Chapter 10 Excessive proportion of the financial industry is a sign of decay

Explain the cause of the crisis in one sentence: do not work and want to live in a big house Many people in China say that the United States is very powerful, incredibly powerful, and they still say so today. These people include both rightists and leftists.The rightists are very happy to say that the United States is still so powerful, and there is nothing wrong with it.For example, if the U.S. Congress passed a $700 billion bailout plan some time ago, they would say that the U.S. government and the American people can still respond appropriately; This is a victory for democracy, a victory for the Constitution.Not only rightists and leftists, but also many nationalists, they are also very afraid of the United States, and they don't have a clear understanding of the situation in the United States.They said that these are actually conspiracy of the United States, to get money from China and other countries. After the money from China and other countries is put in, nothing will happen to the United States.Many leftists and nationalists think this way. This is also a very stupid idea. The United States is really not as good as imagined.In fact, the US financial crisis does reflect that the problems facing American society are also very huge.

In fact, the cause of the US financial crisis is very simple, not as complicated as those people who play mystification say.Many truths in the world are actually very simple, and some people like to play tricks on them.There are two reasons for mystification: first, I have no knowledge at all, and I don’t have any insights, so I want to pretend to be knowledgeable and thoughtful; second, I want to lead people to the wrong way and profit from it.In fact, be it the subprime mortgage crisis or the US trade deficit, to put it bluntly, Americans consume too much and produce too little, forming a gap.Exchange is also included here, and it is not enough for the things produced to be exchanged through international trade.We all know that matter is immortal, and there is no such thing as a pie falling from the sky.How to fill this gap?One is to rob, and the other is to cheat.Let’s talk about robbing first. The United States not only robbed, but also robbed a lot, but the efficiency of its robbing is too low.Why is grabbing so inefficient?I think it's because I want to rob but I don't have the guts.This point was fully reflected in the Iraq war. An American soldier would take hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and millions of dollars in equipment.

Just such a number is still unbalanced.Of course liberals will say that the United States is too benevolent.If you are truly benevolent, you will not rob them, and if you are truly benevolent, you will not hide far away, in a very safe place, and kill hundreds of thousands of civilians like playing a game.The efficiency of robbing is low, the gain outweighs the loss, the gap still cannot be filled, and the remaining trick is to cheat.How to lie?The use of financial tools is the so-called currency war.Lie, this is okay in the short term, but definitely not in the long run. I think this financial crisis embodies the total rot in American society from top to bottom.Now the common people in the United States are outraged, saying that the crisis is the fault of those bastards on Wall Street and the Bush administration.But in all fairness, what about the American people?You do so little work, and you don't have that kind of money at all. Why do you live in a big house?Now the American people say that those businessmen lied to them, and made an interesting analogy: those people on Wall Street are drug dealers, we are drug addicts, drug addicts are victims, most of them go to drug rehabilitation centers, and drug dealers should be sentenced .This is a very common speech I have seen among ordinary people in the United States.But to be honest, they are not completely fooled, they just want to live in a big house without working.

American society is indeed decaying.Song Xiaojun said: American elites' perception of American power is not commensurate with its real power, and the result is that they are unable to do what they want when they grab it.For example, an old man like me saw a pair of dumbbells. When I was young, it was not a big problem to lift 100 times, so I also lift it now, but my waist flashed in one fell swoop. You can't listen to the "financial warriors" fooling you, the manufacturing industry is the right way Once upon a time, there was a popular saying in China: the manufacturing industry is done by people with low IQ and low level, and the result is laborious and all the benefits are taken away by others; Win the financial war.The representative is Song Hongbing.They will cite all kinds of data to illustrate how "losing" China is in manufacturing.As far as the economic development strategy and even people's value orientation are concerned, there is nothing more harmful to the country and the people than this statement.It is necessary for me to take a moment to specify that manufacturing is the true source of a nation's wealth and power.

Let us first imagine such a scenario: you provide me with goods and work for me every day, and I just give you a white note. As for how much goods or services this white note can be exchanged for, I have the final say.I should be happy then, right?But the strange thing is, I'm very unhappy, I knock on your door every day, saying that I don't want to make a white note, I would like to give you goods, work for you, it is best to reverse, I will give you more goods , do more work, you give me an IOU.Where did this scene happen?Is it the "gentlemen's country" in China?Let me tell you, this is what has happened in international trade for hundreds of years.This is the fact that in international trade, people want a surplus rather than a deficit.In the history of economic thought, this is called "mercantilism."So, are all people gentlemen in international trade?Just look at the anxious and pale faces of each of them, and you will know that they are not gentlemen who give each other benefits, but villains who are only interested in profit.What is the reason for such a strange thing?It can't be that for hundreds of years, so many extremely cunning elites in various countries are being stupid, right?Many people have not seriously thought about this question.I asked my old friend Huang Jisu if he had thought about this issue, and he replied: It is true that he felt a little strange about it, but he felt that he did not study economics, so he did not pursue it further.The problem is that today's economics textbooks wrap students' minds with ever-more-complex theories and avoid such obvious oddities.If you ask me, there is a hidden benefit calculation that people are unwilling to put on the table: I give you things and work for you today, it seems that you are taking advantage, but after a long time, I will make you lazy , I’ve grown useless, but I’m getting stronger and stronger. At that time, I can go to your house, take away all your things, and even turn you into my slave.

