Chapter 1500: Things to Come
With Russia's unexpectedly strong intervention in the situation in Yugoslavia, the stalemate armistice negotiations between NATO and Yugoslavia began to accelerate. After all, even if there is no World War III, NATO led by the United States does not want to have a direct conflict with Russia.
Therefore, on June 10, NATO and Yugoslavia officially signed an armistice agreement, the two sides went on strike, and the Kosovo War, which lasted for more than two months, ended.
Furthermore, following the disintegration in 1991, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was once again dismembered. Even though many countries including Russia refused to recognize it, Kosovo actually gained independent status, and at the same time it became the United States firmly established in the Balkans. A nail under the wedge.
The most direct result of the Kosovo war was the sharp depreciation of the euro.
On the day the war ended, at the close of trading on June 10, even if the exchange rate of the euro against the U.S. dollar rebounded due to the end of the war, there was still only a bleak situation of 0.9735 to 1. In less time, the cumulative decline has reached 17.5%.
The most direct result of the continuous and sharp depreciation of the euro is the recent general decline in the stock markets of European countries, and the overall upward movement of major US stock indexes after the initial brief shock of the war. Among them, the Dow Jones Index broke through the 10,000-point mark for the first time on May 26, which drove the stock price of Daenerys Entertainment, the leading stock on the New York Stock Exchange, to a new high. .
While Simon's personal net worth has risen due to this, another result is that the stock replacement plan of the Westeros system has become more and more popular with capital flowing into the United States from all over the world.
Even if we try our best to suppress public opinion, this matter will inevitably attract more attention. A Minnesota Republican member of the Federal House of Representatives also proposed a bill requesting the U.S. Congress to set up a special committee to investigate the large-scale incident of Westeros Corporation. The taxation issues that may be involved in the stock replacement shall be investigated.
As a result of the matter, there was only one more person on the blacklist of the Westeros system, and then nothing happened.
Simon doesn't mind paying taxes.
Because Simon knows very well that no one can escape the terrible consequences of financial collapse after a country fails to collect taxes.
However, Simon will not pay too much on purpose.
I don't have that awareness.
How do you play, so does Simon. Just like some cash transactions, if you can stay overseas to avoid tax, Simon will not take the initiative to remit it to China.
Simon also understands that this is actually a knot.
Simon doesn't know how to solve it, because the cycle of history and the alternation of prosperity are inevitable laws. Even if Simon donated all his personal wealth, he would never be able to break this historical law, so he might as well do whatever he wanted.
Let's talk about the future.
On the same day that the war in Kosovo ended, the word-of-mouth ban on "Godzilla", which held its world premiere the day before, was officially lifted. The comprehensive media score reached 8.3 points. A shocking monster blockbuster.
Daenerys provided 4,103 screens for the $120 million cg masterpiece.
It was only the first three days from June 11th to June 13th, which seemed to be a retaliatory consumption rebound for the previously disappointing first part of the Star Wars prequel. This monster blockbuster with excellent reputation quickly won 81.37 million dollar box office.
Subsequently, in the complete first week, "Godzilla" earned 111.92 million U.S. dollars in seven days after it was drawn, easily topping the weekly box office champion. Moreover, if only the full week of seven days is counted, "Godzilla" even surpassed the previous box office of $99.35 million in the first seven days of the first full week of the Star Wars prequel from May 21 to May 27, becoming the North American film of the year 1999. Top-grossing film.
Such a result, frankly, surprised Simon a little.
Daenerys' three most critical super blockbusters this summer, "Godzilla", "Peerless Heist" and "The Matrix", Simon's most unashamed at the beginning, is actually "Godzilla", because The Emmerich version of the same period was a lesson learned, and it was also because of the ill-fated fate of this series in Hollywood.
This is actually why, among the three super blockbusters, "Godzilla" will be placed first.
However, it is what it is.
Simon can only be sure that in addition to the quality of the film itself, there is obviously a display of Daenerys' increasingly powerful comprehensive strength.
