Forging America: My Campaign Manager is Roosevelt

Chapter 380: Chapter 179: The System’s Loophole

"What does Pittsburgh export? High-end healthcare, university education, financial services. But the steel mills in Erie don’t need heart surgery, and the cement plants in Scranton don’t need master’s degrees in computer science."

"This has led to a disastrous result: Pittsburgh is exchanging credit for physical goods. You are madly printing money to buy their resources. Meanwhile, they are hoarding huge amounts of Pittsburgh notes, but they have no way to spend them."

Marcus held up a finger and traced a downward curve in the air.

"If inter-city settlement volume exceeds five hundred million US dollars in the fourth quarter—and based on the current growth rate, that will happen next month—the tipping point for this one-way flow will be breached."

"Erie and Scranton will have tens of millions, even hundreds of millions, in notes sitting in their accounts, but their cash flow will dry up. After all, notes are just notes, not real money."

"They know this. Those mayors and factory owners aren’t fools. They’re swallowing their pride right now because they have no bargaining power. They’re so desperate for orders that they’re willing to drink poison to quench their thirst."

"But this can’t last."

"Once their cash flow breaks, or they find the notes they’re holding have started to depreciate on the secondary market, panic will erupt instantly. They’ll either dump the notes or demand Pittsburgh redeem them for US Dollars."

"At that point, this so-called ’alliance of equals’ you’ve built will reveal its cruel nature."

"This isn’t mutual aid at all. This is the financial colonization of the surrounding declining cities by Pittsburgh."

"You’re sucking their blood to nourish Pittsburgh’s heart."

"This will destroy the political trust within the entire Rust Belt Alliance. It’s more fatal than any partisan attack."

Marcus paused, as if weighing whether his next words would be too offensive.

"And, Mr. Mayor, there’s something even more terrifying to come."

"When they start dumping the notes, who’s going to buy them? Who has the ability to absorb a sell-off in the hundreds of millions?"

"According to your design, the ultimate liquidity provider for these notes is a capital pool headed by Saint Claude Capital."

"I don’t doubt that Saint Claude has enough capital to cover the redemptions." Marcus’s voice grew lower. "I’ve studied their balance sheet. A few hundred million US dollars is just a number to them."

"But... will they use this to get these cities under their thumb?"

Marcus’s gaze sharpened.

"When Erie and Scranton are on their knees at Saint Claude’s door, begging for a bailout because their cash flow has dried up, will they seize the opportunity to acquire these cities’ prime assets? Will they demand control over local water, power, or public transportation?"

"At that point, where will your administrative authority be? Will the political alliance you worked so hard to build become a plaything in the hands of capital?"

"This isn’t just a financial crisis, Mr. Mayor. This is a theft of power, from the financial to the administrative."

"You may have promised these mayors that the notes can be exchanged for US Dollars at any time. But when that day really comes, when panic spreads and capital bares its fangs, I can’t imagine what will happen."

Hearing this, Leo finally understood why the boy had been so hesitant when accepting his award.

Leo quickly ran through the logic in his head.

’The kid was right.’

’When he first drafted the blueprint for this alliance, he had indeed built in this kind of centripetal force.’

’He was the Mayor of Pittsburgh. His ass was in the chair at City Hall.’

’Using the core city’s status to draw resources from the surrounding region to fuel a local recovery was a politically intuitive choice.’

But he hadn’t expected the tipping point to arrive so quickly.

What he had wanted was a sustainable ecosystem, a "flying V" formation with Pittsburgh leading and the other cities following.

Pittsburgh would eat the meat while its allies drank the soup. Everyone would survive.

It was never meant to be a parasitic drain that would suck his allies dry in the short term and cause the entire system to collapse.

At the same time, a surge of anger exploded in Leo’s chest.

The teams maintaining this system day and night stared at its back end every day. Hundreds of millions in notes were circulating right under their noses.

And not a single one of them had warned him.

Not a single report pointing out this approaching tipping point had landed on his desk.

