Order of Magnitude

LXIII. The Sloane Act

     The Prime Minister slid his phone out of his pocket, checked the screen, refreshed it, then checked it again. He set the phone on his desk and picked up a nearby folder containing reports about the nation's energy budget. It was dry stuff, and before long, he picked the phone up again. The market still hadn't gone back up.

     Gerald Sloane didn't put a lot of stock into the country's economists. He'd lived here his entire life, he knew how the market fluctuated. When the top idiots in the field had warned him of a financial crash, he booted them out as fast as he could. Now, they appeared on every cable news station throwing around words like "recession" and other annoying buzz words meant to scare the general public. At this point, if anything happened to the economy, it would be their fault.

     Three days ago, he delivered a speech in front of the country, one that cut through the red tape of politics and got his bill passed with overwhelming support. That night, those college-educated morons warned him of economic collapse. The market had plummeted for three days straight now. He didn't think it was a coincidence. Those scare tactics had caused serious harm to the country. The worst part of all, they didn't even realize the damage they'd been doing.

     He checked his phone again. Red numbers and downward arrows. He tossed the phone onto the desk and cradled his head with his hands. What is wrong with the people in this country? he wondered. It's almost like they want me to fail. How immature can they be?

     A knock at the door. Without being prompted, Jagger entered, a bundle of folders under the wrinkled arms of his usually impeccable suit. He tossed them onto the desk and sat in the chair across from the desk.

     "Sir, we have to talk about this market crash," he said. "It's been falling all week, and you have yet to make a statement. People are becoming restless—"

     "Let me just stop you right there, kid," Sloane said, rising up from his own chair. "How about you walk back out that door, knock again, wait for me to call you in, and then you talk to me with the respect I'm due."

     "With all due fairness, sir, we don't have time for your wounded pride. We're in the middle of a national crisis."

     "I don't think you heard me."

     "And I don't think you heard me!" Jagger stood. "All these cuts you're making for your... your pet project is making our citizens lose confidence. We're in the middle of the biggest economic meltdown this country has ever seen, and all you need to do is make a statement."

     "Make a statement?" Sloane asked, his voice rising with his temper. "Do you want me to out there and tell consumers to keep buying merchandise? Or to tell companies to keep investing in our national product? These are adults out there. They don't need to be coddled every minute."

     "The people NEED to know that their government is in control. We've lost more today than we ever have in the history of our stock market."

     He picked his phone up from the desk and wielded it like a weapon. "Day's not over yet. The market always gets a surge at the end."

     "You're betting that everything is going to turn around in five minutes?" Jagger scoffed. "Sir, with all due respect—"

     "Respect. That's a funny word to be throwing around. I'm not sure you understand what it means."

     Jagger glared at him. "We need to reevaluate the Sloane Act."

     "Out of the question."

     "All our problems started when you introduced it in front of the nation."

     "All our problems started when Antony was assassinated."

     Jagger chuckled. "No argument here."

     Gerald Sloane turned bright red. "You've crossed the line! Get the hell out of my office, and don't come back. You're fired! I have a right mind to make sure you never get a job in this town again. Remember this day when you're slinging fries at Burger World!"

     "Fire me if you want; this is a sinking ship anyway. But if you want to avoid impeachment, you'll swallow your pride and work on alleviating the citizens of this country."

     "Fine," Sloane said. "I'll put out a statement that we as a nation are still strong, and that the Sloane Act is still alive and will protect us from danger. That should hold them over."

     Jagger laughed, dry and weak. "It is almost unbelievable how much you don't understand."

     He turned and walked out of the office. When stepped into the hall, he turned back one last time and held up his own phone.

     "The market closed. We dropped another 200 points at the end there."

     The door closed. Sloane slumped back in hisseat, feeling nothing but anger for Jagger, his economists, and especially forthe citizens of his country.