In any case, it broke 100 million in the first week, and there is almost no suspense for the brand-new "Godzilla" to reach 300 million in North America. No matter how high it is, Simon doesn't expect too much, 300 million is enough.
Furthermore, "Godzilla" is a big hit in Hollywood, and the Japanese are the happiest.
After the box office of the first weekend was released, the Japanese media gave a wide range of reports on the amazing commercial performance of this super monster IP in Hollywood. The pride was beyond words, probably too proud, and some people began to criticize Japan's Toho general Goss Pulling copyright is too easy to hand over to Hollywood, why not invest in the production itself?
Dongbao also quickly responded to doubts. The "Godzilla" project has Dongbao's 30% investment, and it can also benefit.
Then, the problem came again.
This "Godzilla" is obviously from Japan, but it doesn't seem to have many Japanese elements, and it doesn't even have a single character of Japanese descent. How can this work?
Dongbao could only respond again and again, definitely, definitely next time, and definitely fight for his own actors.
blah blah.
Usually, with such a good start, the official should be very soon on the sequel
To make a statement, but because of these entanglements, the follow-up news that countless movie fans were looking forward to did not break out.
Dongbao hopes to take this opportunity to gain more initiative. Daenerys also does not want to give Dongbao too much in the sequel. After all, the 30% investment ratio is a bit high. Think about it next time. At least, in terms of peripherals and other aspects, Dongbao should spit out more rights, otherwise there will be no motivation to develop a sequel here.
So the two sides are in a kind of delicate stalemate.
Some people are happy and some are worried.
The market performance of "Godzilla" is too strong, and it directly affects "Star Wars Prequel: The Phantom Menace".
It stands to reason that after the first prequel experienced a deep drop of 41% in the third week, the four-week decline should narrow. However, under the impact of "Godzilla", the first prequel still fell by 39% in the fourth week, from $48.46 million last week to $29.35 million in one fell swoop.
Even if the total local box office of the film comes to 300.68 million US dollars, after two consecutive weeks of 40% dives, even if the film can reach 400 million in the follow-up, it will probably stop here, and then try to reach the previous 470 million. High dollar, unlikely. In other words, under the impact of "Godzilla", "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" will shrink by about $70 million in this time and space.
Moreover, this is because "Godzilla" avoided drawing until the fourth week of the first prequel. If "Godzilla" was moved forward one week earlier, the box office of this Star Wars blockbuster would have shrunk to $100 million. Simon didn't interfere with the Daenerys team's conservativeness in avoiding the prequels of "Godzilla" too far. He is satisfied with the current results anyway.
also.
During the same week, with the end of the Kosovo war, almost immediately after, another event happened in the American political circle that had a crucial impact on the subsequent trend of the American national fortune. On June 12, Josh Walker Bush, then the governor of Texas, officially announced that he would fight for the Republican nomination in the 2000 US presidential election, declaring that the Bush family would once again sprint for American power after Bush Sr. peak.
Later, many people justified the war on terrorism in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq when Bush Jr. was in office.
The general idea is that although the two wars consumed trillions of dollars of funds, they actually fundamentally ensured the continuation of the dollar's hegemony.
Simon disagrees.
In Simon's view, Bush Jr. actually caused irreversible and serious damage to the foundation of the United States through two wars.
One of the key points is that the two wars should never be protracted.
The United States used the opportunity of 9/11 to occupy Afghanistan, and then, the laundry powder incident, invaded Iraq, and then, it was a long entanglement that cost trillions of dollars for two decades, which was completely unnecessary.
The same two wars in the 1990s, the Gulf War and the Kosovo War, are the most direct evidence.
In the Gulf War, the multinational forces led by the US military launched an offensive in mid-January 1991, and Iraq withdrew from Kuwait at the end of February. The whole process took about one and a half months and was straightforward.
