Chapter 1777 Queen of Hell (48)

Many young people who first arrive in New York will feel this way when they see the bustling metropolis: If you arrive in New York, you will conquer the world.

You may have to experience something before you realize that things you once took for granted are not so natural.

How come the American police don't have the obligation to protect people from criminals? That's not how it is played on TV at all.

Maybe the process of police solving crimes in movies is very exciting, using a lot of high technology or psychological analysis, which is almost miraculous. However, the crime solving rate of American police is indeed not high.

As long as a case is not filed, the number in the denominator will become smaller, which is also a way to increase the detection rate. What's more, the laws on sentencing vary from state to state. Some states retain the death penalty, while others do not. A good lawyer can help law enforcement officers

All the hard-earned evidence became useless, and the interstate case handover process was no different from cross-border cases, which invisibly made it more difficult to solve the case.

The obstacles brought by the administration and the judiciary have restricted the hands of the police. Moreover, the American political system does not support dictators. Many dictators will use the power of the judiciary and the police to eradicate dissidents, unless a citizen is a tainted witness in a major case.

The police will provide safe houses and protect people, and they will also forge new identities to live elsewhere. The probability of this happening is so low that it can almost become a movie theme. Only when a citizen is killed, the police will use criminal

The criminals were arrested and shot based on the case.

Anyone who agrees with the rules of this game must vouch for what the authorities do. If you feel unsafe, you can buy a gun. It is legal to own a gun in the United States. Of course, New York State is a Democratic Party and is against gun ownership. They think

When encountering robbers, they would rather compete with each other with fists than compete with cowboys with guns.

Would those polite-looking white-collar workers who go in and out of office buildings, carrying briefcases, fight with gang members whose arms are as thick as their thighs?

People aspire to be white-collar workers not only because of their dignity, but also because of the working environment. At least Manhattan office buildings will not turn into battlefields in the Persian Gulf, or mines where they may be buried alive underground at any time.

In March, BP's oil field in Texas exploded. The company had known for several years that there were serious aging and safety problems in the refinery equipment. But every successful company must control costs, relative to replacement.

With aging equipment, companies are more willing to risk production until the refinery explodes.

Gall has gone to the United States to deal with this matter. Although BP is now a subsidiary of American Petroleum Company, and the Malfoys also have industries there, as early as last year, there were refinery workers claiming, "I won't survive today."

And this is a common phenomenon.

Originally, people working in office buildings did not have to worry about this problem, but the 9/11 incident made this sense of security disappear, and they were always enveloped in the dark cloud of "the king of terror descending from the sky."

Before the incident, Merrill Lynch had an entire floor in the World Trade Center as offices, as well as Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. After the building collapsed, the company was rebuilt and the homeless man could continue working elsewhere in Merrill Lynch.

But he eventually became a homeless man and had to rely on an immigrant who didn't speak English and was also homeless to cut his hair and shave his hair so that he wouldn't look as slovenly as other homeless people.

Let's call the homeless man Yamazaki, which is essentially the same name as the Pentagon source who did not want to be named. His area of ​​responsibility was related to the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

In layman's terms, the operating model of this bank is that the government takes money from taxpayers and gives it to the Export-Import Bank, and the Export-Import Bank gives the money to "obedient" companies, such as Company B and

Company G, when other countries want to buy aircraft from Company B, will promise to return the money to Company B and repay the Export-Import Bank loan at a lower than market interest rate.

Wait, why did the Export-Import Bank and Company B agree?

Yamazaki Sankai said that Company B is not the only aircraft manufacturing company in the United States, but Company B has a "special relationship" with the Pentagon. If these orders are given to Company B, other companies will not receive orders, and the shareholders of Company B can get

Some other producers can also create benefits, and Company B will receive import and export subsidies from the U.S. Treasury Department, which are also issued by the Export-Import Bank. In order to manufacture more aircraft, Company B will create a few limited jobs for those who can

People who find other jobs.

So won’t this create a monopoly? What should small and medium-sized import and export companies do?

Yamazaki Sanhui said that the Export-Import Bank must spend 10% of the fees on small trading companies every year. Of course, these small companies are also dependent on Company B, either its upstream raw material suppliers or downstream service providers. This has formed this

The emergence of the system is related to Roosevelt's New Deal in 1934. At that time, the president was planning to provide funding for enterprises exporting to the Soviet Union. However, some private financiers saw that the new Soviet government refused to recognize the debts left by the former tsarist regime, so they were unwilling to provide these funds to the Soviet Union.