’Is it just incompetence? Are they less capable than a college sophomore? Or are they just in the habit of only reporting good news?’

Leo’s expression turned cold.

’It’s not that simple.’

’The ultimate backstop for this system is Saint Claude Capital.’

’If these cities face a redemption crisis and their capital chains break, who benefits the most?’

’Saint Claude, holding cash and ready to move in and harvest cheap assets.’

’His finance team was filled with elites from Wall Street.’

’Could they really not see this loophole?’

’They absolutely saw it. But they chose to remain silent.’

’Behind that silence, perhaps, was the will of capital.’

’The entire team might have already been infiltrated, or even controlled, by Saint Claude without anyone realizing it.’

’Capital never truly submits to power. It only feigns compliance, then waits for an opportunity to bite back.’

’A moment of laxity had led to a deadly trap.’

If this boy named Marcus hadn’t stood here today and ripped the truth wide open...

Leo likely wouldn’t have realized he was standing on the edge of a cliff until next month, until the moment the entire Rust Belt Alliance fell apart.

He controlled his expression, not letting a hint of his murderous intent show.

Leo smiled. "You’re right."

Leo admitted it freely.

"This was our oversight."

Leo looked at the thin boy, a hint of appraisal in his eyes.

"So, Marcus, since you’ve seen the signs of the system’s impending collapse, you must have a plan ready to put out the fire. Tell me, how would you fix this loophole?"

This time, Marcus didn’t rattle off an answer at lightning speed like before.

He fell silent.

He looked down at his own worn-out leather shoes.

After a few seconds, he looked up again, a new note of rigor in his eyes.

"I don’t know."

Marcus continued, "I have theories. Perhaps we could introduce a dynamic exchange rate mechanism, or maybe establish an automated lending pool algorithm. But those are just mathematical models, assumptions based on an ideal environment."

"A real financial system is far more complex than code. Without knowing the liquidity level of Saint Claude Capital’s funding pool, without having the real, real-time settlement data between these cities over the past few months, any model built from thin air is just irresponsible speculation."

"I need data."

Marcus looked directly at Leo.

"I need to see the raw, unedited logs. I need to see the true trajectory of the capital flow. Only with that information can I calculate where that tipping point actually is and provide a truly viable stop-loss plan."

Leo nodded.

’This isn’t an armchair strategist. This is a budding technocrat who understands the need to respect reality and possesses an extremely high degree of professionalism.’

He hadn’t tried to bluff his way through with fancy jargon; he had chosen to tell the plain truth.

"A very good answer."

Leo handed over the certificate and check in his hand.

"Marcus, you’ve earned this money. Take it. Go improve your life."

Marcus took the items, his hands trembling slightly.

Leo turned his head and looked at Ethan, who was standing behind him.

"Ethan."

"Yes, boss."

"Take him," Leo said, gesturing toward Marcus. "Starting tomorrow, assign him to the Department of Finance’s special analysis team, reporting directly to you. Give him data access. Let him see everything he wants to see."

Ethan glanced at the boy, who still looked a bit stunned, and nodded.

"Understood."

Marcus took a deep breath, bowed to Leo, and then followed a staff member backstage.

Leo watched Marcus’s back disappear behind the curtain, and the smile on his face vanished instantly.

He beckoned to Ethan, motioning for him to come closer.

Ethan leaned in.

Leo’s voice was very low, audible only to the two of them.

"One more thing, Ethan."

"When you get back, have Sarah work with you immediately. I want a list."

"A list?" Ethan was a little confused.

"A list of all core personnel currently responsible for operating and maintaining the Pennsylvania Industry Alliance Trust system."

Leo’s eyes grew icy.

"I want to know who hired them, what companies they worked for before, and their entire professional background."

"And especially..."

Leo paused, his tone laced with a chilling, murderous intent.

"Find out which of them have had any contact with Saint Claude Capital."

"After this event, I want that list on my desk."

Ethan nodded. He could sense the urgency in Leo’s tone.