THE
NATIONAL FRAUD (I).
Having
worked for a decade under the direction of an economist I was finally convinced
that to perform a job you just need to have a great imagination. Watching him
build up a budget was like witnessing the translation, in a modern excel sheet,
of the traditional “milkmaid and pail” tale, the one that warned about the high
expectations on dreams still unrealised. You just needed to increase the price
of the raw materials purchased to the primary producer with the cost of transportation,
labour, bank interest for deferred payment (a death trap for companies sponsored
by state law) and, of course , the profit margin, all pending on the potential
customer approval.
Viewed on
paper, those budgets were really encouraging, however, once confronted with the
reality and their uncertainties, such as a reduction of the budget imposed by
the buyer, always ended shattered as the pitcher of milk and consequently, the
profit margin always is extracted from the weakest flank: wages. Since intermediation
is a form of enrichment based on the correct performance of all the links in
the production any setback such as weather, accidents, strikes, holidays or the
interruption in the provision of supplies knocks the business down as a house
of cards.