Five Stories to Understand Economics.

**Story One: The Mango Scam.**
Merchants manufacture demand, drive up prices, induce herd mentality, harvest retail investors.
Translation: This is a simplified version of stock market manipulation and real estate cycles.
But reality is more complex.
Stocks have regulation, information disclosure, and short-selling mechanisms.
Real estate has policies, credit systems, and demographic structures.
It's not something one "cunning merchant" can control alone.
Key reminder.
The greatest value of this story isn't teaching you how to harvest retail investors.
It's telling you: don't believe in "guaranteed profits," don't chase "endless rallies."
Greed is human weakness—operators bet on exactly that.

**Story Two: Hardware Equipment Sales.**
Recruit 400 salespeople, base salary $100K, performance target: sell 5 units each.
Result: 30 people retained, 600 units sold, millions in profit.
The model sounds aggressive, but there's a prerequisite.
The product has real demand and genuine competitiveness.
Otherwise, 400 people can't sell anything and the boss goes bankrupt first.
A reminder for those wanting to learn "leverage."
Don't just learn tactics—learn the product.
Sales is an amplifier, not an engine.
Bad products + more tactics = faster failure.

**Story Three: Planned Obsolescence.**
Lightbulb lifespan capped at 1000 hours, phone systems get slower with updates.
This is called "covert deterioration"—sounds mystical, it's just business strategy.
But consider this.
Too high quality, companies go bankrupt.
Too low quality, brands collapse.
Finding that sweet spot is true skill.
Advice for consumers.
Don't expect products to last "a lifetime."
Don't fall for "more expensive means more durable" marketing.
Read reviews, compare specs, calculate residual value.
Rational consumption matters most.

**Story Four: Supermarket Prepayment Model.**
Load $1000, get $1000 bonus, get another $1000 cashback—lock in customers for 2 years.
1500 people recharge, $150K cash flow collected.
This model is common now.
Hair salons, gyms, restaurants all use it.
But the risks are massive.

**First risk: merchant disappears.**
You paid, the shop vanished.
High litigation costs, low recovery rate.

**Second risk: consumption lock-in.**
You think you got a deal, actually got trapped.
Go anyway or lose your money.

Life-saving advice for those considering prepayment.
**First:** don't be greedy for big discounts.
Charging $100 for $20 bonus is fine; $1000 for $1000 bonus warrants caution.
The wilder the offer, the higher the risk.

**Second:** choose established chain brands.
Small shops run cheap, big brands have reputational costs.
Better to miss some discount savings for more security.

**Story Five: Money Circulation and GDP.**
$1000 exchanged 5 times creates $5000 GDP.
Two people trade feces for checks, creating $100M GDP.
The story's extreme but the logic holds.
Cash creates value only through circulation.
"Speculation" always exists in economies.
But don't get swept along by "encourage consumption" narratives.
Capitalists want you spending because they can't profit otherwise.
Your money is your blood and sweat, not their harvest.
Spend what you should, save what you should.
Don't be hijacked by "circulation creates value."

**Final truth.**
These five stories are fundamentally "human nature + rules" games.
Greed, fear, seeking bargains, dreading losses.
These emotions are the base fuel of economic operations.
But stories are simplified; reality is complex.
Don't think you understand economics after hearing stories.
Truly economically literate people don't teach others to get rich through stories.

**Core advice for ordinary people.**
Don't think "understanding economics" guarantees wealth.
First, do your current job well and sharpen your skills.
Economic cycles rise and fall, but ability is hard currency.