Chapter 359 Absolute Freedom Is Impossible

"That's true."

Tang Zifeng changed his tune very quickly. He said: "This time we are attacking Gao Jinsheng under the banner of national justice, otherwise the local government will have to protect him."

"You don't just want to use public opinion to attack him, right?" Liang Zile asked.

"Of course not." Tang Zifeng said, "For someone like Gao Jinsheng, public opinion pressure is of no use to him. He believes in free market principles and says that as long as he does not break the law, the country cannot do anything to him. Think about it. Look, he’s not afraid of the state machinery, but what impact can a mere amount of public opinion have on him?”

Liang Zile muttered: "But the principle of free market is not wrong. In the United States, as long as a company's operations are not illegal, the state will not interfere."

"Let the professor explain this to you." Tang Zifeng pointed at Wang Zijie and said.

Wang Zijie said: "What Xiaoliang said is consistent with the mainstream view in domestic academic circles. Most scholars believe that the state should not interfere with legitimate market competition unless an enterprise violates the law. For example, if If you can prove that Xia Yi Machine Tool Company's price reduction behavior is suspected of dumping, then the government can crack down on it. If there is no evidence, or even obvious evidence, then it should be beyond a reasonable doubt and no rough interference can be allowed."

Liang Zile said: "Yes, yes, this is also the view of the international mainstream economics community. Now the mainstream theory is calling on everyone to return to the Smithian tradition, that is, the government only acts as a night watchman, and business operations can be left to the market for regulation. .”

The so-called Smithian tradition refers to the views of Adam Smith, the founder of Western economics. Smith believed that there was an "invisible hand" in the market that could regulate production spontaneously without the need for government intervention.

For more than 100 years after Smith, Western countries have always pursued a policy of non-intervention in the market. However, the market did not "clear automatically" as Smith predicted, but occurred every ten years. The economic crisis caused by the serious disconnect between supply and demand forced the market to clear.

By the end of the 1920s, the 29-33 crisis of unprecedented scale broke out in the Western world, severely damaging the entire capitalist world. After the crisis, the Keynesian school, which advocated government intervention in the market, gained the upper hand, and Smith's dogma was abandoned. Western countries have generally implemented deficit fiscal policies, with the government stimulating effective market demand to maintain market prosperity.

The Keynesian school has been popular for about half a century. By the 1970s, the Western world was experiencing long-term stagflation that was neither boom nor depression. After research, economists believe that this is a problem caused by Keynesian economics. The economy relies too much on deficit budgets to survive, which is equivalent to a patient taking supplements for a long time to maintain his life. The final result can only be a weak fat man. .

Economists learned from the pain and decided to abandon Keynes and re-enshrine their ancestor Smith, thus giving birth to neoliberal economics. In the past decade or so, neoliberal economics has been at its most turbulent, and China's domestic economic circles are naturally not immune to this trend. When doing academic exchanges, you can’t even mention a few quotations from Smith without being embarrassed to claim to be an economist.

Liang Zile studied for his undergraduate and master's degrees in the United States. When it comes to this theory, he is naturally even more logical.

Wang Zijie said: "Xiao Liang is right. The concept of a night watchman government is now a consensus in the international academic community and highly respected in domestic academic circles. To be honest, if I hadn't been threatened by Tang Zifeng, I would have If you also want to join the neoliberal school, it will be much easier to apply for projects and awards.”

That's what he said, but that's not what he thought in his heart. His academic direction was largely influenced by Tang Zifeng, which made his academic views very different from the current mainstream liberal views. And it is precisely because he is unique and many of his views are in line with the government's management practices that he is widely welcomed in various government departments.

Those liberal scholars seem to be quite prosperous, but when government officials talk about them, they are very disdainful, thinking that they are not down to earth, and the policy suggestions they put forward are simply not feasible in reality.

Wang Zijie can gain recognition from government officials and has more opportunities to apply for projects and be awarded awards. It is easier for the graduate students under his guidance to work in government agencies after graduation than for the students of other tutors.

On the surface, some scholars ridiculed Wang Zijie for following policy changes and being a "royal" scholar, but in fact they were full of envy, jealousy and hatred towards him, and secretly planned to learn from him. This is beside the point.

"Senior Brother Tang came from the Machinery Department and is now the boss of a large state-owned enterprise. Of course he supports state intervention. This is called the hip directing the brain, so we are not surprised." Bao Nana joked.

Tang Zifeng shook his head and said: "On the contrary, I am the real brain directing the buttocks. How many of those who believe in neoliberalism have really studied economics? Xiaoliang, please explain to me. Which liberal law was the Fox Report based on? How can the Wassenaar Agreement be explained by neoliberalism?"

