Following the recession in Torn City, citizens became anxious and paranoid with any money that came into their possession. It was due to this that the already weak economy started to deteriorate. A group of businessmen from different backgrounds decided to form a trade union within the City, one that was dedicated to the welfare of the common man. Torn City would not be the thriving metropolis that it is today, had these few men not started what would be recounted as a financial revolution…

The concept of a Point system was an alien concept to the residents of Torn City, but it was one of the first pilot schemes launched by the union under the apprehensive gaze of a desperate government. Everyone wanted these men to succeed and lead the City to a healthy economy, even the unlawful citizens wanted a change. It was for that very reason that the populace adopted the scheme without any questions.

Some were sceptical about having token points that could be exchanged for goods and services. The idea behind the points was that they could only be cashed in for a set amount of money that was only able to be used in a given transaction. This stopped the people from investing their money, and forced them to purchase goods. Businesses started to operate better with the introduction to the points, however some still saw the transaction process as barbaric, and some more felt the ridicule from the neighbouring cities. It was a harsh time and the new custom slowly grew into less of an abnormality and more of a general thing. The union didn’t stop there. They re-launched the dead end stock market and tried to encourage businesses to place some share of their standings on the open market. When the prospect of an easy dividend became apparent, the people surged forward to purchase shares.

Fearing a collapse of the market, the union regulated the amounts of shares that could be available to the public. Instead of a flat system that increased every day, more up to date standings were introduced, and the stock market became a steady fixture within the city. The government backed the union fully in all their dealings following the success of the points system, but they started to feel more confidant as the years went on and tried to muscle their own policies back into the run of order.

This period of time was called the “Econ Lull of ’82″. The economy faltered briefly as the government tried its own incentive scheme, which consisted mainly of flooding the market with point tokens to keep the people happy. The union objected strongly, and the price of tokens plummeted causing mass outrage.

As elections came to pass, the government was slowly replaced with union officials that remained true to their first concerns, the people. It was then that the members of the union launched their second major scheme, overseas investment. Due to the unreliability in the current Torn City workforce and its companies, the Union decided to place the City’s money in overseas property, mainly a burgeoning market for man-made private islands. This was also an alien concept to the people as the prospect of owning a private island was ridiculous. As time went on, a deal was struck and Torn City was allocated a major share holding position within the initial property investment that was originally started as a European contract. As the rest of the world bought their private islands, Torn City started to make serious amounts of money causing mass inflation of various goods. Chocolate prices were higher than that of a new car, these abnormalities were quickly regulated and tested by the union, in the hopes of maintaining normality.

The union tried to allocate the money to the facilities that needed it, so they introduced a tax on foreign investment profit. The people, for the first time revolted against the union and voted them out of government. They then chose to buy mansions, villas, beach houses, weaponry and top listed cars. The city had been given access to a source of untapped economic potential and they had gotten rid of the only people that knew how to use it.

Torn City is in the control of its people now. Market collapse and fluctuations are commonplace now and inflation is causing strife. The union is still united, but now they work behind the scenes, making sure that their people don’t get too out of hand.