Chapter 2432 Responsibility

At this time, Paulson's attitude towards Feng Yiping has undoubtedly improved a lot. If it was "please take a seat" and "serve tea" before, it must have been upgraded to the level of "please take a seat" and "serve fragrant tea" now. .

In his current position, he has more power than when he was in charge of Goldman Sachs. Because of this, more people are asking him for help, but there are fewer people than before.

It is easy to understand that many people ask him for help. It is known that the person in charge of the finance department from the township level onwards is very good.

There are few people helping him, which is actually understandable.

When he was leading Goldman Sachs, as long as he opened his mouth to people, many people would definitely betray his face, or in other words, betray the face of Goldman Sachs behind him.

Because of the relevant favor, I can get it back from Goldman Sachs in the future.

But it's different now.

Behind Paulson is the U.S. government. Is it possible that you still expect the U.S. government to return the favor to you?

What's more, political service officers like Paulson (there are two types of civil servants in the United States, political service officers, referring to civil servants who are politically appointed; service officers, similar to our civil servants who have passed the national examination), after the change of government, he became a common man One, like Paulson, will leave office after the new administration takes office in 2009.

At that time, he had no influence on the government at all, and it was unrealistic to expect him to return the favor.

Therefore, those who come to him now, whether they are former Wall Street colleagues and friends, or heads of companies affected by the current subprime mortgage crisis, come to him either to ask for money, preferential treatment, or hope to use him The power to influence the progress of some things.

For example, several Wall Street companies that hold Feng Yiping's credit default swap agreement hope to use Paulson to pressure Feng Yiping, hoping to pay them as little as possible or even not pay them during settlement in the future. deserved income.

Such a request also blocked Paulson's mouth, "Don't think about asking us to raise money to prepare for the rescue of the market or to help other colleagues. Our life is also very difficult, and we can hardly survive. "

Feng Yiping's statement, as well as the financial support of more than 20 billion U.S. dollars that this statement symbolizes, is really the rare good news he has heard recently.

However, he always had another knot in his heart, which had a greater impact, or could be fatal.

He looked at Feng Yiping and said, "Feng, I have another question."

Feng Yiping stretched out his hand and said, "Minister, please speak."

"Feng, you must also know that in addition to holding trillions of dollars in reserves, your country has also invested in many American companies over the years, some of which are related to real estate,"

"Of course, from a total point of view, this is actually very impressive,"

"If during this process, related assets are sold off, the direct and indirect negative impacts will be..."

Feng Yiping interrupted him, "Sorry, Mr. Minister, shouldn't you communicate these issues with the relevant officials of our country?"

Feng Yiping thought that Paulson should be worried that when the U.S. economic situation further deteriorates, the country will sell off some assets closely related to the crisis, such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

When the income from U.S. Treasury bonds gradually becomes less attractive, relatively speaking, countries with large foreign exchange reserves will naturally look for better directions. To a certain extent, even without the guarantee of the U.S. government, in fact The American "Brand and Freddie", which represents the credibility of the United States, has become a good choice.

Foreign investors hold a large number of U.S. and Fannie Mae bonds, including US$75 billion in Russia and more than US$800 billion in Asia. Of the US$800 billion in Asia, China naturally holds the highest share.

If the momentum goes wrong and China and Russia sell their Fannie and Freddie bonds, Paulson is really afraid of the consequences just thinking about it...

Paulson said mid-sentence, "Von, you know, politicians' promises,"

What he actually wants to say is that it is not convenient to discuss these issues with Chinese officials because the current performance of Fannie and Freddie is not bad.

Negotiating with them at this time may be equivalent to reminding them to sell related assets now.

Feng Yiping thought for a while, "I don't understand politicians..."

Paulson said to himself, who are you kidding? At your level, you still say you don’t understand politicians.

