The Frisbys have been growing money for ten years on their island farm, and George has nearly perfected the art. Jane tolerates the temperamental money tree while worrying about its legality and her family’s safety. She also worries about the children.
Daffy (18) is torn between careers in terrorism and economics (“How do we get from bad money to good money without going through hyperinflation?”), while 12-year-old Mike divides the world into soakers and soakees and wants to franchise the money tree.
For ten years, the Frisbys have been harvesting their annual crop, and flawless Frisby dollars have been circulating freely. Then the Secret Service takes notice, and when forensic analysis proves dollars can be grown on trees, agents begin a rapid but stealthy search for the source, a search that soon turns international.
Examining the stability of our monetary system, The Money Tree explores old money like silver coinage and new digital currencies like Bitcoin. At heart, though, this is a story of a close-knit family and its island neighbors.