Lily Finds a Magical Coin
Chapter 1
LILY FINDS A MAGICAL COIN
“TWENTY-FIVE CENTS?! But a piece of candy used to be ONE CENT!”
Lily didn’t have a quarter with her, and she wasn’t sure she would pay that much for a piece of candy even if she did have one. She turned around to go home.
Just a few steps from the candy store, she saw something shiny on the ground. It was a coin! She picked it up.
Crusoe Doesn’t Need Money
Chapter 2
CRUSOE DOESN’T NEED MONEY
She heard the sound of waves and tropical birds. The brightness faded and Lily found herself standing on a sandy beach next to a forest.
“Where am I?” Lily asked.
“Few economic subjects are more tangled, more confused than money. To untangle it, we need to see the why of money. So our first stop is this remote island, where a poor fellow named Crusoe has been stranded.”
“Hey, I read about him! But what does he have to do with economics or money?”
The Origin of Money
Chapter 3
THE ORIGIN OF MONEY
Lily and Newton were peering over a stone wall. Just on the other side, a woman had some eggs laid out on a wooden table. People carried different goods around in carts and baskets, and Lily could tell that the woman was looking for something or someone.
“She’s looking for some fabric to make clothes for her family,” Newton said. “Her family is well-fed with all the eggs their chickens produce, but their clothes are in tatters.”
Lily scanned the crowd but didn’t see anybody carrying fabric or clothes.
The Origin of Banking
Chapter 4
THE ORIGIN OF BANKING
As the bright light faded, Lily could see, hear, and smell horses. She was wearing a dress like all the other girls in town, and she was holding Newton in her hand.
They were on a cobblestone street lined with storefronts. She could see inside some of the stores through the wavy-looking windowpanes—it reminded her of the candy store back home.
The Bank Gets in Trouble
Chapter 5
THE BANK GETS IN TROUBLE
Newton hovered above Lily’s hand and started spinning. The people around them zipped in and out and around while the sun quickly vanished over the horizon. The world turned into a blur as the sun raced across the sky hundreds of times. The seasons changed every half second. She could see a wash of green each spring and then a heavy coat of white snow each winter.
IT WAS DIZZYING.
A Dark Meeting in a DARK ROOM
Chapter 6
A DARK MEETING IN A DARK ROOM
Lily found herself behind a desk in a dark room. She saw a group of well-dressed men sitting at a conference table.
“What are they talking about?” Lily asked.
Newton whispered, “These men are politicians and bankers. They are deciding to work together to try to solve the bank-run problem we just saw.”
“Oh, good. So, they are agreeing to keep enough gold to avoid a bank run?”
Monetary Chaos
Chapter 7
MONETARY CHAOS
It was daytime again, and they were on a busy street. People were pushing carts and carrying baskets like in the primitive village, but this time they were filled with the central bank’s paper notes instead of goods.
A woman parked a wheelbarrow full of notes outside a grocery store and went inside to do her shopping. A thief dumped the cash out and ran off with the wheelbarrow.
Section 0001
Just Money
Chapter 8
JUST MONEY
Lily found herself where she started: the sidewalk outside the candy store. Newton was back to his original size, and he looked like a regular silver coin.
Lily realized she had never seen the other side of the coin. Now she turned it over in her hand, revealing a beautiful engraving of a scale.
For Parents and Teachers
For Parents and Teachers:
WHAT HAS GOVERNMENT DONE TO OUR MONEY?
