Chapter 1380 Kissinger’s Visit to Britain

According to the usual response, the first step is to raise funds to fight this run. First, we declare that nothing happened.

The emergence of the U.S. dollar crisis will not be known to the citizenry at first, otherwise it will cause panic, and once it spreads to other parts of the world, it will only make the U.S. dollar crisis more unstoppable.

"Once the gold reserves increase, will there be appreciation pressure on the pound? We must know that our UK gold reserves also have more than 5,000 tons. If the results are fruitful this time, the old story of the franc two years ago may occur, and the appreciation pressure will rise. Increased trade pressure."

Alan Wilson does not think that paying a sum of gold is a good thing with no harm. Everything has two sides. The problems caused by the appreciation of the franc in France are not very far away.

Currency appreciation is related to many things, such as industrial scale, industrial quality, gold reserves and even political stability. The situation in the UK is not bad now, but it is still necessary to take precautions. The Ministry of Finance discussed the depreciation of the pound before, which was to nip it in the bud. Facts If this run forces the United States to bow its head, appreciation pressure will come.

"According to Keynesianism, once private demand is not strong, the country should support it. If the appreciation of the pound causes the competitiveness of British products to decrease, maybe we should formulate some plans." Frank Weiwei first said, which is also the consensus of the post-war economics community.

"Keynesianism!" Alan Wilson pondered for a moment, "Foreign investment and industrial production are two approaches. It seems that we can think about it and invest more in the military industry."

In fact, historically during the Harold Wilson period, the UK faced devaluation pressure. What was the Labor government’s response plan? Nationalization, currency devaluation, cutting military spending, etc. And if there is pressure on the appreciation of the pound, for example, in order to find a way to resolve it, Alan Wilson is ignorant and has no skills, and unfortunately he thinks of an arms race.

In other words, excluding Malaya, as well as Rhodesia, which is mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, and Newfoundland, which is gambling, the UK is equivalent to a quarter of the level of a superpower, and including the pound area It has the influence of one-third of the superpowers. The specific data cannot be calculated by such simple addition and subtraction, but the foundation is still very good.

"The Royal Navy needs to upgrade its auxiliary ships, the Royal Air Force needs a new generation of fighter jets, and the Chieftain tank is also struggling against the Warsaw Pact armored clusters." Alan Wilson tilted his head and asked, "How about investing in the military industry to resolve the pressure of appreciation? Maybe? Let’s do this first, and things will turn around when the time comes.”

"Looking at it now, Bangladesh should really intervene and invest to resolve the pressure of appreciation." Alan Wilson thought about it and felt that the third India-Pakistan War could also be an opportunity. The inclusion of 60 million Bengalis within the British sphere of influence was considered a good thing.

During the British Raj, the Kolkata Industrial Area was the textile center of the British Empire. In the 21st century, Bangladesh still relies on the textile industry for its livelihood.

It’s very simple. The industrial revolution started with the textile industry. The textile industry is not difficult for any country to get started. Late-developing countries will choose the textile industry when they start, such as Japan, South Korea, a certain big country, and Vietnam.

For example, Bangladesh relied on the textile industry in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the textile industry is also a place. In fact, there are many people there. Not all countries open their books just for the stars and the sea. Most countries do it to fill their stomachs, and the textile industry is perfect. It fits the category of filling the stomach.

Even in the current Kingdom of Egypt, the development of import substitution is based on the textile industry. It is a labor-intensive industry. The demand is eliminated quickly, and it is an excellent industry for arranging employment.

Generally, the most direct consequence of intervention in a war is the hostility of local people. But if it is an India-Pakistan war, first of all, the Indian side and the Bengalis in East Pakistan are not of the same religion, while the Pakistani government forces are of the same religion but suppress the national consciousness of the Bengalis. , Bangladeshis in these two countries will definitely not be very fond of it.

This will reduce the risk of picking peaches in the UK to almost nothing, and there will be no scenes like the United States in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

To offend local residents, India has done all that Pakistan has done on behalf of Britain. Britain only needs to intervene as a mighty and civilized teacher. Of course, this must first ensure that India must be frightened and let it Don't act rashly.

Nixon made an overseas phone call to Harold Wilson, hoping that Harold Wilson would play an important role in maintaining the international financial order in the name of Prime Minister, for example, by using Britain's gold reserves to support it.

Harold Wilson attached great importance to the request of the President of the United States and specially sought out Secretary of the Treasury James Callahan to discuss the matter. "Once gold reserves are used to help the United States, it will cause inflation."

