Chapter 534

During the famine in India in 1776, British colonies in the United States were also fighting for independence.

After the gunshots in Lexington in 1775, grain futures traders began to make a fortune.

When doing agricultural product futures, you must always pay attention to changes in supply and demand, planting area and weather changes.

Officially compiled historical materials often exaggerate the American Revolutionary War from a "revolutionary perspective" as a progressive movement in which "the weak defeated the strong" and "overthrew oppression", but the truth is not the case.

The founding fathers who later signed the Declaration of Independence actually committed treason against the British Empire at that time. At the beginning of the United States' independence, there were 13 states, which originated from the 13 colonies established by British immigrants on the Atlantic coast of North America, known as the "Thirteen Independent States", with a total area of ​​more than 800,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 2.5 million. Before the outbreak of the War of Independence, the North American colonies had established well-developed industries such as shipbuilding, wool textiles, wine making, glass and metallurgy, and were self-sufficient in food and cotton, and the fishing industry was also prosperous. In its heyday, one-third of Britain's merchant ships were built by the North American colonies. Pig iron production even surpassed that of England and Wales, reaching 30,000 tons per year.

The North American colonies are different from the British mainland. The local people are fierce and martial. In order to open up the frontiers to defend their homes and resist the attacks of Indians and beasts, the colonies not only have a developed military industry, but also have a much higher civilian gun ownership rate than the British mainland, forming a strong "" Gun Culture". During the War of Independence, the elusive and accurate marksmanship of the North American militia defeated the regular British army and posed a huge threat to the enemy's logistics supply lines and squads.

The total strength of the U.S. Continental Army and armed militia has always been no less than 40,000. There have been 200,000 people carrying guns into battle, and the U.S. Navy, which has always been said to be "weak", also has about 160 ships. In addition, after the war entered a critical stage, France and Spain also sent 63,000 ground troops and 146 warships to aid the US military.

In contrast, although Britain is known as the world's number one colonial power, most of its troops, ammunition and other military supplies have to be transported across the Atlantic from the mainland or Europe.

Britain had just ended the "Seven Years War" with France for hegemony over the world's colonies, and its vitality was severely damaged. At that time, the population of Britain was only five to six million. Even in the early stage of the war, Washington led the Continental Army to fight against Britain alone, and the foreign aid from France and Spain had not yet caught up. When they came, the British army had already exposed the fatal weakness of the serious shortage of troops, and it was difficult to mobilize the tens of millions of human resources in the colonies around the world to fight against the United States. If the local population was forcibly transferred, it would affect the planting area. Labor constraints before the popularization of agricultural machinery.

At that time, slavery was prevalent in the North American colonies, and the founding fathers such as Washington and Jefferson were all great slave owners, but Britain announced the abolition of slavery early in 1807, and the "American revolutionaries" were not killed until half a century later. The Civil War pushed for the begrudging abolition of slavery.

The "separation of powers" regime established by the United States after independence is far inferior to the British constitutional monarchy in terms of administrative efficiency and popular prestige. Originally, many high-ranking people in the North American colonies did not intend to establish an independent country, and they fantasized that the British king would give the colonies a tolerant policy and exempt some exorbitant taxes. The Royalists also lost confidence in Britain.

After getting used to the centralized monarchy, it is not so easy to get used to "democracy" for a while. After independence, many people are still full of "royal thinking", and even went to persuade Washington to become the "King of the United States". The United States in the early days of the founding of the country was a mess.

At that time, Britain had no time to take care of them. The problem of insufficient troops was obvious. The war lasted until 1783, when the Laki volcano in Iceland erupted. over Europe.

It first floated to Bergen, Norway, spread to Prague on June 17, arrived in Berlin on the 18th, arrived in Paris on the 20th, and arrived in England on the 23rd. At that time, the British recorded that the fog was so thick that the ships moored at the port could not Unable to sail, the sun turned "blood red".