Throughout the Gulf War, the United States not only did not spend too much money, but also made a fortune from the tributes from countries in the Middle East. At the same time, in order to avoid the threat of Iraq again, the major oil-producing countries in the Middle East led by Saudi Arabia, The dependence has not weakened, but has been strengthened again, so the hegemony of the US dollar has once again become deeply rooted.
And recently, the war in Kosovo, which lasted 78 days, ended with the indirect near-collapse of the euro, which was also crisp and neat, and the hegemony of the US dollar was further consolidated.
Therefore, the comparison between the two wars in the Bush era is clear and strong.
Both were wars that could have been resolved simply and neatly by relying on the absolute superiority of the U.S. military, and they could have achieved the best results at the lowest cost. What could it be?
Simon would never have chosen to support Bush Jr. in next year's general election if he hadn't had his own considerations about the future structure of the world.
Ukraine.
Rivne Oblast at the end of June is still cool and pleasant, which is very suitable for summer escape.
Simon just arrived from Cologne, Germany.
On June 18, another annual g8 meeting was held in Cologne, Germany.
Like Birmingham last year, Simon is once again joining in the fun.
Moreover, this time it was really lively.
The first topic of this G8 meeting is naturally the just-concluded Kosovo war. Of course, the topic must be more high-sounding, maintaining peace and stability in the Balkans, and so on.
However, the smart people certainly saw the essence of the matter.
Ever since, on the opening day of the meeting, people assembled from all over Europe held grand demonstrations, demanding that NATO and Russia withdraw from Yugoslavia and demanding real peace.
That's not all.
Another issue, as one can imagine, is globalization.
Then, this time, it is an anti-globalization movement on a much larger scale than last year.
Compared with last year's small fights, this anti-globalization movement started on June 18, and in just three days, from Cologne, Germany to the whole of Europe, and then to the whole world, dozens of cities, more than two million People participated, and there were even riots in cities such as Paris in France and Rome in Italy.
On a public level, Simon has always insisted that globalization is an inevitable trend in the world. But, deep down, Simon has always understood that globalization, from
It is not an inevitable trend.
It is an inevitable trend to divide for a long time and unite for a long time, and to unite for a long time to divide.
So Simon understands that millions of people take to the streets in just a few days.
Because of the disadvantages of globalization, or in other words, the negative consequences for the economies of many countries, they are still emerging in recent years.
First of all, the transfer of the industrial chain to low-cost areas inevitably caused mass unemployment of low-level industrial workers in many developed countries. After all, the development of a country does not mean that everyone can enter lucrative high-end industries. The world, fundamentally, will always be a pyramid structure, and the most responsible people can only survive in the middle and lower levels.
The result of globalization is that it is becoming more and more difficult for the middle and lower classes in developed countries to survive. Of course, everyone is unwilling.
However, at least in the short term, this is already an inevitable trend.
After all, the bottom layer cannot resist the top layer after all.
If the upper layers of the pyramid want to pursue higher profits, they must promote globalization.
But, then again, is there really no way out for the bottom? Is it true that the society can only be allowed to go in a direction that is less and less friendly to oneself?
have.
A certain red empire that had already collapsed suddenly gave a solution.
However, the USSR is no more.
The free world has won, people have been free, and so has capital.
Some people may say that capitalism in Northern Europe is doing very well, and that is the real realization of Marx's ideal of communism.
However, another fact is that if you don't talk about size, but only talk about pros and cons, that's hooliganism.
How many people are there in the Nordic countries?
Furthermore, how many resources do the Nordic countries occupy?
With a large enough land, an absolutely wealthy capital, and a relatively small population, it is of course easy to create a utopia. Moreover, human history has personally proved that Utopia will definitely not last long.
All in all, all in all, the result can only be one cycle after another, one strange circle after another.
As for what an individual can do?
Be nice, work hard, live a better life in your own circle, live a better life, that's all.
Be professional, either exploiter or exploited.
Be cruel, either be a predator or be a prey.