She chuckled. "It did, especially after I missed that first payment. I was afraid to answer the phone. Like they were my warden or something. Look, you must have come in for a reason. Can I get you a table?"
"That can wait. I'd rather chat."
The customer slipped her gloves on. "I'd love to stay, too, but I've got somewhere to be. I'll be back, though. With friends."
Barbara wished her well, and got comfortable behind the counter. "So what's on your mind, John?"
"Debt, but way on the other end of the scale. The kind countries get into, and what happens when they can't pay them down."
"They get socked with interest, just like I did, I suppose."
"And then what happens?" He waited a bit before continuing. "For people, there's bankruptcy, like you went through."
She nodded. "Sure. Either you get it written off like I did, or the court imposes some kind of payment plan on a portion of it."
"Either way, whoever fronted the money takes a loss on it. And if the debtor is a company?"
"Same thing, except sometimes the government bails them out."
He tapped the table. "For the big prize, then, what happens if it's a country that's bankrupt?"
Barbara shrugged. "What happens?"
"More than you want to know. When it does, the IMF gives them an out. Turn over your natural resources, and we'll forgive a portion of the debt. There was a book out recently by a guy who was part of the manipulation machine. He called himself an economic hit man. The way he told it, the US was the big winner. But I'm not so sure. I think they've set things up to do the same job on the US."
"You mean because of all the debt we've racked up with the war on terror and everything?"
A few more customers had drifted over to pay their bills, so she had to wait for an answer. When the last of them had left, John stepped back over. "What's the CEO's name again?"
"Edward Reese. Why?"
