Money out of money

When I was asked to lend money to a friend decades ago, I saw the wallet of my grandmother lying on the dresser. I did not have the money to give, so I thought, what could be wrong with taking my grandmother’s money and putting it back later? By adding interest, I would help my friend on one side and have a little gift for my grandma she had not asked for. I could have asked her beforehand to give me the money, but I somehow figured my business deal, which I found simple and reasonable, would not be as easily received by an older and wiser person.

Many years later, on a walk through London's financial district, I was reminded of this moment, in which I decided to not take the money. I left the money in the wallet, disappointed a friend, did not let the money work, and missed the opportunity to reward an unknowing donor. Consequently, I never put my hands close to money business again. And now, walking in between the skyscrapers, I saw the guys from the big banks, probably on their innocent way to lunch, who are in charge of moving money from one place to another, maximising profits for the sake of their clients, simply making money out of money. It is a business model too easy to be true, a system too complex and paradoxical to be understood by a layperson.

And while the two bankers had their look down to the ground and the figure on the wall in between them was pointing to the sky, I contemplated on this magic intersection of win and defeat, success and failure, greed and abstinence. And even if the attitude of the two somehow seemed desolate to me, the figure in the background was making it very clear for this instance of a moment: the show must go on. And continuing my way through the city, the only question which remained in my mind was: would those two have taken the money of the wallet?