The economic crisis sparked by the Aricans was ravaging the globe. If it wasn't for being thoroughly outmatched, the Aricans 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 ti 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 seed to intend to address inflation first.
To so 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, nurous businesses and farrs 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 environnt, 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 Ho 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. So 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.
Sotis he thought about how the boy must get scolded when he got ho -- never had he seen such a mischievous child.
With prior experience, filming this ti went smoother. They didn't have to hire outside photographers, so things were more obediently arranged.
...
The Arican economy had fallen into shock, with unemploynt numbers terrifyingly high. Factories closed almost daily, and dispossessed farrs were everywhere.
Not everything was dire, though. The semiconductor industry was doing quite well, with stock prices even seeing so gains.
Aricans had insane luck. Though things seed 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. Rember, taking out inflation, the economy was drastically regressing.
Looking back from future generations, this Arican 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 tis left unions powerless. Owners didn't wish or choose to stop, but playing the ga beca impossible. Argunts 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 judgnt, 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 ant 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 investnts 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 Arica, 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, rely waiting for dark tis to pass.
Of course, there were exceptions. Japan had it pretty good, with both exports and dostic economy doing fine, which frustrated Arica. 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 so 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 so 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 imnse, 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 co about. They hoped to progress quietly, avoiding outside attention.
It was rather absurd, after all, to think working on microcomputers was shaful. IBM sneaked around quietly, and William White couldn't understand. Was it really that bad?
The growth rate of CPUs was almost exponential. What seed like trivial waste now would have been cutting-edge technology a decade ago. The mainfras 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 imdiate 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 Arica, 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.
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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