Fynsa
Let me tell you a story. And like any story, any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. There was once a small village called Riwars (pronounced similarly to Hogwarts, but it isn't) that had only a few inhabitants. These inhabitants were privileged because, as a result of their work, they received the local currency (the km), in addition to other benefits, such as being able to apply for better vacation packages, priority access when traveling outside the village, being able to add an extra bag at no extra charge, etc. People were happy and, from time to time, they recommended that family and friends come and live in Riwars. However, in order to maintain the benefits for everyone, access to the town was controlled, as it could not exceed the town's economic growth if it wanted to maintain the quality of life that all its citizens enjoyed.
However, the municipality of Riwars noticed that other nearby towns were attracting people at a higher rate, so they came up with a plan. This consisted of allowing more people to enter, encouraging the development of other commercial activities, even if they did not provide added value. The next question is obvious: how would it pay the salaries in km to the new citizens if they did not generate enough to justify it? The solution proposed by the council was simple: issue more km, but only enough to pay those salaries so that it would not be too noticeable. It is true that things would now be a little more expensive and that perhaps access to vacation packages would be in greater demand, but nothing that could not be offset by some additional benefits (such as discounts on rubber bands and candied fruit on Wednesdays).
Everything remained relatively stable until some Riwars councilors became greedy. Their reasoning was that if allowing more people to join by financing it with the printing of more km had not caused any problems, accelerating that process a little more would not cause much harm either. After all, Riwars was still the envy of the neighboring towns, and there was a waiting list to be part of that fabulous community. Thus, anyone who applied with relatively good spelling and could perform some task was allowed to become a citizen. Some did not even perform any work, but were admitted with the promise that they could do so in the future and thus more than make up for that period of unemployment. Problems were not long in coming. Since value creation had not increased sufficiently, access to goods and services became increasingly expensive. Access to vacation plans became non-existent, as those with more liquidity preferred to buy them rather than apply with uncertainty, and since everyone now had priority access, it was as if no one had it.
Protests were not long in coming. Long-time residents blamed the municipality for allowing indiscriminate access without having the resources, while newer residents complained about broken promises. "If that's what I wanted, I would have gone to Ciudad Puntos," some were heard to say. This is when the first major reform was introduced: a devaluation of more than 60% per kilometer, the redenomination of the currency, which was renamed miya, and the end of other benefits, except for those who were willing to pay a higher tax rate. These would be Golden citizens, while the rest would only be Silver. However, access to the town continued to become less selective, the issuance of miya did not reduce its growth, and benefits even began to decline for those who had accepted a higher tax rate. In short, all citizens were in a worse situation than before, none of them had done anything wrong (only behaved in accordance with the proposed incentives), and discontent was sky-high.
Finally, the Council, in desperation, made a decision that was as misguided as it was naive: to return everything to the beginning. The town would be renamed New Riwars, where the oldest citizens and the new ones who produced the most added value would once again receive the original benefits (albeit with some modifications, as everything was more expensive), while the rest would now receive benefits proportional to their contribution. This would create a group of people who would end up receiving zero benefits, who undoubtedly did what any outraged and empowered citizen in their right mind would do: complain on social media. Meanwhile, and although I have no proof of this, many residents were seen with informational brochures for Ciudad Puntos, Travel Town, and Tarjetinha, other nearby towns that had apparently improved their indicators in recent times.
Will the latest reform be what New Riwars needs to return to its former glory? That remains to be seen. But if the issuance of the new currency continues to increase at the same rate, inflation will only continue, and profits will once again have to decline.
Moral of the story: Call it what you will, but more money does not generate more wealth; only efficiency and increased production will do that. But this is just fiction, what do I know?
