freely around the border areas. The answer has reservations, but is a yes so far as fairly large business establishments are concerned. Windsor, Ontario, a fair sized town, is just one mile south of Detroit (If you don't believe the direction is south, look at a map) so there is naturally quite a flow of travel across the border in both directions. With so many Canadians doing shopping on this side of the border, the larger stores all take Canadian currency at current exchange rates. But the man on the street is a bit more dubious and, except for pennies, avoids Canadian money. I can remember a few years back when values were equal that a handful of silver around here invariably disclosed several coins of Canadian origin, and when receiving change one was never concerned with the nationality of the money. Probably the reason is that American money still circulates freely in Canada is that it is more valuable and there is more attraction for it. Even tho we do have inflation here, it is far less than almost anyplace else in the world. Canadian money, to an American, is tainted with a vague, if false, sense of distrust simply because it is lower in value. Should the situation be reversed, and the Canadian dollar be higher, doubtless Canadian money would pass freely in the U. S., while American money would be looked upon askance in Canada. But the situation between the U. S. and Canada is as nothing compared with that between the U. S. and the rest of the world. In France, last year, an American dollar bill on the black market would bring several times the artificially pegged exchange rate in francs. Altho officially listed at a small fraction over 2c, the franc was actually worth less than a penny. All of which made it very tough on us GI's, since we were paid in francs at the official rate and were practically donating about $1.50 more to the French for every $1.00 worth of goods we bought. Cleaning up on exchange thru the black market was controlled by making it a court-martial offense for an American soldier to have American currency, and by careful checking of any excess amounts of money sent to the states. The same situation holds true in all other liberated or occupied countries, and the U. S. dollar is quite a prize. Even a subject like this can be turned into science-fiction with some imagination, so let's consider how international, interplanetary, or interstellar exchange could work in an enlightened world of the future. The best we've worked out to date in our present civilization is the Breton Woods plan, and not being a banker I'm a bit hazy on the details. But, essentially it seems to provide a system for stabilizing rates of exchange thru a jointly owned bank, any country in temporarily bad financial shape being helped out by the others. Some such system as this would seem to be needed as a basis for our future currency exchange problems. Not being a banker or knowing anything about the subject is a help when dreaming up something like this, as you don't have to worry about whether or not it's actually practical. Sometimes I think most s-f authors work on that same theory that the less you know about a subject, the better you can write about it. So first we set up our international fund (or interplanetary, interstellar, or intergalactic as the case may be) and figure out the comparative value of each sociology's unit of exchange by means of tables of exports, imports, manufacturing, cultivation, natural resources, and a ouija board.