Hearing the two examples given by Tang Zifeng, Liang Zile could only shrug and couldn't say anything.

The so-called Wassenaar Agreement, whose full name is the Wassenaar Agreement on Export Controls of Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Articles and Technologies, is a technology embargo measure initiated by the United States in 1996. This agreement nominally restricts the export of weapons and weapons-related technology and equipment to some sensitive countries. In fact, it uses this as an excuse to restrict the flow of technology in order to maintain the technological advantages of the contracting countries.

According to the Wassenaar Agreement, Western countries can legitimately impose technological blockades on other countries without violating the principle of "trade liberalization." Judging from the current world situation, this "other country" mainly refers to China.

Liang Zile has had many exchanges with Tang Zifeng and others over the years, and his thoughts and ideas have been somewhat affected. Although some people can find various reasons to prove the rationality of the Wassenaar Agreement, as long as they have a little bit of brains, they will know that this explanation is just a strong argument. In the final analysis, this is a struggle for interests between countries, and there is no universal value. A calf?

In the domestic academic circle, there are many people who believe that the Wassenaar Agreement is reasonable, and it can even be said that it occupies the mainstream. The only reason these people support the Wassenaar Agreement is that it was created by Western countries.

Is there anything wrong with what Western countries do?

In comparison, Wang Zijie is indeed a breath of fresh air.

"Not to mention what happened to China. Even within Western countries, where has real liberalism been practiced? Isn't the United States and the European Union working hard behind the fight between Boeing and Airbus? Both sides are subsidizing each other. What kind of thing is this? Free trade?" Tang Zifeng continued.

"Absolute freedom cannot exist." Liang Zile said angrily, "In fact, even within the United States, the development of various industries is not purely based on free competition. Agriculture, energy industry, and military industry are all The big lobbyists in Congress spend money to bribe legislators to get Congress to pass bills that are beneficial to them. Ultimately, this is also a manifestation of government intervention in the economy. Many scholars in the United States have also pointed out this."

"Dei Tou!" Tang Zifeng said a Sichuan dialect, and then said: "Humanity has not yet achieved world unity. It is naive to talk about liberalism at this time. As far as China is concerned, if we want to rise peacefully, we must put the countries that are related to it into consideration. There is no doubt that the industries that are the lifeline of the economy are in our own hands. The problem with Gao Jinsheng is that it has challenged the country’s bottom line. How can we talk about market principles with such a person.”

"I understand." Liang Zile nodded. It's not that he doesn't understand these principles. He just discussed them with Tang Zifeng. Tang Zifeng was talking about Gao Jinsheng, but Liang Zile learned more from it. He has now opened an investment consulting company in Beijing. How to grasp the policy context is also very important.

"So, what do we do?"

After listening to the discussion between Tang Zifeng and Liang Zile, Bao Nana talked about practical issues.

Bao Nana knew something about policy matters. Over the past few years, she had developed the habit of following Tang Zifeng's lead. She knew what Tang Zifeng was looking for, even if it went against the prevailing social trends. is correct. As for Gao Jinsheng specifically, Bao Nana has nothing to do with him. If Tang Zifeng wants to deal with him, Bao Nana will be responsible for preparing ropes, candles, and whips. There is no need to worry about other things.

"You two need to cooperate with each other." Tang Zifeng pointed at Wang Zijie and said to Bao Nana: "Professor Wang is responsible for writing theoretical articles to explore the significance of the equipment industry to the country and the value of the national chess game today. As for you, We must be responsible for keeping up with media articles, expose the negative impact of Gao Jinsheng’s behavior on the machine tool industry, quote Professor Wang’s views in key places, and compare Gao Jinsheng to Qin Hui and Wang Jingwei.”

"Understood." Bao Nana nodded. In the past few years, Deep Blue Focus has become very skilled in doing this kind of public relations hype. It uses a scholar as a banner and puts some things that a public relations company is not suitable to say on the scholar's head, which makes people feel particularly credible.

"Also, Mr. Xu instructed that this time's publicity must not be limited to attacking Jinsheng Group, but should explain the significance of this matter and let other companies take a warning. We cannot passively attack every time and suffer like this. Once, it is also a loss to our own strength." Tang Zifeng said again.

Bao Nana asked: "Brother, I want to know, after our propaganda starts, how do you plan to deal with Jinsheng Group?"

"This cannot be disclosed yet. But one thing you can rest assured is that Jinsheng Group will definitely be finished after this round of attacks." Tang Zifeng said with confidence.