Vol 5 Chapter 157: Stab

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Prime Minister MacDonald no longer had the vigor of the past. He had already paid a huge price. The cabinet had completely compromised with the consortium. As a result, the economic crisis broke out.
"Your Excellency, the Japanese government announced on October 1 that the payment of international debts will be suspended, and the stock market may continue to fall!" The Minister of Finance Pete frowned and said
Now it is not the problem of one or two defaults, but almost all the loans and debts issued by the British Empire overseas have defaulted.
This is undoubtedly worse for domestic financial institutions. Everyone’s life was difficult at first, and the bad news that came at this time was probably the last straw that crushed them.
"If you fall, then fall. Now that it is where it is now, how can the stock market fall?
The scope of the economic impact this time is so large that debt default is almost inevitable. Haven't we been prepared long ago? "Macdonald said with a wry smile
This is completely released, ready to break the jar! But there is really no good way at the moment. A dozen countries have announced debt defaults. How many independent countries are there in this era?
People don't have money and don't pay it back, but they don't have money to pay it back at all. For such a creditor, it is the most troublesome. Whatever you do, no money means no money.
The real thing is sufficient, but at this time they have to dare to accept it?
Obviously, domestic factories are piles of goods, as long as MacDonald is not stupid at this time, they will not receive these things.
"Then we have to do something, right? The British people are watching us. If it weren't for some results, I'm afraid it wouldn't make sense!" Secretary of State Rice said depressed.
"I went to visit Prime Minister Stanley. He suggested that we adopt tariff barriers, temporarily abandon our interests in Germany and Italy, and give priority to keeping our homeland!" McDonald said with a frown.
This decision is not easy. Once tariff barriers are adopted, even goods from Germany and Italy will not be allowed in, except for the capitalists behind the foundries.
Everyone knows that once this happens, it is not a problem that can be solved by stopping work for a few months. Chaos will break out in Germany and Italy, and most of their investments there will be lost.
"This is a bad idea. You can try to simply adopt trade barriers, but giving up so many overseas assets is simply killing us!" The Chancellor of the Exchequer Pete said with a grimace.
"I also know this problem, but the current domestic economic situation, if you want to get out of the economic crisis as soon as possible, this is the best way!
Most of the goods we import are from Germany and Italy. If we do not impose high tariffs on these industrial products, the so-called trade barriers will be impossible to talk about!
Our domestic market, even with colonies, cannot support so many companies, let alone the three North American countries?
Their situation is similar to that of our homeland. Now they have begun to adopt tariff barriers. If we do not abandon our soldiers to protect our commanders, I am afraid the situation will get worse! "MacDonald said with a headache
The current British Empire is a mess. If you want to get out of the economic crisis, you must make a choice. In fact, it is not impossible not to abandon the foundry in Germany and Italy, just abandon the three North American countries.
As long as the products of the three North American countries are not allowed to enter the colonies of the British Empire without restrictions, then they can slowly tide over the difficulties as in history.
But if you think about it, if you do it, then the three North American countries will part ways with the British Empire.
No one doubts that they can't do it. Once their interests are damaged, they can rebel in minutes. At that time, all the efforts of the previous two governments will be completely wiped out. No one can bear the consequences.
"Then let's do it. We can't afford to delay the current situation. In just over a month, more than 10,000 people committed suicide in London alone. I don't know how many people across the country have?
The crime rate is also rising sharply, and our prisons are already overcrowded.
Even the reasons for going to jail are all odd and strange. Some people are trying to retaliate against the society, some are trying to hide from debts, and some are simply looking for a job in charge of food!
Damn it, seeing that going to jail has become their job, you will know how bad the situation is now! "The Secretary of State Rice complained
"But in this way, those capitalists may go crazy! Moreover, the party can't get through. Don't forget who our supporters are?" Chancellor Pete said nervously.
"There is no way. If they don't go crazy, it is estimated that the people in China will go crazy first. According to the current situation, the revolution is not far away from us!
As for issues within the party, at this time, everyone should be in the same boat and the national interest is above all else! "The Secretary of State Rice retorted
"Okay, Pete, I know what you want to say. Now we are the ruling party, which is different from before. What will happen if we take measures at this time?
Don't you know it? We must take the overall situation into consideration. This time someone must sacrifice. We can find ways to make up for the losses of these capitalists, but now they must make sacrifices!
Jobs in the country must be kept, otherwise the British Empire will be ruined, and the troubled people will not reason with you! "Macdonald said very embarrassedly
Once tariff barriers are adopted, the free trade policy that the British Empire has always admired will soon be over.
Everyone is not a fool, as long as someone takes the lead, everyone will follow suit.
Governments of various countries have begun to adopt trade barriers, which is equivalent to that everyone is playing stand-alone. In the face of high tariffs, competition will become illusory.
But in the face of the crisis, who can take care of so much? The question of the future, let's talk about it in the future, at least to survive the current catastrophe?