Provide financing to exporting companies. On the other hand, New Deal implementers sensed opportunities and the accompanying business benefits, so they asked the Treasury Department to provide credit to these international traders, especially since many other countries and individuals were unwilling to finance transactions with the United States.

Although the subsequent political situation caused the Soviet Union's trade loan project to abort, the Export-Import Bank was retained. At that time, the bank's first business was to allow Cuba to purchase silver. Since then, the bank has continued to implement loans with political overtones.

For example, the railway industry and the heavy equipment industry provide credit. However, with the rise of Japan, the American excavator Company K encountered Komatsu as a competitor. Due to efficiency issues, Company K had to lay off employees. At that time, the chairman of Company K was named

Lee Morgan, there was a very famous trumpet player in the 1960s who also had this name.

But he is that Morgan.

Yamazaki-san said, yes, that Morgan, he and his friends talked about this topic while playing golf together, and then they collectively lobbied the government and asked the government to introduce policies to force the yen to appreciate.

What about the Export-Import Bank? What can’t they do?

Yamazaki-san said that for the Export-Import Bank to offer low-interest loans, foreigners must come to the United States to purchase goods. At that time, the Bank of Japan also followed the model of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and opened the Export-Import Bank of Japan, which provided almost the same services. But by the mid-1960s,

, they transferred export loans for complete sets of equipment to the development of overseas resources.

To make way for the Americans?

Yamazaki-san said that even though the Japanese have done this, they still can't compete with American products, so they can only start with the exchange rate. Labor costs in the United States are too high, and taxes are also high. I once filed taxes for a dual-income family, and their income was as much as

It has increased by 224% compared to 1977, but taxes have increased by 340%. Europeans will not sympathize with Americans on the tax issue. Europe has always occupied a much larger share of national income than the US government. Most Europeans

The per capita tax payment is higher than that of Americans, but even so, the U.S. tax system is still the greediest. In 2000, the government collected US$3 trillion in taxes and spread it equally among 275 million men, women, and children.

Each person has to pay $11,000. The revolutionaries during the Revolutionary War shouted the slogan "No taxation without representation" when taxes were very low. Workers have no representation in Congress. In contrast, the tax rate for the rich is

If it is very low, they will try every means to evade taxes.

How did the government deal with it?

Yamazaki-san said that the Internal Revenue Service has added more than 3,000 employees who can carry out arrests with guns. During Prohibition, there was Al Capone, the leader of the Chicago gang. He had numerous blood debts, but was eventually arrested for tax evasion. Those

People have the power to tax, which means that if you refuse to pay taxes, you will be hurt. The United States is loose in other aspects and is absolutely unambiguous in tax collection, especially when the government is short of money. They refused to pay taxes to the French in the early days of the founding of the country.

During the Great Depression, they asked the new Soviet government for loans owed by the previous government. But now, unlike during the Great Depression, tax money was not used for infrastructure. Not only New York, but infrastructure across the United States needed to be renovated. However, the government and

Construction contractors signing contracts would make military contractors unhappy. Ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt convened a meeting of dozens of employers and union members in Washington, demanding that they not initiate lockouts or strikes during the war if

Unresolvable disputes could be handed over to the state for intervention. At that time, military expenditure accounted for 40% of the gross national product. Many outstanding businessmen resigned and took the initiative to provide free services to the government.

Is it really free?

Yamazaki-san said that the vast majority of participants in the National Reconstruction Agency are followers of Rockefeller and DuPont. These people deal with labor unions and large customers such as the Army and Navy, just like geishas among snowflakes, governments and contractors.

Because they have become increasingly close, the contract price set is no longer binding and can be changed at any time. It can be modified at will to avoid losses. The only important thing is to maintain the operation of the production line, and in this process, the only loss is the taxpayer, because

They have no representatives in the government. In addition, their patriotic enthusiasm is high. The United States may not have dictators who are good at speaking on radio and television, but the National Recovery Administration uses the methods of dictators to incite workers in factories.

