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Littlefinger ponzi scheme?


Team_Rob

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While Tyrion was Master of Coin, he discovers Littlefinger made 'investments' with crown gold. Will the possibility that Littlefinger was embezzling gold from the crown be explored? Everyone always says how good of a Master of Coin Littlefinger was, yet the crown is deeply in debt, and The Iron Bank is losing patience.

I think that he was embezzling gold possibly to buy sellsword companies should the need arise in the future to further his own goals. Perhaps maybe start a westerosy cold war with Sellsword armies attacking the Great houses of Westeros without anyone knowing who the true perpetrator is. With Vareys unable to openly aid 'the realm', and Tyrion in the Free cities, anyone clever enough to sniff out this plot is off the board.

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I genuinely think Littlefinger was a good financial administrator and significantly helped the realm financially. I don't deny that a man like that would have abused his position to line his pockets but I think that he's more cautious than to let the realm go so massively into debt with the lost funds connected directly to him. I think that although he made the realm much more money , as he did in Gulltown, Robert was always there to outspend the savings Littlefinger made. Robert was good at spending money.

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Littlefinger could not have created the debt, because unlike Eddard - who had just arrived as Hand, was shocked to learn of the 6 million dragon debt but was busy with other investigations - Jon Arryn was ruling the realm all the time AND had the experience with Petyr´s "beleaguered" predecessor. Of course Jon Arryn could not have unravelled all Petyr´s schemes to check how much he really pocketed - neither could Tyrion - but he would have seen the net result. How much got added to the debt, how much Robert got and wasted.

When Petyr was a tax collector, he certainly brought in three times as much as the other tax collectors. He might have collected six times as much as the others brought in and stolen three times as much as the others brought in, but he certainly did bring in three times as much, without apparent debts - this much Jon could verify.

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I'm sure LF and his appointees have all been lining their pockets. Corruption seems to be widespread, eg salaries going to non-existent jailors.

I would imagine that quite a lot of the apparent increase in revenues under LF is really just creative accounting.

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Although Littlefinger did rack up a massive debt to the Iron Bank (and Tywin Lannister), there's no real reason to suppose that there's anything fishy about it. The chances are he was robbing (or borrowing from) Peter to pay Paul. The Bank didn't seem to start getting annoyed until LF was no longer running the treasury and Cersei decided not to repay her creditors.

The problem is really that Robert was just a profligate king, who spent money in order to avoid doing any work, and enjoyed the trappings of kingship rather more than his responsibility. Because LF, who, unlike most characters in Westeros, has a reasonable understanding of economics, knows there's always more money out there if you know where to look, can always raise more money, Robert just spends it endlessly.

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I'm sure LF and his appointees have all been lining their pockets. Corruption seems to be widespread, eg salaries going to non-existent jailors.

But not all of it new. There has not been a septon in the prison since Baelor the Blessed - yet neither Brynden Bloodraven nor Egg nor Tywin thought to clear up that money hole.

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Littlefinger is not running a ponzi scheme, not unlike a central banker does with fiat money. Westeros evidently is a socially stagnant and economically non-growing society with a gold standard.

That makes those with inherited land wealth or gold mines the ones with economic power.

However, In Westeros in the end might makes right and the Iron Throne had the might and loyalty of all the seven kingdoms ie. could tax them all to pay her debts. You trust gold, but you could also trust the Word of Throne as much as gold.

That makes a FIAT currency and as master of coin Peter might just have understood how to use this kind of power. It is simply the same power a central bank has: the central bank controls the amount of money circulating in the economy - providing there are functioning banks to transmit the policy. Petyr had several businesses that effectively could provide retail banking services and transmit his monetary policy to economy.

I bet Petyr would use the trust in Iron Throne - remember during his time Iron Thorne was under one pretty much undisputed King - Robert - in order to loan gold from the Iron Bank and then use his retail businesses for increased lending and thus rising economic activity, this would then increase tax revenues. And so fort.

Cercei basically did what US Congress almost did in august 2011. Of course the Iron Thore was under dispute and uncertainty, land was at war and winter was coming ie. real economy was not going to respond to stimulus at this time. The most stupid thing to do is not to pay your due if you could is to severe the remaining credit you have.

Of course Littlefinger, like any decent investment banker, has played himself away from the financial centres all the way to the safety of the Westerosi version of a tax haven Switzerland: The Vlae who suffers no war...

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