Economist Frederic Emam-Zade wrote a humorous column in today’s El Caribe, posing a fictitious dialogue between friends. One says he needs dollars and the other tells him how to do it outside of the normal course of events. Scenario No. 1 had the man depositing pesos into an account in the DR and the man in New York depositing dollars to the first man’s dollar account in New York City. But no, that would not work because a fax would be needed to seal the deal. Then, the guy in New York suggests the buyer go to a jewelry store and purchase an equal value of jewelry and bring it to him in NYC, where it could be exchanged for dollars and a small profit. “If that doesn’t work, I have a lot of other solutions for your problems,” concludes the seller. The buyer, now very happy, changes the subject and asks about the government’s new policies to control the exchange rate. The man in New York says that the problem is the excess amount of pesos in circulation and says that all the steps the government is taking will only produce more activity in the black market. “This will produce a lot of money for the small operators like you and me,” he says. Asking what would happen if the government were to jail all the people operating with dollars, Emam-Zade springs the joke: The government would have to put half the country in jail, since everyone is betting on the dollar. But then the black market would be the only market functioning and for them this would mean the dollar would shoot up in price and “with my relationships here in dollars and yours there in pesos and the Internet and chat room technology, we would become millionaires! I guarantee it, compadre!”