Chapter 43: The Darn Economy

The economic crisis sparked by the Americans was ravaging the globe. If it wasn't for being thoroughly outmatched, the Americans would definitely be beaten to a pulp by now. This economic crisis was peculiar; central banks in various countries were utterly helpless. Generally speaking, when inflation causes a crisis, tightening the money supply would do the trick. A crisis caused by deflation could be solved by increasing liquidity. This time was different. Both inflation and deflation were hitting simultaneously, putting all central banks in a hot seat. In such a contradictory crisis, one can only tackle one issue. The Federal Reserve seemed to intend to address inflation first. To some extent, this was akin to a shock therapy. If handled well, it could lead to a rebirth from the ashes. If poorly managed, then everyone had better prepare for war, which would be the last resort to boost the economy, to be avoided unless absolutely necessary. The current inflation was triggered by their withdrawal from the Bretton Woods system, which had already devalued the dollar significantly. Another devaluation might lead to allies drifting away. This decision wasn't easy. The economy was already in bad shape, and if the money supply was tightened further, numerous businesses and farmers would go bankrupt. Any chance of re-election for the current leadership would be a dream, as everyone would "vote with their feet." In this economic environment, making fewer drastic moves and earning money quietly was the wisest path. ... William White was already envied enough. Earning over a 100 million easily, he made others look bad. Almost every Hollywood giant lost money that year, so it was better for him to keep a low profile. Toronto wasn't as hot, and the mornings and evenings were quite comfortable. Since this was a deluxe version of Home Alone, the props couldn't be too simple. The two unlucky burglars did look comical, provoking an urge to smack them. These two might have been in luck, as their $200,000 salary was quite decent. The most important part of this movie was the kid. Some people are just born to be actors, like this boy today, whose big eyes were full of life. With such a lively character in the crew, calmness was impossible. William White didn't mind and indulged the boy's mischief. Sometimes he thought about how the boy must get scolded when he got home -- never had he seen such a mischievous child. With prior experience, filming this time went smoother. They didn't have to hire outside photographers, so things were more obediently arranged. ... The American economy had fallen into shock, with unemployment numbers terrifyingly high. Factories closed almost daily, and dispossessed farmers were everywhere. Not everything was dire, though. The semiconductor industry was doing quite well, with stock prices even seeing some gains. Americans had insane luck. Though things seemed terrible on the surface and economic negative growth appeared possible... The GDP really couldn't drop to negative growth. A slight decrease was manageable, but negative growth would lead to big trouble. Remember, taking out inflation, the economy was drastically regressing. Looking back from future generations, this American economic crisis was actually great; it wiped out backward industries, at least a good chunk of them. Without this crisis, eliminating outdated capacity would have been impossible. Closing factories at such times left unions powerless. Owners didn't wish or choose to stop, but playing the game became impossible. Arguments were futile since the owners were bankrupt, rendering further actions pointless. "Master, several farms around are willing to sell," Fulton reported with a solemn expression. "If they really want to sell, we'll buy them at a fair price. No need to press too hard." "Understood, Master. That's about all we can do," Fulton replied. "Yeah, it's hard to sell agricultural products, so expand the vineyard," suggested the young master. "But Master, wine sales aren't promising this year, and our stock is already quite large," Fulton said, worry evident on his face. "It'll pass eventually; wine doesn't spoil easily," the young master reassured. Fulton didn't question the young master's judgment, given his many success stories. Besides, the wine wasn't a big deal, being self-made and thus cheap to produce. Selling their farms to William White allowed them a chance to start over, whereas losing them to banks meant doom. White's farms weren't profitable; there might even be losses this year. But William White didn't care about these earnings. Once the economy improved, the land wouldn't be this cheap. The location was good, not far from Houston. Once the economy picked up, the investments would pay off. He wasn't short on cash anyway. Office software sales were doing very well, and given the current trend, next year's valuation wouldn't be low. Next year was an election year in America, and everyone would definitely push this new industry hard. ... Aside from high-tech, other sectors were laying off workers. Everyone felt helpless about the situation, merely waiting for dark times to pass. Of course, there were exceptions. Japan had it pretty good, with both exports and domestic economy doing fine, which frustrated America. This young sibling's rapid rise needed suppression. IBM still planned to test White Software's stance. Even if a full acquisition couldn't be achieved, they hoped to buy some shares. William White was also quite hesitant about IBM's probing. To have better cooperation, he obviously couldn't reject the olive branch but had to maintain some distance. If they got swallowed up, that would be tragic. "Tom, in the Series A round next year, offer them 5% of the shares. I don't want cash -- they can exchange shares." "Got it, boss. I'll notify them," Tom responded. William White's stance left IBM with little room for discontent. Their size was so immense, it was natural that he wouldn't offer too many shares; otherwise, it wouldn't be a partnership, but a takeover. William White suspected that they might just be testing, and collaboration might not come about. They hoped to progress quietly, avoiding outside attention. It was rather absurd, after all, to think working on microcomputers was shameful. IBM sneaked around quietly, and William White couldn't understand. Was it really that bad? The growth rate of CPUs was almost exponential. What seemed like trivial waste now would have been cutting-edge technology a decade ago. The mainframes currently shining bright would be absolute junk in ten years. The whole affair was quite laughable. What was Silicon Valley? How could such conservative people exist? Did immediate interests really confuse them so much? Aside from IBM and HP, there was also Xerox, all companies known for their drive, which now appeared stagnant. In America, as long as you deal with capital, you'd better abandon your dreams, since their cost was too high, and shareholders wouldn't like that. ***** https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.