Reborn Bao Guowei, I really didn’t want to be a great writer!

Chapter 418 Britain's original sin! Keynes turned red?

In the box, Bao Guowei calmly looked at Mr. John Keynes in front of him, allowing him to refute hysterically and cite case after case in an attempt to prove the greatness of Queen Elizabeth and to prove that the rise of Western society was not due to plunder, but to the advantages of its institutions and culture.

Bao Guowei did not choose to argue with him because it was meaningless. In this state, Keynes would not listen to any different opinions.

Therefore, Bao Guowei would not tell Keynes that the historical narrative mainly composed of British Whig politicians and writers since the 18th century was a completely false history that had been edited and screened.

They told the world that the British Magna Carta and Glorious Revolution were manifestations of the cultural and institutional advantages of the Anglo-Americans.

And over-glorify the Magna Carta.

In fact, according to later analysis of historical facts, the Glorious Revolution was full of struggles for power and religion. In a sense, the beginning of the Age of Exploration originated from the persecution of pagans.

Many scholars today believe that the West is powerful because of their civilized institutions and culture.

On the contrary, the real source of Britain's strength over the past century is its effective means of fiscal collection.

Bao Guowei would also not tell the other party that the Glorious Revolution, which claimed to be a bloodless revolution, massacred the original 150 million Irish people, reducing them to only 85 in the battle between the Royalists and the Parliamentary Army.

So until later generations, the Irish always hated the English.

The so-called civilized development is nothing more than a mask these hypocritical Westerners put on themselves.

In fact, the rise of the British and even Westerners was entirely built on the flesh and blood of countless African blacks, colonial natives and even their own compatriots.

It is no wonder that Marx once lamented that when capital came into the world, every pore from head to toe was permeated with blood and filth.

Hasn't he also seen the ugly deeds of these Western countries?
But Bao Guowei had no intention of debating with the other party based on this point.

Because it is meaningless, his purpose is not to denounce Keynes, but to persuade him, so he has to use another set of more moderate rhetoric that is in line with Keynes' values.

“Mr. Keynes, as you just said, there have been more than one economic crisis in Europe, some of which were powerful enough to overthrow a country.

So we'd better give up emotional debate and return to the real issue, discussing from the underlying principles and history how to get out of an economic crisis."

Bao Guowei put a grape into his mouth and then spit it out skillfully.

Keynes was obviously much calmer. He smoothed his messy hair.

Let out a breath from your chest.

To be honest, he has always been an emotional person, but today he broke down in front of Bao Guowei.

The main reason is that the theories and policies proposed by the other party coincide with his own, as if his future self has arrived.

But it was such a gentleman who actually told himself that some of the beliefs in his heart had always been wrong and ugly.

This was totally unacceptable to Keynes, and he was on the verge of collapse.

After some adjustments, Keynes regained his composure. He rubbed his face hard with his palms, trying to calm himself down.

"That's exactly what I want."

Keynes tried to be rational, spread out his hands and started again.

But Bao Guowei's first sentence made him unable to hold back.

Bao Guowei said: "To solve the economic crisis, opening up new colonies, invading other countries and plundering their resources is the best option."

"???" Keynes frowned and said in disbelief. "Did I hear you right? Dear Sir? I just heard you say words like invasion and colonization?"

In his eyes, even if it is not certain what Bao Guowei said, one can guess that he is a scholar who is inclined towards socialism.

But how could such a person say these words?
What is the difference between this and Mosley and a group of extreme nationalists at the cultural salon?
Bao Guowei twitched the corner of his mouth and asked back.

"Wasn't the last world war the product of conflicts of interest? Wasn't it a bloody war launched by various countries in order to compete for colonial resources and transfer internal crises?"

Keynes' expression turned serious. He had studied the causes and effects of the world wars and their economic impact.

It has to be admitted that Bao Guowei's judgment is very accurate and almost impossible to refute.

He remained silent and no longer intended to refute Bao Guowei, but fell into deep thought.