The death rate in the city of Chartres in north-central France reached 5% in August and September. In the UK, 23,000 people died of poisoning between August and September. The haze had a cascade of reactions that led to thunderstorms and then winter, and unlike modern real estate, grain futures were the most profitable during the Revolutionary War. In 1698, the East India Company purchased Calcutta from the Mughal government of India, which was located at the port of the Ganges in the Bay of Bengal. Although the village of Calcutta is small, it is very important. It is surrounded by rich rice and jute, criss-crossing rivers and boundless plains. The East India Company set up a trading headquarters here to transport Indian grain and industrial raw materials back to Britain in a steady stream, and gained huge profits from it.

In the case of ensuring that the interests of the country are given priority, the interests of the people in the colonial areas are ignored.

Choose between the right choice and the easy choice, the "easy" one is easier, just dehumanize.

Relying on food from India, the East India Company not only made a fortune in war, but also made a fortune in disasters. The prices of commodities fluctuate constantly. The wealth in the eyes of ordinary people and the wealth in the eyes of financiers are not the same thing at all.

Many people think that real estate is a reservoir, but it is more appropriate to use the metaphor of a barrier lake.

Ordinary people only see that housing prices have risen and housing prices have fallen, just like many "leeks" throughout the ages.

You have a deposit of 1 million in the bank, and you want to buy a house. The down payment is 1 million, and the loan is 2 million. The total is 3 million. The developer gets the 3 million and deposits it in the bank. The entire currency system is 2 million more.

In the monetary system, these 2 million are called derivative currencies, which together with the base currencies printed by the central banks of various countries form the total currency. This total amount of money will affect deflation or inflation. The amount of base currency printed is controllable. Derivative currencies are often several times the base currency and have a great impact on the total amount of money. However, the central bank cannot control it because lending is the bank.

However, the Bank of Japan has a secret weapon, "window guidance", which is equivalent to the Bank of Japan sending people to teach banks who to lend and how much to lend, so as to control the total amount of money.

After World War II, the United States implemented the Marshall Plan and the Dodge Plan, and supported Japan’s economic recovery. During this process, Japan’s major large enterprises basically relied on the support of the Bank of Japan. .

Before the signing of the Plaza Accord, the United States also used Japan to launch the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Of course, cheap high-quality talents can create huge profits.

If it develops at this rate, Japan will definitely become the world's largest economy.

However, the times have changed, the external conditions that were once beneficial to Japan are gone, and the trade volume between the two countries is increasing day by day. This is a good thing. The premise is that the trade is balanced. Japan exports more goods than it imports from the United States, just like the United Kingdom imported China back then. Tea and silk are different from the cotton products dumped to China.

Especially Japanese cars have seriously affected the domestic auto industry in the United States. The media couldn't bear it first. Under the propaganda of public opinion, the people began to oppose Japan, and various car smashing scenes were staged all over the country.

Hedging currency is also called value-preserving currency, which means that it is not easily affected by factors such as politics, war, and market fluctuations, and avoids the above-mentioned risks to the greatest extent. The recognized traditional safe-haven currency is the Swiss franc, and sometimes other currencies such as the US dollar often act as a safe-haven currency.

Japan is an island country, which is not easily affected by factors such as politics, war, and market fluctuations, and can avoid the risk of depreciation to the greatest extent.

With the growing strength of Japan's economy, the yen began to internationalize under the impetus of the United States. After internationalization, the yen can become an international settlement currency with the US dollar and the German mark, and enter the central banks of various countries as a storage currency, but it is not a good thing for Japan because it will involve exchange rate issues.

The exchange rate is often used when it comes to foreign trade. There is a supply-demand relationship between currency and commodities. After the internationalization of the yen, the demand in the international market will increase, and the yen will increase in value. In this way, Japanese commodities will not be easy to sell. This is why the Bank of Japan One of the tricks of control.

