Commentary It was the summer of 1919 when the idea came to him. He had endured multiple business failures in the past, but he was sure this one would change everything. He had received a query in the mail from a prospective client in Spain. Included in that letter was an international reply coupon (IRC). IRCs were prepaid coupons that could be sent from a person in one country to someone in another, and be redeemed by the latter for reply postage in the local currency. He realized that these coupons were bought and sold in the local currency and that if you could buy them in a country with a distressed economy, you could redeem them in the United States at a profit. Basically, an arbitrage trade. All he needed were funds to make it happen. A New ‘Industry’ is Born So Charles Ponzi and an army of salesmen, …