Bao Guowei spread out his hands and talked freely.

“The relationship between the so-called economic crisis and the world war is nothing more than when the colonial resources of the world have been plundered and the limited resources cannot satisfy the increasing number of bourgeois countries.

An economic crisis that cannot be passed on will inevitably break out.

Subsequently, as internal conflicts within the country intensified, foreign war became almost inevitable.

The emergence of extremists like Mosley is not incomprehensible."

Keynes couldn't help it after all. He felt that he could no longer refute Bao Guowei within the UK, so he brought in another character.

"America, sir, I mean America. I think for them, at least now, there hasn't been any major extreme nationalism."

Hearing this, Bao Guowei almost laughed out loud.

Why are you bragging about something else?

He said: "I don't know if Mr. Keynes has read the newspaper. A few hundred meters away in Manhattan, New York, homeless people can only use cardboard and iron sheets to build small huts that are difficult to live in.

I don’t know if Mr. Keynes has ever heard a political joke about the United States.

During the Great Depression, when you walked into a hotel and checked in, the waiter would ask if you wanted a room or to jump off the building.

Bao Guowei stared at Keynes, and his meaning was very clear: this is the America you are bragging about.

But obviously Keynes was still not "convinced".

Zhang Nianyue in the corner watched the argument between the two with great boredom. In her eyes, Keynes, who seemed a little dull, was no match for Bao Guowei at all.

She was even a little bored, so she took a piece of white paper and started drawing comic strips for the two of them.

Since the United States was mentioned, Bao Guowei decided to make an extra effort and have a good chat with the other party about the United States.

He said, “Then let’s discuss the underlying causes of this Great Depression.”

Hearing this, Keynes immediately straightened his back and said: "Overproduction is the source of all economic crises!"

Combining Bao Guowei's discussion and his own previous research, Keynes has basically confirmed this theorem.

In Keynes' later work "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money", this theory was discussed in great detail.

“It’s not wrong, but it’s not detailed enough.”

Bao Guowei commented, and then he continued to speak.

“As for the Great Depression that originated in the United States, it can be summed up in one sentence: people invested all their money into the stock market without knowing where to put it!
Greed has caused people to sell and mortgage their real estate and pour all kinds of borrowed wealth into stock trading like a tide.

But stocks are essentially a kind of virtual wealth and cannot bring any wealth.

When the inflated expectations are reflected in the real economy's deficit, an economic crisis breaks out! "

"As far as I know, US President Hoover has taken some measures, which seem to be good." As a member of the Ministry of Economics, Keynes naturally knew the situation in the United States very well.

Bao Guowei shook his head and said: "US President Hoover is confident in his approach to handling the economic crisis.

But in my opinion, his actions of persuading capitalists not to cut wages have instead induced companies to lay off employees.

He also encouraged charities to help refugees, urged banks to help each other, and raised tariffs to reduce imports, etc. He wanted to induce Americans to buy American products, but he attracted retaliation from other countries.

He wants the capitalists to cut off their own flesh to solve their own problems, which is completely unrealistic.

But what he didn't know was that capitalists are a group of people who will do anything for profit. How could they be willing to sacrifice their interests to resolve the crisis?
If they wanted to, would the crisis still occur?"

"Is it actually like this?"

Keynes was confused for a moment.

Bao Guowei’s previous analysis of Britain had already surprised him, and now Bao Guowei has made a detailed analysis of US policies.

Even from his perspective as an economist, this is very credible.

At least he couldn't find fault with it himself.

Keynes felt that his values ​​were challenged and that he felt subverted.

He said cautiously: "Mr. Bao, according to your theory, are the capitalists the original sin of all this?"

Bao Guowei knew that the other party had been fooled. He smiled and said nothing clearly.

"Mr. Keynes, most conflicts are class conflicts."

There was a long silence.
The thoughts in Keynes' head seemed to have undergone a severe baptism.

"Another one has been cheated."

Cao Yanhai leaned against the door and scooped up a handful of peanuts from somewhere. While chewing the peanuts, he turned his head to look at Keynes' expression in the house.

