Who's making money these days? Merchants with stock at the beginning of the war benefited from inflation. Not wanting to hold on to military currency, they reinvested quickly in more stock, which only went up in price again. Very few are making money through legitimate enterprises. The ones who are really cleaning up are the Buy and Sell crowd who deal with the Japanese. A few who can afford it have decided to sit out the war and keep their hands clean by not doing much, but most people will do what's necessary to feed their family.

A government employee with a family gets P60 monthly, so needs a sideline to make ends meet. As a cigarette distributor he can distribute 12 times a month (12 rations), and the profit makes up for the family budget shortfall.