About the Author
About the Author: Li Yudong is a best-selling author after 85. He is a member of the Chinese Writers Association, the Chinese Essayists Association, the Chahar Society, the Development Herald, the Shanxi Writers Association, and the contracted writer of Shanxi Literature College. His works include the essay collection "Crazy As a Virgin" and "Thorny Shakespeare's Dream"; the novels "Night Case", "Miao", "Human Dog Barking", "Out of Focus"; the long historical novel "Three Thousand Years of Pen Fall"; and the historical and cultural series "100 Years of Chinese Workers in the Corpses of the Dancers in World War I".
The Game of Overdraft World: The Past and Present Lives of Dollar Hegemony
directory
Gold and Silver War 丨 Bloody War 丨 Fengyun World War II 丨 The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union 丨 Overdraft World 丨 Subprime Mortgage Crisis 丨 End
First, the gold and silver war
4
There is no way out of the sky.
In that difficult year of 1861, President Lincoln, who was in a desperate situation, finally thought of a strange way to break the game with the help of a friend.
However, compared with the shrewd and cunning methods of the European bankers, this game-breaking trick seems so vulgar and tasteless.
The first step in the plan, by lobbying Congress and also using the powers vested in It by the Constitution, created and issued a special paper money out of thin air.
It is not said to be special because of its texture – because this is not the first time it has been issued in terms of issuing paper money. And it is not because of its distinctive green pattern on the surface - although in the history of the United States, it is because of this unique pattern that it has the famous name - greenback.
What makes it truly special is its amazingly unique properties.
Unlike all the banknotes that were being issued in the world at that time, there was no gold or silver behind them.
It is not an "IOU" for precious metals.
It is issued directly by the Ministry of Finance, is non-convertible and self-contained.
For human beings, with the goal of struggle, there is the motivation to produce.
Making money is a direct expression of this goal.
In this way, when the state prints money, the people have the goal to strive for, production and consumption can flourish, and in this period of buying and selling, all walks of life can be revived, and the soldiers on the front line can get enough ammunition.
But this must first guarantee a premise:
Money can be a popular goal for only one reason – it has, and the people of society as a whole believe in its ability to buy goods.
Otherwise, it is meaningless.
Therefore, a potential problem is in front of us, as a non-convertible currency, the cost of green coins is too low, and it is too easy to manufacture, if the department that holds the right to issue money arbitrarily stamps it for its own selfishness, then the inflation situation will inevitably come quickly, so that once this situation occurs, the people's hard-earned wealth will be turned into a bubble overnight.
Yes, gold and silver are naturally non-monetary, and money is naturally gold and silver.
What is this banknote compared to gold and silver?
People living at that time had a sense of foresight — in the face of such a cheap currency that was only backed by the credibility of the government, their hearts could only be uneasy.
And President Lincoln was lucky. Because in 1848, before he became president, in the United States, a gold rush triggered by the discovery of gold began. Now, many years later, even though this gold rush has become a thing of the past, the golden memory that belongs to the American people has never been erased by the passage of time.
It is said that it was this great discovery of gold that made the American people in the midst of war instinctively believe that although they could not be exchanged, they believed that with their strong gold reserves, this new paper money must be considered real money.
With such a mentality, the people accepted the green coin.
So, in 1862, in response to the war, President Lincoln received three more consecutive congressional mandates. In this way, the total number of green coins he issued this year reached 300 million US dollars.
But the war has not stopped. The artillery fire continues.
With the issuance of a large number of green coins, As a prominent politician, President Lincoln was keenly aware that a whole new problem was gradually becoming a hindrance on this path.
The issuance of the green coin, a non-exchangeable paper currency and directly controlled by the Ministry of Finance, made the bankers who controlled the gold mining directly lose control of the entire country's currency. As the issuance of green coins grows larger and larger, in the face of gradually out-of-control interests, they are destined to twist together, with demands as a link, forming a strong force hindering the operation of the country.
So, the second step in President Lincoln's plan—in such a complex context—in 1863, in order to obtain more rights to print green coins, he voluntarily chose to make concessions, and then made a deal with the bankers in The Council.
The result of this transaction was the birth of a National Banking Act.
The so-called National Bank (1) refers to a commercial bank registered with the federal government. As part of the transaction, the act authorized the government to authorize the banks of these countries to issue a bank note that replaced the circulation of gold and silver — in fact, it was the later U.S. national currency.
The reason for this called concession is nothing more than that the bankers have taken advantage of the government under such favorable conditions.
Before the issuance of such bank notes, in 1861, with the issuance of green coins, the US government also issued a batch of $400 million worth of Treasury bonds through the hands of bankers. At this moment, using the bonds in their hands, these cunning bankers cleverly set them as reserves for bank bills, thus firmly tying together the entire country's currency and debt. If you want to issue how much money you want, you have to have how much debt you have – otherwise, the money will become waste paper.
Treasuries are interest-bearing, and the constant issuance of treasury bonds is exchanged for ever-increasing interest – and these bankers will always be the underwriters of the debt.
As the country's debt grows, the banker's wealth grows higher and higher.
But anyway, after getting enough green coins—President Lincoln laughed.
The struggling emerging entrepreneurs, the collapsing northern capitalists, and the ordinary people who are suffering from the ravages of war — they all laughed.
Next, it all makes sense.
Industrial production began to pick up. Northern agriculture, which is not the main economy, has also ushered in a vigorous development. Driven by the real economy, Wall Street stocks have once again soared.
Ample ammunition was transported to the front lines, and a strong economy supported the wear and tear of the war.
In 1865, the 4-year-long, bloody Civil War finally came to an end in a dead silence.
Green coins
As a result of the war, the Northern regime under President Lincoln was won an all-out victory.
The glorious past is over. The smoke of the war has dissipated, and the divided United States has been reunified. The manic populace gradually calmed down, and peacetime rationality drove away the panic of wartime.
Without bloodshed, without turmoil, without slavery, without the rampant interference of foreign forces, in an increasingly stable environment, the U.S. economy can finally make greater strides forward.
It is also in this more and more comfortable state of life that people's brain cells, which were once frozen by war, are finally thawed, finally functioning, and finally relieved.
The relaxed environment made them realize that at this moment after the end of the war, they were facing a new American society. And in such a whole new society, they believe — they are entitled to ask their own questions.
During the war years, in response to the situation, the government was sometimes decisive, sometimes concessional, sometimes strong, sometimes compromised on the issue of money - so that the green coins issued by the government, the bank bills issued by the bank (US dollars), the real gold and silver out of the survival of the fittest in human civilization, everything seemed to be chaotic.
And these questions about personal wealth, about the rules of money, in this era of return to peace, how will it be formulated? Where will those temporarily formed bills and temporary banknotes go in this spring return to the earth?
Note: (1) Nationalbank, also known as "National Bank"
To be continued
Serial period: Every Monday, Saturday and Sunday
Li Yudong WeChat public account: author Li Yudong voice synchronization