The waiter who passed by looked at the peanut shells all over the ground and dared not say anything.

Bao Guowei felt that if he continued to talk about it, Mr. John Keynes, who was later regarded as one of the most influential economists, would become a socialist completely.

This is obviously not in their own interests and is likely to attract pursuit by the British authorities.

So he made up for it by saying, "But given the current situation, Britain should be able to temporarily overcome the difficulties by following the policies I proposed."

Keynes was relieved to hear this. He had thought that Britain would have to trigger a class revolution like Russia.

"temporary?"

He noticed the word.

"Yes!" Bao Guowei nodded. He didn't want to be arrested by the British after his theory failed.

So we have to take some preventive measures.

"My policy may be able to solve the problem temporarily, but it is just to use the government's means to consume and reinvest the funds that were originally unable to be mobilized. This can solve the problem to a certain extent, but it is only a temporary solution!"

Bao Guowei tapped the table with his knuckles and emphasized.

“In summary, the government should monetize national credit, open up the connection between labor and capital, and put the government in the role of consumer and employer, so that all parties can benefit and stimulate the economy.

This looks good, but there is a fatal problem.

That is, transferring the costs to the future, using future money to solve the current crisis and delay the occurrence of the crisis.

As for how the future will be resolved, no one knows.”

In fact, Bao Guowei is very clear that even if Keynesianism is combined with some excellent economic experiences of later generations, it will not produce a perfect economic system.

This kind of economic system has not yet been born in later generations.

For example, when faced with stagflation, or stagflation, the Keynesian approach will no longer be as effective.

Historically, the Great Depression of 1929 was completely resolved.

This was only achieved after the war destroyed productivity and disrupted the original order.

However, this is not a problem that Bao Guowei needs to consider.

As long as his theory can help Britain alleviate the economic crisis to a certain extent, it will be enough to elevate his status to an unattainable level.

Bao Guowei knew that as a member of the British Treasury, Keynes could not possibly come to visit him simply on his own behalf.

Obviously, the current British authorities are not so familiar with this economic theory.

So they hoped that Keynes, the most powerful economist in Britain, could get the answer from themselves.

Bao Guowei knew this, and in order to implement his own ideas and influence the future direction, he was naturally happy to answer Keynes' questions.

"This"

Keynes didn't know how many times he had been speechless today.

After Bao Guowei said that Bao's economics was not perfect, he was obviously disappointed.

But in my heart, I became more convinced of Bao Guowei's words.

He firmly believes that there is no perfect theory in the world, and it is precisely because of its flaws that it appears real.

In his original economic theory, Keynes attributed the cause of the crisis to insufficient purchasing power.

Perhaps because of his position, he did not raise the basic contradictions of capitalism.

Now that Bao Guowei has improved and revised his original idea and put it in front of him, it is even more convincing.

Then, Keynes asked knowingly: "So, sir, how can we completely solve the economic crisis?"

Bao Guowei did not answer, but just kept drinking tea. He looked at Keynes with a meaningful look, maintaining the demeanor of a master.

As long as he doesn't say it directly, it doesn't count as "inducing" the other party, right?

Keynes' pupils seemed to dilate a little.

In his original theory, he was pessimistic about the future.

Even in Keynes' works, there was a violent theory mentioned.

That is, "in the long run it looks like we're all going to die."

This is because he dare not touch the original sin of capitalism from the bottom of his heart.

But according to Bao Guowei's theory, the future is bright and the only thing to do is to get rid of these capitals.

Everything seemed to make sense.

Keynes said excitedly: "So, if we want to change the current situation in Europe and the continuous economic crisis of capitalism, we can only start from the bottom-up policies and completely change the underlying logic of the entire country's economic policies!"

"Sir, you are truly an economic genius comparable to Adam Smith!"

Bao Guowei smiled and clapped his hands in praise.

I have to add one more sentence.

"That's correct, but it has to be done at the right time!"

(End of this chapter)