Manhattan Reborn 1978

Hong Kong.

A quarter past ten in the morning.

On the east side of Kowloon Peninsula, Kai Tak Airport.

After David said goodbye to his senior brother Luo Qingren who came specially to see him off, he led his sister Manqi, young secretary Maggie, Brotney Mexia and Zhou Liwen to board the plane to Tokyo.

Of course, traveling with him back to Tokyo this time was Kanes.

It's just that Carnes is holding a book brought by Luo Qingren in his hand and reading hard.

The author of the book he read was "There's No Such Thing as Free Lunch" (There's No Such Thing as Free Lunch) published in "Newsweek" in 75 by the famous American economist Milton Friedman.

. . .

In the cabin.

Two beautiful flight attendants who were very unfamiliar to David helped several people get their seat belts fixed, and then the plane began to slowly enter the take-off runway according to the tower's instructions.

Zhou Liwen, who was flying on a private plane for the first time in his life, silently wiped the sweat from his hands on his newly bought pants, tilted his head and glanced at the scenery outside the window, and his heartbeat began to speed up slowly.

But gradually, the two flight attendants who were "circling" diligently around David and Kanes in the front attracted most of Zhou Liwen's attention, and his heartbeat couldn't help but speed up a little.

"This face and figure are so on point!" Zhou Liwen muttered a few words in his own voice.

But what he didn't know was that David, who deliberately sat with Brotney Mejia, didn't notice the frequent "eyes" from the stewardess next to him. .

He frowned and looked down at the documents in his hand, and asked Mexia: "The Monetary Authority of Singapore, how are you going to respond to this incident? Is there any news?"

"Not yet." Mecia said as she stretched out her hand to help David turn to the last two pages of information.

"However, the abnormal phenomenon that appeared in the Asian rice dollar market in Singapore this morning actually had some signs as early as the middle of last month."

"Look here~"

"Last month, after the Federal Reserve announced that it would raise interest rates again, new foreign currency accounts in the Asian rice dollar market in Singapore surged by more than 90,000 within a week."

"For major international banks headquartered in the United States, such as Citibank and Chase Bank, the number of foreign currency accounts accounts for more than 80% of the number of new accounts."

"The rice dollar funds deposited in these accounts are all Asian currencies such as Indonesian rupiah, Indian rupee, Philippine peso, etc., which were converted according to the current exchange rate."

When Mexia said this, she deliberately glanced at the stewardess who left quietly, and continued with a smile on her lips.

"The Monetary Authority of Singapore defines the Asian dollar market as a short-term capital market."

"Its sources of funds are mainly deposits from central banks and government agencies in Asian countries, funds allocated and idle funds by some multinational companies, deposits from importers and exporters from various countries, foreign expatriates, interbank deposits, etc."

"With the rapid development of the international financial market in recent years, many financing methods have emerged in the Asian rice dollar market, among which rice dollar certificates of deposit are the most widely issued tool for raising medium and short-term funds."

"The rice dollar certificate of deposit is bearerless and can be transferred in the market at any time. The interest rate is higher than the interest rate of bank deposits. It enjoys tax-free discounts in markets such as Singapore."

"There are fixed interest rates and floating interest rates for dollar certificates of deposit, but most of them have floating interest rates. The interest rates are usually higher than the 6-month interest rates offered by Singaporean peers, and the terms are mostly 1-5 years."

"Singapore's Asian money market allows many international bank lending institutions to provide various facilities such as different repayment terms, repayment schedules, repayment discounts, loan cancellations and mortgage conditions based on the loan needs of different customers."

"And in the Singapore Asian bond market, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, etc. have also entered this market to raise funds."

"Um.."

David closed the information in his hand, closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, and whispered.

“The rush to buy rice dollar bonds and rice dollar floating rate deposit certificates that happened in Singapore today will definitely increase in number in the future~”

"In 71, the rice dollar was decoupled from gold, and a large amount of international hot money poured into crude oil, gold and international commodity markets, causing almost all commodity prices to rise several times."

"When the oil crisis broke out in full and stock markets in various countries plummeted wildly, the flow of hot money out of the financial market accelerated a lot~"

"But it is impossible for this extremely large amount of hot money to remain idle in a bank account and watch it depreciate."

"So, these hot money began to look for countries or projects with potential around the world to invest."

David closed his eyes and felt the strong push on his back when the plane took off. He reached out and grabbed Mecia's arm and continued.

“The memories this period of history has left for people are so profound!”

"If the impact of this oil crisis expands again, it is difficult for me to imagine that companies that have taken floating-rate loans from the Asian dollar market will ultimately be able to survive the crisis."

"Yeah~" Mecia naturally held David's hand with her backhand, smiled and looked at the little secretary Maggie and Sister Manqi who were looking over not far away, and said with a smile.

"I also heard some news that is not in this document."

"Oh? What is it?" David adjusted his sitting position curiously and asked.

"Repay the loan in advance, and then make a large exchange of rice dollars!" Mexia said, tapping David's knuckles gently with his fingertips.

"Those speculators who have been in the international trade market and foreign exchange market all year round are more sensitive to crises than we imagined!"

"After the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, the exchange rate of the rice dollar against the Japanese yen continued to rise. Asian currencies such as the Indonesian rupiah, Indian rupee, Philippine peso, and Singapore dollar also experienced varying degrees of depreciation."

“The largest depreciation was in the Philippine peso.”

"Philippines?" David asked with a frown.

"Is the political situation there very unstable?"

"It's not unstable, I can only say it's average."

"The current President of the Philippines abolished the legal limit on the presidential term after taking office in 71, and began to appoint people close to him on a large scale, allowing them to serve in various important departments of the country."

"So now many people will jokingly say that the Philippines has no president, only a king."

"Haha~" David smiled and did not respond to the small movements of Mecia's hands.

Mecia didn't seem to be satisfied with David's reaction, so she deliberately tilted her head to his ear and whispered.

"The deputy director of CIA, Abbot Garr, who sent someone here to trouble you this time, is in charge of the various branches of CIA in Asia."

"He controls the Manila branch in the capital of the Philippines...an important money laundering channel connecting the United States to the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and other places..."

"Stop!" David frowned, opened his eyes, looked at Mecia and said.

"You don't have to tell me this, I don't want to know either."

"Haha~" Mecia raised her eyebrows playfully and retorted.