How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes

H O W   A N   E C O N O M Y   G R O W S   A N D   W H Y   I T   C R A S H E S
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With plenty of real fi sh to add meat to the 
bones of offi cial fi sh, Usonia’s problem of 
fi shlation largely disappeared. 
With plumper fi sh, prices 
stopped rising and living 
standards rose once again. 
In Sinopia things 
changed rapidly as well. 
The Sinopian king belatedly realized 
the fatal fl aw in his domestic economic 
model. His islanders simply would not fi sh if they had to 
give up all that they caught. Knowing this, the king made 
a dramatic reversal in policy when the nets came in from 
Usonia. Those who purchased nets from the king could 
keep all the extra fi sh they caught. Not surprisingly, this 
resulted in an increase in the Sinopians’ daily fi shing 
activities.
But there was a hitch—in order to facilitate greater trans-
island trade, the king required his citizens to swap their extra 
fi sh for Fish Reserve Notes.
With personal incentives fi nally in place, it didn’t take 
long for the Sinopians to accumulate savings and expand 
production. As a result, Sinopian entrepreneurs were now 
able to build factories to make other goods, like spoons and 
bowls. And even though most Sinopians still lacked these 
things, they sold these goods back to Usonians, for, you 
guessed it, more Fish Reserve Notes.

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