"Well, Prime Minister! I respect your choice, but is it not enough?
In my opinion, unless the three North American countries are excluded, our market will still not be able to meet our needs, which is equivalent to doing useless work! "The Chancellor of the Exchequer Pete said hesitantly
"Of course it's not enough, what if you add the abandonment of the gold standard?" Prime Minister MacDonald said fiercely
Everyone's complexion changed drastically. Once the gold standard was abandoned, the pound sterling would immediately depreciate. More importantly, this will lose the pound's international reputation and gradually lose its status as a world currency.
"Your Excellency, you can't do this! Don't forget that this economic crisis has not affected the world, at least Bulgaria has no effect!
Once we abandon the gold standard, they will take advantage of the situation, and Lev will gradually replace the pound's international currency status, which is a big trouble! "The Chancellor of the Exchequer Pete frowned and said
"Of course I know the risk of abandoning the gold standard, just as the franc was an international currency second only to the British pound. After they gave up the gold standard, they were quickly surpassed by Lev and their influence became smaller and smaller.
But, don’t we have no choice now? After the French gave up the gold standard, they did suffer heavy losses in the long run. However, in the short term, the competitiveness of French products in the world has indeed increased, and the economy has also developed rapidly!
At this point, we can't take care of that much anymore. Let's go through the present disaster before talking about it. The rest will be discussed later! "Macdonald said with a wry smile
Well, enhancing the competitiveness of commodities is an excuse. You abandon the gold standard, and others also abandon the near-standard. Everyone is depreciating and enhancing the competitiveness of your products?
Is it better to see whose currency depreciates quickly? If it is really useful, the franc depreciated rapidly after the First World War. Has the competitiveness of French industrial and commercial products really increased?
In addition to playing a little role in the beginning, once the foreign exchange market reacted, it will immediately recover. You can't play depreciation every day, right?
The biggest effect of currency devaluation is to make money, plunder private wealth through the means of over-issued currency, and solve the government's financial problems.
It's just that these words can't be said. Why the French want to abandon the gold standard? It's not that their economy can't support it, but that the government owed too much debt during the world war.
Want to solve the debt problem, is there a better way? The situation of the British is similar now. The Southeast Asian war consumed a lot of their funds, and the high domestic welfare expenditures weighed on the government's finances.
To solve the economic crisis and create jobs, money is needed. Where do these jobs come from without money?
Including Roosevelt’s New Deal’s large-scale project construction, don’t these require government investment? You always need money to invest, right?
One of the reasons for the economic crisis is that the capital chain of certain industries is broken. At this time, besides printing money, where can the government get money?
The consortium is rich, but isn't it good for people to keep the bargaining right? Want to take it out to fill you the bottomless pit?
It is important to know that the currency circulating in the market is far less than the theoretical value of wealth. After the run crisis broke out, the bank actually has not much funds. In order to protect themselves, they must shrink their money!
Including the government bonds produced by Ferdinand, he used government guarantees to allow these bonds to circulate in the market as currency. In essence, this is also printing money.
It's just that in people's minds, the debt is not regarded as Lev, so people don't think that the government has issued additional currency and used everyone's confidence in the market to prop up the currency.
The currency supplement that was originally made when gold was insufficient has now become a kind of credit currency.
As long as the government’s credit has not collapsed and can circulate on its own in the market, and the bank is willing to endorse the debt, is there a fundamental difference between the debt and Lev?
The only pity is that this kind of bonds cannot be issued in large quantities. Once they exceed the market capacity, they will impact Lev's position and cause uncontrollable consequences.
History is always full of coincidences. The Macdonald cabinet still adopted the same policy to deal with this economic crisis.
On October 15, 1929, the London government announced the implementation of a new tariff policy. All foreign goods entering the British market will be subject to a super high tariff of 50%.
On October 16, the London government announced that it would abandon the gold standard. The value of the British pound was no longer linked to gold. The world was in an uproar!
Sofia
After receiving the news of the British raising tariffs, the faces of the Bulgarian cabinet were not getting better, and obviously the most worried situation has happened.
"Prime Minister, since the British have raised tariffs, are you ready to respond?" Ferdinand asked lightly
"Your Majesty, we have decided to also raise tariffs on imported British goods to retaliate!" Constantine said with a grim expression.
The British Empire is now Bulgaria's second largest trading partner, and Bulgaria is the largest trading partner of the British Empire. Once the two sides break up, everyone will not have a good life.
But the British still raised tariffs, so it became inevitable for them to compete against each other, and the trade between the two countries was about to be suspended.
"Then everyone will improve together! Anyway, we are not a country where foreign trade eats. As long as we stabilize the domestic market, we can bear it without the British market!" Ferdinand thought for a while and said
Losing the British market is actually not that terrible. Even if tariffs are raised, it is impossible for all products to be blocked.