After the internationalization, the yen can be freely convertible, the "financial black ships" came, the restrictions on the exchange of the yen were lifted, and a large amount of foreign funds entered the Japanese financial industry. It is no longer possible to perfectly control the total amount of money. Since 1987, Japanese citizens have not mainly used their money for consumption, but instead invested it in real estate, stocks and other asset markets. The Japanese stock market has entered a state of madness. In 1990, the yen, bonds, and stocks depreciated at the same time, and the bubble began to burst. Since then, the Japanese economy has been going downhill. During the period of crazy growth, banks desperately lent money to ordinary people to obtain derivative currencies.

On March 27, 1990, the Ministry of Finance issued the notice of "Restrictions on the Total Real Estate Financing of Financial Institutions", which began to restrict real estate financing. Major banks in Japan began to significantly reduce the scale of loans related to real estate, increase loan interest rates, and Land value tax was introduced. These measures had an effect on curbing the rise of housing prices, and the Japanese real estate bubble was about to burst. After 1991, the land prices in several major metropolitan areas in Japan began to drop significantly. Now the housing prices in Japan are less than half of what they were during the bubble period. A house worth 3 million yuan is only worth 1.5 million yuan. You can buy a house with a down payment of 1 million yuan and a loan of 500,000 yuan. You have to pay 1.5 million yuan more, which is equivalent to the income of ordinary people for many years.

The real estate bubble has also impacted the real economy. When the Japanese real economy turned into depression, the number of unemployed people in the country increased, the value of stocks and houses held by the people shrank greatly, and the people's hope for the real estate market gradually turned to despair, Japan's entire society did not. There are big waves and turmoil, and the whole people enter the era of low desire.

Although the Japanese economy has stagnated or even retreated after the real estate bubble burst and the subprime mortgage crisis, and the fundamentals of the Japanese economy are far inferior to those of the United States, Japan's huge economic volume still provides effective support for the yen. Japan has large foreign exchange reserves and is one of the world's major creditor countries, which helps to maintain the stability of the yen and makes it more difficult to short the yen.

Japan is a country ruled by law and an honest society, and its citizens generally have a strong sense of contract. Children have been educated by their families and schools since they were young, and they must obey the law and keep their promises.

So in addition to silver, the yen is also a good safe-haven currency.

Severus had been thinking of a name for the organization to differentiate them from the Death Eaters, and Lucius Malfoy had one.

Husky's stupid dog is very similar to a wolf. It often runs in the snow, but it pulls a sled, which is far less dangerous than a cold and hungry wolf in the ice and snow.

Wolves are dangerous, as are lone wolves, not to mention they are closely related to Durmstrang.

During World War II, the German Navy used wolf pack tactics to attack Allied frigates, supply ships, and merchant ships.

She looked at the black wolf-head badge on the document, but what appeared in her mind was a wolf with gray-blue eyes open in the snowfield and howling ferociously in a low voice. It was really similar to Lucius.

Lucius' ferocity lay not in magic, but in dealing with money, and in the summer of 1994, Lucius proved with his actions that he could easily join the ranks of Ministry of Magic officials. His charitable donation to St. Mungo's Hospital earned the family an invitation from the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, to watch the Quidditch World Cup in the top box.

Money is just a tool for him, it is used to play games.

The Malfoy family has a family motto: Doing things right is more important than doing things right.

It's certainly a little different than Hufflepuff doing the right thing because it's right, but one thing is the same.

It is not our abilities but our choices that determine who we become.

It's not for nothing that Lucius escaped two trials without falling.

"Finished?" Severus asked.

Pomona nodded.

"Next time you want to read the file, you can tell me directly, you don't need to be so sneaky." He took the file away, threw it on the table at will, and then put his arm around her shoulders like the young master Draco, without any hesitation. Sitting helplessly on the sofa.

"I need a break, this month the werewolf business is over, how about we find a place for vacation?"

"where to?"

"Wherever you want," he said confidently.

Pomona looked at him with her head on one side.

"How about starting to rest now?" She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "I can give you an unforgettable 'holiday'."

"You're 'naughty' again." He said in a low voice, and then in the quiet room, only the rustling sound of cloth rubbing could be heard.

It sounded like a snake crawling.