"But about our country, I would say we have always been a responsible country when it comes to global affairs,"

"In this regard, there is actually evidence to follow,"

"I think Mr. Minister will have an impression of the Asian financial crisis at the end of the last century. During that crisis, our country fully exerted its responsibility as a major country and overcame the huge difficulties we faced despite the collective depreciation of Asian currencies. We insist that the RMB will not depreciate,"

"This provides rare and powerful help for the economic recovery of those countries that have suffered from the crisis and the recovery of the Asian economy,"

"It should be said that our country is reputable and responsible. It will not betray its trust, but it will provide help in times of need."

After hearing what Feng Yiping said, Paulson looked complicated.

He really wanted to say something.

He was naturally familiar with the 1997 financial crisis, so he knew very well that China's promise not to depreciate the RMB at that time was naturally not just out of the responsibility of a major country.

Some experts have analyzed the overall losses caused by the devaluation and non-devaluation of the Chinese RMB under the circumstances at that time. The final conclusion is that the losses caused by non-devaluation will be less than the losses caused by devaluation.

Although the analysis of experts is not very reliable, some of their views are still very insightful.

Although the non-devaluation of the RMB objectively increases the difficulty of exporting Chinese products, it will also bring other benefits.

For example, at that time, the Chinese government had nearly 150 billion US dollars in long-term and short-term foreign debts. The devaluation of the RMB will greatly increase the burden of debt repayment.

The devaluation of the RMB will not effectively promote China's exports, because the currencies of Southeast Asian countries have depreciated too much. Even if the RMB depreciates, the price of export products will still be higher than that of Southeast Asian countries.

At the same time, from the perspective of the external environment, there was actually no condition for the devaluation of the RMB at that time.

Since 1994, China's huge surplus in international trade has long made the United States and Europe very dissatisfied. Many countries have imposed punitive tariffs and quota restrictions on China's exports in the name of dumping.

The United States and Europe already think that the RMB is undervalued, and you still devalue it?

That will further worsen China's international trade environment.

But in any case, China's commitment at that time was indeed a positive move.

Besides, at this time, it is not easy for him to say that the decision has nothing to do with responsibility.

"Mr. Minister, I can at least tell you that when you represent the US government to promise that China's relevant investment will not become waste paper because of this crisis, I think the promise made by our country's officials should make you feel at ease and guaranteed at the same time,"

"When friends are in trouble, we can still focus on the long-term and not care about short-term losses,"

These two sentences made Paulson somewhat convinced.

He has contacted many Chinese officials. Although the two sides do not agree on many issues, they can indeed set an example when dealing with some global issues.

Of course, there is also the need for them to improve their international reputation, but generally speaking, they can take responsibility when they should.

In this regard, the young man in front of him is really quite consistent with his country.

Paulson hung up the phone and asked his secretary to bring Feng Yiping a few bottles of water. The secretary whispered a few words in his ear, and Paulson immediately said, "Except for calls from the Oval Office, no other calls will be answered."

"Yes, sir," the secretary smiled at Feng Yiping and quietly withdrew.

Paulson sat next to Feng Yiping, "Feng, about the rescue..."

Outside, Paulson's secretary had just returned to his seat when the phone on the table rang. He only heard the beginning and immediately said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Minister is not answering any calls for the time being. If you have any questions, I can pass them on for you."

Finally, Lawrence Fink called in person. He didn't listen to Paulson's secretary's words and asked directly, "This is Fink. Is Feng Yiping still in the minister's office?"

The secretary's answer was somewhat unrelated to his question, "Sorry, Mr. Fink, the minister is currently holding an important meeting,"

Lawrence Fink put down the phone with a solemn expression.

Neither side denied it, which meant that the news he received was accurate. Paulson was still in talks with Feng Yiping.

It has been nearly two hours.

This is not a good sign.

At this moment, his heart was as crowded as the street downstairs.

PS: Sorry, there is no way to update today, but there will be more updates tomorrow. I will try to finish them in the next few days.