My way of speaking is not included in economics textbooks, and it seems to be a "conspiracy theory" fabricated by my own overly rich imagination.In fact, as early as more than 200 years ago, Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, submitted the "Report on Manufacturing Industry" to Congress, clearly pointing out that "not only the wealth of a country, but also the independence and security of a country are all related to the manufacturing industry." prosperity are greatly linked".Congress did not pass this report in the end, but the United States has followed this idea to a certain extent for a long time.If Hamilton has not made clear what I said about the open and secret struggle between countries, the British have completely stated this issue nakedly. After the end of the American-British War in 1812, British merchants did not hesitate to dump goods to North America at a price below cost, while the British Parliament and the government actively supported it. Lord Brougham said in the House of Commons: In order to make the United States produce during the war The naive manufacturing industry was strangled in the cradle, even if it suffered some losses in the initial large-scale exports, it was worth it.Of course, man is not as good as God, and the wishful thinking of the British did not succeed: it was precisely the economic blockade of the United States caused by Britain's hostility and war that made the American manufacturing industry grow stronger.But what must be explained here is that China’s trade surplus with the United States is by no means the result of the Chinese calculating the United States—China’s elites really don’t have the brains and courage, but the result of the United States’ own greed, old age, and failure to live up to expectations.China has made the greedy, old, and unworthy America a little more comfortable, and even sharpened their swords for those who have no courage. They should thank us.Some netizens came to my blog and imagined that the financial crisis in the United States was a far-sighted operation of the Chinese government, which is really outrageous.

Hamilton's thought and the practice of the United States in adolescence, Liszt's thought and the practice of Germany's adolescence, and even the economic thought and practice of Japan and South Korea later put manufacturing in a country's prosperity, and even independence and Safety comes first.To put it simply, if a country can get rich through production, it is the best strategy—of course, the best strategy is to produce and do business with a sword; while opening a casino and getting rich by cheating money is the worst strategy (if it is to open a casino with a sword, it can be upgraded to The worst policy) is a last resort.After the financial crisis, the United States is now calling for a return to the real economy such as manufacturing.However, the United States today is old, and its citizens are used to being pampered and unable to work. It is not easy to return to the real economy!But in terms of economic vitality, our China is just young, why should we ignore the best policy, or even fail to implement the best policy, instead of learning the old and bad policy of the United States?

By no means am I saying that we should give the Americans nearly two trillion dollars of our hard earned foreign exchange reserves to corrupt them.If we can use this money to improve people's lives, develop large aircraft, develop space programs, develop nuclear submarines, missiles and aircraft carriers, of course it will be better.Now, a lot of the money has been cheated by others in the "financial war", what should we do?It is definitely not to fight a "financial war" and cheat the money back, but to avoid the "financial war" at all, concentrate intelligence, material and financial resources on the manufacturing field, improve manufacturing technology, and make China further prosperous and strong.

There is also a question to be answered here: If we can also gain money from the financial market at the same time, wouldn’t it be better to use it in the right place?My answer is that we really don't have the ability.Gambling in the international financial market, some individuals in China can make a fortune, but our country is doomed to lose.In addition to lacking the ability and experience to fight financial wars, we also lack the ability to supervise our "financial fighters", and we cannot stop them from spending public money for personal gain. Here, we must no longer be fooled by those "financial warriors".Some "financial warriors" are on stage, and they are fooling us into continuing to fight this "financial war" so that they can make more money.For them, we should ask: How have you done in the past?How much money of the country have you lost and how much private wealth have you made?Why can we trust you this time?These "financial warriors" on the stage may as well be called "ghost financial warriors".There are also some "financial fighters" in the audience, and they are also fooling us into continuing to fight the "financial war". It's just that we say that those "financial fighters" can't do it, so can we just replace them?I don't think we have any reason to believe them either, these people are "hungry financial fighters" and they probably look worse than "fed financial fighters".