Bulgaria's products do not rely on volume to win. Many high-profit products can also be sold. This is the difference between an industrial power and a copycat power.
It is not profitable to resist commodities, and now it is impossible to enter the UK market. However, the high-end products produced by Ferdinand specifically for the wealthy can also enter and exit freely.
Just like later generations, a certain country has to pay 40% to 50% of the tax on imported cars, and the result is that it sells very well. It is nothing more than adding taxes to consumers.
Now it’s no exception, ordinary goods can’t be sold anymore. In fact, even if the British don’t raise tariffs, they can’t sell them anymore. The people don’t have money anymore. What can they buy?
On the contrary, the sales impact of luxury goods is not very large. Some people lose money in the stock market crash, and some make money, and there are not a few outbreaks.
Shorting the stock market is not big news. How can there be no smart people doing it? No matter how the economy deteriorates, there are still many rich people.
The one million people with the most purchasing power have not actually decreased much. With the advantage of information, these people can always be one step ahead and avoid the crisis.
However, Ferdinand was still very upset. For a long time, overseas trade was not profitable, and he might have to lose money.
The profits gained from exporting high-end commodities must be used to make up for losses in other fields, and enterprises must reduce production and restructure, all of which require investment.
In the next three to five years, the world economy will not be too good. It is impossible for him to stop the production of factories and other markets to pick up. He must enter new industries to capture profits. This is the instinct of capitalists.
"Your Majesty, in addition to raising tariffs, we can actually retaliate in other ways, such as North America!" Foreign Secretary Metjeev proposed.
"You mean to instigate the independence of the three North American countries? This may be difficult. The British are not stupid, so how can they be unprepared?" Ferdinand shook his head and said
"Of course not, but we can add barriers to the British. The three countries in North America have their own government teams. We don't need to do anything else. We just need to build momentum in public opinion and let them raise tariffs!
Including several other dominions can also do the same, let them increase the tariffs within the Commonwealth, after all, according to the current situation, some states actually suffer economically! "Medev analyzes
The circulation of goods within the Commonwealth is also subject to taxation, but for example, it is much lower outside, and there are a series of preferential policies.
Now Medev’s plan is to take advantage of the uneven development and uneven distribution of interests among states to encourage them to set tariffs. Whether it succeeds in the end, it can make the London government mess around for a while.
"Then give it a try. I will let the intelligence department cooperate. If I want to do it, I will do it a bit bigger!
There are independent organizations in the three countries of North America. We secretly fund them a little money, and we also give a set of independent nation-building secrets, let them go to trouble! "Ferdinand said lightly
If you don't stab each other, are they still imperialist countries?
The British raised the tariffs all at once and caught Bulgarian by surprise. There was no news in advance. It was clear that they were hiding evil intentions. Ferdinand would naturally respond.
"Your Majesty, actually making a fuss about the currency, the blow to the British is even more serious!" The Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy proposed.
"You mean, we will start a currency war now?" Ferdinand asked suspiciously
"Of course not. As long as the British Empire remains the world's hegemon, the position of the pound will not be easily shaken.
Now that the British have given up on the gold standard, the pound must depreciate, so let's make the depreciation of the pound faster! Kennedy suggested
Ferdinand nodded. It is indeed not easy to destroy the pound's position immediately, but to make the pound depreciate faster, this is simple~EbookFREE.me~ as long as the market loses confidence in the pound, the pound depreciates The speed will be beyond imagination, so after a while, are you still willing to hold a large amount of pounds?
Just like the last time the franc depreciated, according to the French plan, the franc was slowly depreciated, and the currency value was reduced by half within three years. In the end, it depreciated three times in one year.
The market’s confidence in the franc collapsed. Governments of various countries dumped the franc. The French government had to take over. The number of francs in international circulation was greatly reduced. In the end, the currency value reached one tenth of its original value before it stabilized.
Now the feng shui turns, this time it is the British turn. If the pound depreciates ten times, no Ferdinand needs to do anything, and the status of the international currency will naturally collapse.
Anyone who sees a one-time depreciated currency in his hand, dare not hold it for a long time?
Governments, whether they want it or not, for the sake of safety, they must reduce their holdings of sterling foreign exchange and exchange them for a more stable international currency.
If there is no currency that can be competed, that's fine. Everyone will admit it through grit, but is there still Lev here?
Everyone knows that the levy’s currency value is terribly stable. Unlike countries such as Britain and France, their people have no deposits in their hands and their currency depreciates.
The Bulgarian people have not given up the tradition of deposits, let alone the concept of advanced consumption. If anyone dares to depreciate Lev at this time, they must first ask them if they agree!
Against this background, the international market has always had strong confidence in Lev, and it is now the second largest currency system in the world.
"This matter is left to your Ministry of Finance. Be cautious. At this time, the British may be prepared and take a few allies together!" Ferdinand said after thinking about it.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Kennedy replied
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