Chapter 131: I Think He Has a Good Chance

"Sigh, forget it. The interest is so little; it's not worth lending out. If we end up with bad debts again, it will be a bunch of trouble."

Having been accustomed to the 20%+ long-term interest loans of later generations, Carter lost all interest in lending when he heard that the current market loan rate was only around 16%, and not much could be lent out either.

Carter calculated the bank's losses, figuring that the main expenses were the annual property taxes and employee salaries, along with the gradually decreasing interest expenses on deposits.

Property taxes could basically be offset by transaction fees, so the real out-of-pocket expense would be just supporting the bank's large staff. As for electricity and water bills, those could be almost ignored.

"Are you sure you won't lend?"

Hearing Carter mention the issue of bad debts, Goodman also hesitated a bit. Thinking about the gradually increasing bad debts before the depression and comparing it to the current situation...

"No more lending! But if there are loan applications from families in real hardship, who can't even put food on the table, you can consider those on a case-by-case basis. Just make sure no one starves."

Having made arrangements, Carter checked the time and noticed it was about dinner time. He grabbed his backpack and stood up:

"If there's nothing else, I'll head home. Keep an eye on the FDIC's movements for the next few days, please!"

"What is an economic recession? Your neighbor losing his job is an economic recession!"

"What is an economic crisis? You losing your job is an economic crisis!"

"Jenny, I'm back!"

As soon as Carter walked through the door, he was surprised to find that Jenny was not, as usual, preparing dinner in the kitchen. Instead, she was laughing in front of the TV.

"What are you watching? You're laughing so much."

"Ha ha ha, Carter, come here and see! This guy is quite interesting! I heard he wants to run for president this year!"

Waving to Carter, Jenny moved aside to make room for him.

As Carter sat down, the man on TV finished his joke with a chuckle:

"So what is an economic recovery? Jimmy Carter losing his job is economic recovery!"

"Ha ha ha, this guy is so funny. Hey, do you think he has a chance this year?"

After hearing the joke, Jenny playfully patted Carter on the shoulder and asked for his opinion.

"I don't know, it's still the primary elections. He…"

Carter was about to jokingly dismiss Jenny's enthusiasm when he noticed the subtitle introducing the speaker on TV. Ronald...not familiar. But the last name "Reagan" was impossible to ignore.

"Alright, I take back what I just said. I think he has a good chance this year!"

"Really? That's great! I'm telling you, this guy is very interesting and speaks so well. He must be talented! You didn't listen to his previous speeches. When there's a re-broadcast, you should definitely watch it."

"Sure, I'll watch it when I get a chance. But, Jenny, our fellow Georgian, Carter, has only served one term. Are you so eager for him to be out of office?"

With dinner far off, Carter wasn't in a hurry. He picked up some fruit from the coffee table, thinking they might as well eat out tonight, while also being curious about Jenny's opinion of Jimmy Carter.

"Hmph, the sooner the better. What has Carter done these past few years? Domestically, prices keep rising every year; internationally, he can't even protect American citizens, and now those poor people are being held hostage by Iranian terrorists. What's the point of him staying in office? I'd say even you, Carter, would be better in Washington than him!"

Carter's question triggered a wave of frustration from Jenny:

"And considering he's from Georgia, we haven't seen any benefits after supporting him as president! Oh, I forgot to make dinner. Carter, have some fruit first, I'll…"

As Jenny continued to rave about Reagan, the TV program ended, making Jenny realize she had forgotten about dinner.

"It's fine, it's fine. Let's eat out tonight!"

Stopping Jenny from rushing to the kitchen, Carter found it amusing. No wonder Reagan would win the election by a landslide in the future.

Reagan's casual appearance on a show, cracking jokes, had already made Jenny, who usually didn't care about national affairs, aware of the "Iran Hostage Crisis" and left her thoroughly entertained.

With half a year until the election, if Reagan kept this up, he'd be hard not to elect!

"Eat out? Maybe not. Things are so expensive nowadays! This morning, I went to the supermarket, and even local eggs have gone up in price. Carter really needs to go! Like Ronald said, even if a new president can't solve the problem, it won't get any worse!"

Looking at the clock on the wall, it was almost time for Mary to come home from school, which made Jenny hesitate.

"No problem, I just made a lot of money. How much could a meal cost? If we were in New York or Los Angeles, we could easily eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant!"

"Stop joking around. Even if you made money, you shouldn't waste it! I've seen the news, many companies are going bankrupt recently, even banks! We need to save money for emergencies."

"Alright, alright! How about we eat at our own restaurant? It's not expensive, and the money goes back into our own pockets."

A housewife's perspective wouldn't change much from listening to Reagan's jokes. Daily expenses, even extravagant ones, wouldn't impact large capital operations.

Eating one more meal wouldn't make Carter feel financially strained, and saving one meal wouldn't make much of a difference in his earnings.

So, in this situation, Carter used his ultimate weapon against Jenny:

"Jenny, I'm hungry!"

"Okay, let's go! Let me change clothes first."

Jenny obviously cared more about her dear son than about money.

After a short wait, Carter and Jenny left home, first driving to the school. They picked up Mary, who had just finished her school bus ride, before heading to the commercial district.

After the previous slip-up with KFC, Carter didn't dare to be complacent about selling corn tortillas, even with market research. If he didn't come today, he would check it out in the next few days to see the sales and market response as he expected.

In about ten minutes, Carter reached the commercial district and was stunned by the long queue in front of him.