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Ominous Skies Ahead
Another shorter post tonight because weekdays are hectic. Standard update coming on Saturday!
October 16th, 1987
James Baker, Secretary of the Treasury, sat at his desk, his brow furrowed. The lamps were on; he had been working for God knows how long, and at some point morning had become night. A half eaten dinner sat aside a pile of newspapers that Baker had spread out across his desk, startling headlines standing out on each one.
DOW FALLS A RECORD 95 POINTS
DOW CONTINUES DOWNWARD SPIRAL, DROPS ANOTHER 58 POINTS
Not every title was economics or market based, however. Others seemed more alarming.
IRANIAN MISSILE HITS U.S. TANKER OFF COAST OF KUWAIT
SECOND U.S. TANKER HIT BY IRANIAN MISSILE
This is bad, Baker thought, really bad. He had already seen the news that, with the British markets closing due to some freak storm, the DOW fell by a whopping 108 points. Everything the administration, and by extension Baker, had fought for these last eight years was in danger of being thrown away.
And yet the biggest problem of all was that Reagan and Bush were still barely speaking to one another.
This economic situation could be a big enough problem on its' own. But if the White House wasn't working together, this could go from bad to worse. Way worse, if Baker's thinking was correct.
Baker tried to reconvene his faith in all of the economic principles that the administration believed in, the supply-side strategy that had saved the country from that fool Carter. But something felt wrong.
Baker took a bite of his now-cold dinner and went back to reading. It was going to be a long night.
October 16th, 1987
James Baker, Secretary of the Treasury, sat at his desk, his brow furrowed. The lamps were on; he had been working for God knows how long, and at some point morning had become night. A half eaten dinner sat aside a pile of newspapers that Baker had spread out across his desk, startling headlines standing out on each one.
DOW FALLS A RECORD 95 POINTS
DOW CONTINUES DOWNWARD SPIRAL, DROPS ANOTHER 58 POINTS
Not every title was economics or market based, however. Others seemed more alarming.
IRANIAN MISSILE HITS U.S. TANKER OFF COAST OF KUWAIT
SECOND U.S. TANKER HIT BY IRANIAN MISSILE
This is bad, Baker thought, really bad. He had already seen the news that, with the British markets closing due to some freak storm, the DOW fell by a whopping 108 points. Everything the administration, and by extension Baker, had fought for these last eight years was in danger of being thrown away.
And yet the biggest problem of all was that Reagan and Bush were still barely speaking to one another.
This economic situation could be a big enough problem on its' own. But if the White House wasn't working together, this could go from bad to worse. Way worse, if Baker's thinking was correct.
Baker tried to reconvene his faith in all of the economic principles that the administration believed in, the supply-side strategy that had saved the country from that fool Carter. But something felt wrong.
Baker took a bite of his now-cold dinner and went back to reading. It was going to be a long night.
- Meyer London
- Word Count: 280