Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

together under normal circumstances, with rent and utility bills to worry about, wondering if the other was straying during our times apart, we knew it wouldn’t work. So we left each other with gorgeous memories of a two-month long affair.”
    Although it was an interesting story, which was giving Danny insider information on what made Sydney Dumas tick, he needed to get her back on track. “You were saying about how you knew Dr. Walsh?”
    “Oh yes, sorry. One night Alex told me the real reason why Dr. Walsh had us crunching numbers all summer. He wasn’t there to save the country. He was there to make sure that the island was forever in debt to the United States.”
    “Why?”
    “To ensure a long-term source of oil. It was the same reason why Dr. Walsh was called in to Saudi Arabia in the 1970s. The 1973 OPEC oil embargo nearly crippled the United States. To inoculate themselves from future embargos, the U.S. needed to forever link itself with the Middle East. They realized that Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia desperately needed to upgrade their infrastructure in order to maximize their oil extraction capability. Saudis had also been exposed to the Western world and had acquired a thirst for things that world had to offer.”
    “Like?”
    “Jet fighter planes, giant skyscrapers, Bentley convertibles, and beautiful women.”
    “And here I thought you were going to say baseball gloves and apple pie.”
    Sydney let that one go. “The U.S. formed JECOR, the United States-Saudi Arabian Joint Economic Commission. Through JECOR, the Saudis agreed to hire American engineering, construction, and defense companies to provide the infrastructure needed. But there was one problem. The Saudis had enough money to pay for it all and then walk away from the U.S. Walsh devised what he called the Markov Monte Carlo model, where he used statistics and probability methods to show that future economic conditions are independent from past or even current conditions. Basically, he used Double MC to persuade the Saudis that because their wealth comes from oil, a commodity the world needs in perpetuity, they could afford to finance their massive infrastructure expansion while using monies on hand to pay for their new, lavish lifestyles.”
    “And the financing naturally came from the U.S. government.”
    “Naturally.”
    “So who did Walsh work for when he devised all this?”
    “Both he and Alex worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.”
    “It always comes back to the CIA,” Danny mused. “Did Alex tell you that?”
    “Yes.”
    “Was it pillow talk?”
    Surprise formed in Sydney’s eyes. “Does that mean you think he was lying to me?”
    Danny shook his head. “The complete opposite, in fact. That’s when the truth usually comes out.”
    “Looking back, I’m sure Walsh was already involved with the Bilderbergers back then.”
    “This Double MC model, it sounds like he used it to sell us down the river with all of the recent bailouts and our government’s spending spree.”
    Sydney smiled. “I’ll make an economist of you yet, Danny. Walsh blessed the bailouts and the massive deficit-spending programs. He said America could spend her way out of the recession. I tried contacting U.S. Treasury officials and called every American I knew to sound the alarm. But nobody would listen.”
    Danny blew out a nervous chuckle and looked off in the distance. “So why can’t anyone figure Walsh out?”
    “It’s not a question of figuring him out, Danny. Walsh is a very charismatic fellow, and he proved, on paper at least, that Double MC would work. There are numerous schools of economic thought, many of which contradict one another. It is only after they are put into use that they are lauded or ridiculed. But by that time, the damage is already done.”
    “But several decades have passed since 1973. Why hasn’t Walsh’s model been rejected?”
    “Because the Saudis’ wealth has, in fact, allowed them to keep on spending without a care in the world.”
    “What about Trinidad and Tobago?” Danny asked.
    “Because the world doesn’t care about the economics of a tiny third world island,” Sydney answered flatly.
    “Why can’t we just go to the authorities, like some kind of world economic police, and show them the lawsuit?”
    “World economic police? There is no such thing.”
    “What about the IMF? Or the UN? Or even your ICJ?”
    “You’ve worked within a bureaucracy, Danny. You know it