Professor Wang Shaoguang from the Chinese University of Hong Kong said: "The closure of the US financial market will not hinder economic development. It is only speculation, it is speculative and risk-taking, and it does not care about wealth creation. It can make the world's time-honored stock market funds close down even more Faster. The essence of financial capital is exploitation and deceit. At least, more people around the world are farming, building houses, building roads, doing research, teaching, acting in movies, opening restaurants..." Although the words are extreme A little bit, but the general direction is right.To be honest, even Sister Fu Rong has contributed more to mankind than those "financial warriors": at least she entertained us.Allowing "financial warriors" to enjoy the best material treatment is itself a sign of social decay.In a healthy society, those who enjoy the best material treatment should firstly be scientists, engineers, defenders of the motherland, and entrepreneurs engaged in industry, followed by superb technicians, craftsmen, agronomists, teachers, cooks, and excellent Actors, athletes, writers, editors, reporters, etc., because all of these people contribute more to society than the so-called "financial warriors".It is a pity that the decaying America has done the opposite, and we have learned from the United States wrongly.

We can no longer listen to those "financial warriors" fooling around, no matter whether they are on stage or off stage, whether they are full or hungry.Listen to them, dozens of aircraft carriers will disappear; listen to them, our space station and moon landing will disappear; listen to them, tens of millions of family houses will disappear; listen to them, hundreds of millions of farmers a year The income flicker is gone. I am not trying to completely deny the existence of financial markets.The original meaning of the financial market is not to gamble, but to help the real economy allocate resources.This is what is said in Western economics textbooks.However, judging from the actual situation in the United States, which is said to be the most "developed" and "standardized" and has long been our model for progress, the financial market has not played a role in optimizing resource allocation.The emergence of this financial crisis has proved very convincingly that what it actually does is to degrade the allocation of resources and invest money in places that should not be invested. The financial market has become a big casino where scammers run rampant.The financial market will continue to exist, but major reforms must be made.For example, the types of financial products must be greatly reduced, and only some of the most necessary parts for the allocation of resources in the real economy must be retained; the intermediate links of housing loans must be greatly reduced, and only scattered funds in the society are allowed to be deposited in banks, and then banks are loaned to house buyers. . Taking the road of heavy production and abolishing gambling, avoiding financial wars, and returning to the real economy is a healthy economic road applicable to all countries in the world.But the United States may not be able to leave, but we can, because the United States is old, but we are still young. Here we might as well look at some lessons from the world.First up is Iceland.Until 1973, Iceland was classified as a developing country in the classification of the World Bank. In the 1980s, it suddenly developed by playing with finance (similar to those illegal fund-raising cases in China). In 2007, it ranked first in the United Nations Human Development Index-this The United Nations is also doing nonsense.Its GDP per capita is US$50,000 (before bankruptcy, of course), which is much higher than that of Japan.Today, under the shock of the world financial crisis, it is vulnerable, the country is bankrupt, and owes foreign debts equal to seven times its GDP, that is, even if it can cheat money as it used to (which is simply not possible), It is also necessary to cheat for seven years without eating or drinking to repay the debt.Many people in the UK, and even government departments such as the police, have been defrauded of huge amounts of property by Iceland, so the UK invoked the Anti-Terrorism Act to freeze Iceland's assets. Britain itself, however, followed in Iceland's footsteps.Recently, the news from the United Kingdom itself is that the United Kingdom may become the second Iceland, and the entire country will go bankrupt.This is of course an exaggeration. The United Kingdom is still much stronger than Iceland, but the nature of the problem is still similar, but the degree is different.In Britain today, the only place with any dynamism is the financial sector, and that's not always going to work. Rome in history is a typical example of relying on deceit and robbery without production, and the final result is clear to everyone.Rome is still an old cucumber in the later period, and there is no way to do it. At most, it is just a bit of culture. All the production is done abroad. The ships that arrive at the port of Rome are fully loaded and leave empty.The United States is not as old as Rome. After all, it is still producing things, such as our airplanes, and the key chips of our computers are still produced in the United States.Rome does not produce material things, but only culture, which is on the verge of decline.Now there is another group of people who say how important the cultural industry is, and that making money from the cultural industry is the best.This is actually a question mark.When you can only use the cultural industry to make money, you are almost old and dying.Of course, this is not something you can do if you want to: if you don’t have the section of gherkins and the vigorous manufacturing industry in front of you, it’s not your turn to make money with the cultural industry.There must be a hard part of the very brilliant manufacturing industry before we can use the cultural industry to make money. After the hard work is over, we can be soft. We must have hard power before we can have soft power.But when the hard ones are emptied and only the soft ones remain, they are about to die.What did we see later in Rome?You can only produce culture, not goods, and sooner or later there will be a big gap, what should I do?Still going to grab it.The situation in Rome is of course worse than that in the United States today: in the end, the citizens of Rome were unwilling to rob, not because of their conscience, but because they were afraid of death, hardship, and tiredness, and they had to rely on foreign mercenaries to rob them.In the end, the foreigner said that I simply robbed you of Rome. In fact, we should use this kind of naked and straightforward language to explain the principles of economics clearly.