Rebirth as an American Tycoon

[Chapter 809: An Era of Unrest]

It was a time of change and full of imagination. However, it was also a restless era, where the number of people willing to roll up their sleeves and get things done was pitifully low.

Christopher Galvin resembled Steve Jobs; both were typical idealists. Don't think that Jobs was infallible; he made his fair share of mistakes in his youth, and even after achieving great success, he still had some eccentric ideas.

He established a high-end PC assembly line in the U.S., speaking passionately as if other countries were taking advantage at that time.

And what was the end result?

The mainstream media in America remained silent about it all. They only raved about how great Jobs was, claiming he changed the world, while all the embarrassing failures were the doing of those beneath him.

...

"Sir, right now getting venture capital is getting increasingly difficult. Recently, several projects got shot down, and I just can't understand where their confidence comes from."

"Filson, since the market is overheated, we should tighten things up a bit. It's too easy to make money lately, and they've forgotten what that really means. This isn't a healthy investment environment."

Filson was taken aback. He hadn't even opened his mouth to speak yet, and the boss had already made a decision.

In the past month alone, seven new venture capital firms popped up, along with a flood of bank managers flooding Silicon Valley.

"Yeah, it's too restless. Everyone wants to be like Jobs or Bill Gates, desperate to start companies before graduating from school."

"Sigh, these kids need a cold splash of reality. Jobs and Gates; their era had nothing to do with today."

"Sir, this isn't just Silicon Valley, it's Wall Street too. If this goes on, no one will be focusing on the real economy anymore."

William White didn't know what to say. His strategy in America also leaned towards the virtual economy. Unfortunately, they hadn't realized that William White was actually constructing a global industrial chain.

If it were merely a bright and shiny virtual economy, true giants wouldn't keep a wary eye on him. He'd seen plenty of people become overnight millionaires, and as long as they weren't willing to leave, they would eventually lose it all back.

"Filson, if everyone's going virtual, who's going to handle real industry? If this keeps up, we'll end up paying a price. I can hardly imagine losing our international exchange position."

"It seems there's no effective action plan. Their original plan was to eliminate those outdated capacities. But for some reason, they've also pushed away high-value industries like semiconductors. The auto industry they were desperately trying to support is also barely hanging on."

William White thought to himself that they didn't have the power to end it. If millions went unemployed, it would create a trillion-dollar deficit. Who would dare shoulder that burden?

"Alright, let's stop talking about this. We're just small players; those big shots wouldn't care about us. By the way, has Soros turned chicken? Such an obvious opportunity in Mexico, and he's ignoring it."

"Indeed, it's unusual. The International Monetary Fund has issued warnings. Oddly, the three major rating agencies didn't downgrade the ratings of those short-term bonds. Their reasoning was the significant rise in exports."

William White burst out laughing. "Come on, that's just absurd! Exports may have increased, but imports have doubled as well."

The most critical fact was that the imports weren't raw materials or equipment. The increased import figures were primarily electronic products and luxury goods.

Having purchasing power was great, but they hadn't matched it with output. Americans were faltering, yet they could still turn on the printing presses. Borrowing to consume wasn't a significant issue. No matter how much pesos they printed, it couldn't be hard currency.

"Okay, Filson, I get it. The big shots in Pentagon don't want to lose prestige. Others are doing quite well in the European free trade zone, and with only three companies, if they bring down one more, that would be really embarrassing.

I'm very curious about how they plan to help the guy next door. Are they just going to give them money? Or does this funding have no strings attached?"

"I don't know, sir; the think tank has no answers. Even if they don't develop anything, they should at least buy some equipment home. At least they could try automating agricultural production.

What they are currently pursuing is a welfare system. We can't fathom it. If they want what America has, they should at least wait another twenty years. What makes them think they can rush things now?"

William White wasn't concerned whether the guy next door would face hardship. Instead, he was curious about how the bubble would burst now that Soros wasn't inclined to intervene.

Perhaps the greatest likelihood was that they simply couldn't hold on any longer. Bankers, after all, tend to be pragmatic. While they kept an eye on the three major ratings agencies, if you expected them to fully trust the system, that was just unrealistic.

Such honest banks couldn't survive to this point. The vast ocean of competition ensured only the fittest would survive this world.

"Filson, let's put Soros aside for now. Mark all those who lent to Mexico or heavily purchased short-term bonds."

"Well, sir, they won't turn into deadbeats, will they?"

"If the U.S. doesn't bail them out, how could they repay their debts? If Texas were still in their hands, they could sell it off."

"Cough, cough, okay, I'll flag all of them. The think tank has been busy with this."

Despite how a bank might claim to have billions in assets, none of that was actually the bank's money. Most of it belonged to depositors or borrowers.

To say a bank had a net asset of ten billion dollars was impressive, but you would only assume that if it were a century-old enterprise.

Short-selling and hedging were high-risk investment activities. Without absolute confidence, those could easily backfire.

Of course, leveraging could yield high returns.

Why did Soros love short-selling currencies or stock indices?

Given how massive his funds were, trying to push a single stock or even a few wouldn't leverage his advantages effectively. If something went wrong, he'd end up bankrupt, rendering all his previous moves futile.

William White, of course, faced this issue too; his investment department handled all that, and he never directly participated.

Of course, there were also headaches for William White. Those desert tycoons went crazy, and if things continued like this, the price of fifteen bucks per barrel wouldn't hold.

There was no need to push too hard, especially since the Russians had clearly collapsed.

But William White wasn't shallow. As he deepened his understanding of this world, many things that once seemed vague gradually revealed their true nature.

*****

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