MONEY HEIST: NOT YOUR REGULAR CRIME SHOW!

By Chahat Chawla and Akshita Singh, Kalindi College

You must be aware of the Salvatore Dali masks and the Red Jumpsuits that have been an intriguing topic for this generation since 2017, to be exact, the 2nd of May,2017. The idea of a perfect heist is appealing enough on its own but to see it being executed so perfectly is even more interesting.

The plot of this Spanish Netflix original revolves around the emotional and psychological turmoils of the outcasts turned thieves and what lies hidden is the economics behind it.

Alex Pina takes the show “La Case De Papel” through varied sets from Royal Mint to the Bank of Spain, diving deep into the idea of pulling off the biggest heist. Printing billions of Euros, having a little showdown with the police and moreover ending up being the people’s favourite. 

Where is the NOWHERE ?

The most debatable dialogue of the show was The Professor’s proclamation saying that The European Bank of Spain was able to make 171 Billion euros in 2011,185 Billion euros in 2012 and 145 Billion euros in 2013 ‘out of nothing’. He jibed the European Central Bank(ECB), saying they named it “liquidity injection” (pulled out of nowhere). 

He stated that this money made “out of nothing” didn’t even end up being a part of the Real Economy rather went straight to the banks and continued going from the mint to the bank, to the pockets of the rich. The Professor considers it a dire need to inject the liquidity he made, directly into the Economy. As the story continues ,the team of losers along with the mastermind as their guiding angel face this economic issue in a way no one ever thought of. 

What’s in the name…. Liquidity Injection.

In economic terms, ‘liquidity’ means cash circulating in the Economy, whereas ‘liquidity injection’ means pumping money into the Economy whenever needed. It is a part of the monetary policy used as a tool to save the Economy from entering a recessionary phase. 

Quantitative Easing isn’t Easy !

The liquidity that the ECB injected wasn’t actually through printing the money at the Mint but through an unconventional Monetary Policy known as Quantitative Easing (QE). Instead of buying government securities, the Central Banks purchase securities in open markets outside of government bonds often referred to as Quantitative Easing.

The types of securities purchased during a round of QE are typically bonds or debt instruments owned by the financial institutions, including mortgage-backed securities.

This causes an increase in the number of euros visible on the balance sheet that were never really loaned out to companies or any individual. Needless to say, the Central Bank finds a way to pay itself again as the digital cash pulled out of nowhere is used to speculate the stock market and generate more income out of it which ultimately gets invested in the Central Bank.

This Brings Us to the Question of Who the Thief is Really?

So who do we blame? The Professor who fled away with 2.4 Billion Euros or the ECB that has printed 3 Trillion since the 2003’s financial crisis.

For economic instability or inflation to take place, the Professor would have to print 30 Billion more to even reach to 1% of what the ECB has done in the past years. It is clear that the Central Bank kept on creating money out of thin air which provoked the Antifascist Resistance to rise above the Government and shed light on what was going unnoticed for several years. 

The Professor shows no intention of hurting the civilians neither does he intend on stealing from the people’s pockets. He considers his team as a simple ‘RESISTANCE’ against specific economic policies, which is crystal clear through ‘Bella Ciao’. 

While Season 1 of this popular crime series focuses on robbing the royal mint of Spain where the robbers decided to print currency which can also be considered a praiseworthy approach as it did not include stealing from the real economy , Season 3 begins with a strategic heist in the Bank of Spain which too received great response from the audience owing to its thrilling plot.

In season 3, we can see that the professor and the gang members (named after the famous cities around the world) planned to steal the gold reserves from the bank of Spain by melting them into ingots.

The Professor is aiming to destabilise the system to help release one of the gang member (Rio) who was caught in the previous heist . They have also planned on fooling one of the most technically advanced security system in the world, the flooding vault.

It is arguable that although Spain has around 280 tonnes of gold, all of it may or may not be in the country as it is a common practice for the countries to keep their gold reserves in some other nation. But let's assume all of the gold is in the country as these days many countries decide upon strengthening their gold reserves, the reason being it reduces their dependency on the US dollar.

It's also clear that gold enjoys popularity amongst the citizens as a means of safe investment and people tend to invest in instruments that do not lose value over the years. 

What does Destabilising the System Mean?

The fiat currencies used in the country have very little production cost, the value is actually pronounced by the institution. 

A 50 euro bill does not actually cost €50, but the user trusts the authorities for the bill to be actually €50 in value and the institution in returns guarantees the user that whatever happens the printed paper will be of the same value.

But what would happen if the financial institution wavers? The professor (robber's mentor) is working on the assumption that the Government of Spain won't take that risk. 

The audience has praised the series for showing us different emotional and psychological aspects of the people who are suppressed by the system, but another credible feature of the show is the insightful economics lesson that the viewers can get! 

It really does make sense that we can see economics in almost everything around us and that includes one of our most favourite Netflix shows!