Manhattan Reborn 1978

Chapter 881

(Book continued from above~)

Island country, Tokyo.

Setagaya Ward is a high-end residential area lined up along the Odakyu Line.

David stood in the living room, tilted his head slightly and said to the camera and several people.

"Now, let us put aside the trade surplus of the island countries in recent years~"

"Since the last oil crisis, trade between countries has formed a relatively stable pattern, and this will become a long-term problem."

“Island countries’ trade with Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada and other countries that provide major industrial raw materials has maintained a long-term deficit growth; trade with high-income countries has always maintained a surplus, and the advanced industrial products of these countries compete with island countries. "

"For example, starting in 75, the central and western regions of the United States, the heart of heavy industry, began to be called the Rust Belt by some media, becoming the first victims of the stubborn disease of deindustrialization."

“Since then, Canada and European countries have also had their own Rust Belts. The Midwestern region of the United Kingdom, the Ruhr Industrial Area of ​​Germany, and the coal and iron cities of France and Illite will soon be as dilapidated and withered as the industrial centers of the United States in the past. "

“Throughout the Golden Age, manufacturers in every country benefited from a seemingly insatiable demand for goods.”

"Their profits are huge, much higher than in agriculture, mining or services."

"And these increased capital have been invested in raising wages, developing new products and building more factories, hoping to earn more and more in the wave of industrial development."

"However, in 73, global economic growth slowed down. In addition, the island country successfully squeezed into the ranks of advanced manufacturing countries with its miraculous leap in the two decades after the war. This inspired several surrounding countries and regions to embark on a rapid development path. The road to industrialization.”

"However, under the conditions of rising oil prices and increasing costs, the problem of overcapacity in the global manufacturing industry still arises, and a large number of factories are only partially operating, or are completely closed."

"But in a representative democratic society, no government can passively accept the monopolization of a certain industry and the resulting massive unemployment."

"The political pressure to save the declining industry is very strong!"

"When the United States, Canada and Western European countries face a manufacturing crisis, their first reaction is to copy local industries and save workers' jobs."

"In the United States, rescue operations are mainly carried out in the form of trade protection."

"In 74, Congress began to pave the way for the actions of large companies and labor unions, claiming that imports had caused serious harm to them, and relied on the "Trade Act of 1974" to put pressure on countries to reduce the total volume of goods moving to the United States."

"If countries are unwilling to proactively cooperate, the new law will increase tariffs at the request of the damaged companies until the product is driven out of the U.S. market."

"Subsequently, domestic manufacturers in various industries in the United States began to unanimously claim that they had been seriously harmed and demanded that the government must block their overseas competitors from the country."

"And the final result is the formation of some kind of unique industrial policy~"

“The industries that have the most political clout in their voices are being protected, not the more economically important ones!”

When David said this, he deliberately lowered his head slightly and paused for a few seconds, glanced at Kanes, and said thoughtfully.

"From my own perspective, I don't like to get involved in politics, and I don't like to be coerced by some noble-sounding and great voices...to do things that are not in line with my character and interests."

"So, what I am going to say next will be based on the facts. If it is taken out of context and maliciously misinterpreted by some people with ulterior motives, I will fight back!"

"..." When Karnes heard that David suddenly said this, he looked at a few people scratching his head, and his eyes gradually fell on the camera, as if he understood something.

David took a long breath, put the hand holding the chalk behind his back, straightened his chest and continued.

"In December 77, the U.S. Congress approved the establishment of an independent agency within the government, the International Trade Commission."

“After hearing petitions from businesses and unions, it can rule that the industry is indeed being seriously harmed by imports, three-quarters of which come from island countries!”

"In early 78, the committee began to urge President Warren White's cabinet to introduce some policies to increase tariffs on imported goods from island countries, but the president refused."

"Therefore, major media outlets in the United States have begun to believe that President White is a free trader and a moderate pro-Island leader."

"But a few months later, in June 78, many members of Congress asked the International Trade Commission to investigate the matter again, and the Commission once again recommended to the president to increase tariffs."

"This time, President White failed to withstand the pressure and agreed to increase some import tariffs by 15% to 35% for a period of three years, starting from January 79, 1."

David walked to the side of the blackboard, wrote a line of words on the blackboard with chalk, and continued.

"For example, the bolt industry in the United States has thousands of companies of different sizes."

"Some of them are highly automated emerging companies, while others are quite backward traditional manual production companies."

"President White raised the import tariff on the bolt industry by 15%, intending to satisfy the committee and legislators. It is very rare for an industry to be directly relieved in the name of preserving job opportunities."

"A more common approach is to use the 1974 Trade Act to strengthen the tariff or quota system and increase the price of imported products."

"But in fact, these decisions that violate the laws of market development and the principles of economic theory are forcing ordinary American consumers to pay to retain unnecessary manufacturing jobs!"

David used chalk to draw two horizontal lines under the words on the blackboard to mark the key points, and then continued.

"Facing the shockwaves of the island nation's export boom, Europe has chosen a more compromised path to protect their endangered domestic industries."

“European governments, while asking island countries to restrict the export of goods such as tape recorders, textiles, cars, trucks, motorcycles, special steel, bearings and televisions, also provided cash subsidies to their own shipyards, steelmaking companies and aircraft manufacturing industries. ”

"Regional aid plans are allowed under the Treaty on the European Economic Community (also known as the Treaty of Rome) signed in Rome, Italy in 1957 by France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg."

"Government subsidies flow to areas such as southern Italy and the border between East and West Germany, where economic development is in trouble."

"However, the operating conditions of manufacturers in these areas have not actually improved much."

"Because no European government has the courage to order the closure of major industrial parks to eliminate excess production capacity and make a large number of workers lose their jobs."

"There are even some media reporters who ridiculed this in newspapers. Anyone who dares to say it will personally destroy everything."

When David said this, a very strange memory fragment suddenly flashed in his mind.