The currencies of various countries are linked to gold. Once the UK releases its gold reserves, this may not be a problem for the US dollar, but a problem for the US dollar and the pound.

Alan Wilson arrived shortly afterwards, and after listening to the discussion between the number one and number two figures in the UK, he said with a queasy expression, "We don't know who we are facing at all. In fact, many British banks were involved in this run." "Even if we stop the banks from doing this, we can't stop the Germans, the Swiss, the Belgians, the Austrians, the Dutch, etc."

To be honest, in the era of Bretton Woods, European countries were still capable of resisting the United States, and France could make the United States very uncomfortable alone. Not to mention that Germany has led far more countries than France. What if the United Kingdom must stand firmly by the United States? Just one more corpse

"To be honest, no one can have such prestige and be able to stop the banks of various countries at this time." Alan Wilson said with a wry smile, "This is a capital flow of tens of billions or hundreds of billions. No one can stand in front of it, regardless of the situation." Whether it is the president or the prime minister, they will be crushed easily."

Alan Wilson has no choice. He wants to tell the British participants to stop now. There are police outside, and they may be shot in the back. Moreover, this is not the UK's own problem, but also other European countries.

"We can't stop anything, but if we try to stop it and fail in the end, we can still do it." Alan Wilson thought about it, "For example, let's say the Prime Minister made a speech in the House of Commons saying he noticed the overheating of the economy. It means that the government is fully prepared."

Ha Zhongtang can do this now. Anyway, he is usually a Soviet spy in the eyes of many people. At this time, don't think about maintaining the special relationship between Britain and the United States.

Can the U.S.’s gold reserves of less than 20 billion withstand the next unknown number of large selling orders?

The potential selling of bonds, let alone the UK, even if all the gold mined in the world is added together, it is impossible to balance the accounts. Now anyone who thinks that the UK can stop anything is a traitor.

But a day later, Washington informed that US Secretary of State Kissinger was going to visit London, indicating that the United States hoped that Britain's IQ would not be online.

"What is this? Are the US troops retreating to use flares on the British positions?" Alan Wilson muttered after listening to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' briefing, but even so, it could not delay him from getting off work.

The situation is now very clear. This dollar crisis cannot be stopped by forces on earth. To stop it is to 100% ruin it.

"What promises can Kissinger bring this time?" Pamela Mountbatten was also confused. However, since Kissinger is coming, he will definitely provide conditions.

"Perhaps it is a blank check for Britain and the United States to jointly control the world financial order." Alan Wilson curled his lips and said, "The Bretton Woods system itself has problems. Can the United States maintain it by giving some power? It is nothing more than maintaining it for two more years. This Although the realist Secretary of State has many tricks, he is not insurmountable."

Due to the memory of his past life, Kissinger was far more famous in Alan Wilson's mind than other US secretaries of state. He mainly accomplished two things, having good talks with Saudi Arabia, and breaking the ice in Sino-US diplomacy. The reason for its high popularity is because of the latter.

However, most Americans do not believe that the work of Nixon and Kissinger was very decisive, which can be seen from the sharp decline of Kissinger's influence later.

During the Reagan era, Kissinger was already considered by some to be the American representative of appeasement. A certain big country believes that I contributed a lot to defeating the Soviet Union, otherwise you would not have won. Americans don't think so.

However, in Alan Wilson's view, the failure of the Soviet Union was definitely due to its own problems. Compared with this main reason, any country's external factors were not the main reason.

This emergency visit started as soon as the dusty Kissinger landed in London. As expected, Kissinger came to London with the sincerity of compromise. The Romans once again thought of the Greeks. At the critical moment, he did not laugh at the British for being conceited, but hoped that the British could provide diplomatic help.

Harold Wilson certainly valued Kissinger's visit and expressed his willingness to work with the United States to resolve this crisis. At least this was his position in front of Kissinger.

"Washington and London represent the world order. In fact, as long as the UK concentrates its efforts and works with the United States to deal with difficulties, I believe the world order will not collapse." Kissinger said sincerely, "We even think that the UK should Europe should play a greater role. Now under the threat of the Soviet Union, military power in Europe should be strengthened. In fact, giving up some unimportant places is not a bad thing."

"What? No conditions were stated, and Britain still wants to bring in its colonies?" Alan Wilson sneered after hearing Wick's report, "Why don't you make it clearer? We hope that Britain will withdraw its troops from the Middle East and allow the protectorate of the Persian Gulf to become truly independent. , giving all British influence in the Persian Gulf to the United States."