Labor enthusiasm, this kind of group composed of private interest groups, government supervision, spending and lending departments, and congressional policy oversight subcommittees will emerge in a state of crisis, and all forces that block the interests of the society, whether macro or micro, will be silenced

Eliminate traces, Kennedy said in a 1961 television speech, beware of secret societies. They will use announcements to enhance social security to expand the power of covert official censorship agencies. Cost is not a problem, secrets will not be revealed, and the military economy

Societies are eager to hide everything, and the defense sector consumes huge resources. On the one hand, the government exerts ubiquitous influence on these private contractor companies, and on the other hand, these companies use various means to participate in the rotation of personnel from advisory boards to the Pentagon.

To influence the military establishment, you can think of it as a constantly rotating, never-ending door between big suppliers and the Pentagon. Every year, thousands of senior military officers retire and quickly find a position in the defense industry.

Executives in companies will also leave their jobs to serve as senior military officers in the Pentagon. This personnel exchange is not limited to the Pentagon and contractors. Research institutions, consultants and congressional staff are also involved. In this case, they can easily

Forget who you are working for, whether it is themselves or the United States. To a large extent, the performance of weapons designed by contractors has already met military needs. If the weapon system design is approved, the contract will be awarded, but this research and development process sometimes takes a long time.

.

So, the Ex-Im Bank needs to pay taxpayers' money to those contractors to develop new systems and then use export goods as a cover?

Yamazaki-san said that increasing military spending will bring about great resistance. Increasing credit from the Export-Import Bank and improving previous export controls can lead to more trade and employment opportunities. Before September 11, someone proposed an open and transparent audit and a 24% reduction in imports.

The export bank budget is used to reduce corporate welfare. After 9/11, these attacks disappeared. Do you still remember the 10% corporate trade subsidy mentioned just now? They not only have to play the role of landing goods, but also take risks that private companies will not take.

It risks entering the fields that are the most competitive for U.S. companies and most protected by foreign governments. It is also responsible for increasing the amount of funding and expanding the scale of credit to ensure that U.S. exporters are in a dominant position in the international market.

Are you an auditor?

Yamazaki-san smiled and said, "If I were, I would be dead. Military contractors are the source of everything. Raising automobile and import tariffs will not only not protect the U.S. automobile manufacturing industry, but will also bring greater risks. European unions than

The power of American unions is even greater. The income tax the French levy on the rich is 75%. High welfare and high labor costs have led to a decline in the competitiveness of goods. A large number of manpower has begun to move to government departments and strategic resource companies. France’s unemployment rate

It has always been higher than that in the United States. Unemployment is a norm for the French, but young people in France are more willing to find jobs in the UK across the Taiwan Strait than in large companies like Alstom, because compared to the jobs created by the government

Opportunities, they are more afraid of losing the ability to work and never being able to work.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a stable job?

Yamazaki-san said that every work experience should make a person stronger. Alstom's recruitment expansion caters to the needs of some French people who expect smart bureaucrats to solve their employment problems, but it has led to a serious problem of bloated institutions.

Reducing the competitiveness of enterprises, young people are worried that they will be laid off and they will lose their competitiveness in employment. Long-term unemployment will cause employers to be very picky about such people and become social aliens. The French call the British and American social model the Anglo

Saxon model, doing so is tantamount to political suicide. They will not take the risk of rebuilding the national economic system and transform to the Anglo-Saxon model, pushing the unemployed into the fire pit, but they will not eliminate the people who should be eliminated. These people will make the organization bloated.

, unable to deal with the elite beach-breaking forces of Britain and the United States. This gap will only be eliminated when one of the parties changes its policy, otherwise the gap between Western Europe and Britain and the United States will always exist.

Which model do you think is better?

Yamazaki-san said, I read a book written by a Frenchman and thought there was a sentence he said very well.

What did he say?

Yamazaki-san said that the people do not long for freedom, they just hate their king. When all of us are enslaved, we are all equal. On the contrary, freedom creates inequality. The passion for equality can inspire the weak to become the strong.

Desire can also make the weak attack the strong and reduce the strong to their own level. If I were not the one who was pushed into the pit of fire, I would think the Anglo-Saxon model is better.

Is it just because of your situation that you changed your perspective?

Yamazaki-san said, if I were young, I would long for the equality of opportunity that Americans want. Now that I am old, what I want is equality of results. Unfortunately, the house is not milk. It will disappear if you pour it out, otherwise there will be no streets.

There will be so many empty houses, tempting me to break in and live in them.
Chapter completed!