Volume 8 Final Chapter Chapter 1101 Economic Collapse
On Nan Yi's side, while walking on the streets of Seoul, he heard the music coming from the shops and couldn't help but hum along.
On the side, Bian Shangmei, who was following closely, sighed in her heart: "Uncle actually likes such a young song."
After humming along for a while, Nan Yi, who still couldn't remember the name of the song, turned around and asked, "Shang Mei, what song is this?"
Bian Shangmei was puzzled as to how Nan Yi could sing without knowing the name of the song, but she still answered respectfully, "Uncle, the song is 'Era of Individuality' by HOT."
"Well, you are managing NM Entertainment (New Miracle)?"
"Yes."
"Tell the president of NW Entertainment to prepare the business and artist information. I want to take a look at it tomorrow morning."
"yes."
Nan Yi continued walking forward, paying attention to the shop signs on the roadside and the young women passing by.
He has been here for several days and walked around the streets a lot. Not to mention seeing beautiful women that catch one's eye, even the proportion of women who are decent looking is not very high. He doubts the marketing ability of Xinsheng Plastic Surgery. With potential customers all over the streets, the plastic surgery hospital has an annual turnover of less than 230 billion won.
After walking for a while, Nan Yi saw an uphill road turning right. He looked into the distance and thought it should be a residential area. Wanting to see how ordinary citizens in Seoul live, Nan Yi turned in.
After walking uphill for a while and passing through an area of shops, three or four-story houses came into view. I raised my head to look at the clothes drying outside a window. Like a pervert, he examined every piece of clothing and every pair of pants, regardless of gender, interior or exterior.
Compared with shiny outer clothes, the underwear and socks worn underneath, which show the edges or not, can better reflect a person's economic level.
Unable to recognize the brand of the underwear, Nan Yi asked Bian Shangmei to identify it and got an uncertain answer - it might be Chumei, a local brand that has been around for seven or eight years. It’s not too expensive, but not cheap either.
I looked at several windows in a row and found that the clothes drying outside were of good quality. This shows that the residents living in this area probably have some financial resources and can withstand a few rakings, and perhaps even a comb.
Continuing to walk higher, when passing a 丅-shaped alley, I saw two men in black suits fighting with a middle-aged man curled up on the ground. They rolled on his calves, kicked his stomach, kicked his head, and used all kinds of moves. However, it seemed that they were using all their strength slowly. They were not trying to kill him, but to teach him a lesson.
After hearing a few curses from the man in the black suit, I immediately realized that it was the loan shark collecting debts.
"Too barbaric." Nan Yi sighed.
Upon hearing this, the expression on Bian Shangmei's face became very varied. The New Miracle Group started out by providing loan sharking funds to gangs. At first there was only one gang, and later it increased to three or four. Although New Miracle packaged this behavior as a financial business and it did not violate the law, it could not change the fact that New Miracle was the behind-the-scenes boss of the second largest loan shark in Seoul.
Nan Yi has an impeccable excuse for this - in order to maintain world peace, the Five Permanent Members sell weapons everywhere to others to guard their homes. Whoever dares to say that they have bad intentions and aim to provoke a war can only show that their values are problematic and they need to go back to school for a thorough reform.
Similarly, Nan Yi got involved in South Korea's loan sharking business simply to provide a source of financing for families in distress. He, a foreigner, did what the Blue House did not do. This is a great international humanitarian spirit. Comrade Nan Yi should be awarded the honorary citizen of South Korea.
His motives were good, but the South Koreans themselves went astray when executing it. He was deeply distressed. The interest he earned was not good at all. He could not sleep well if he used it for extravagant consumption, so...
Arriving at a higher plateau, Nan Yi leaned over the railing and looked northward. He pointed at a black spot behind a few tall buildings and asked, "Is that Kowloon Village?"
"Yes."
"The location is really good. It's very suitable for developing high-rise buildings. Can't it be demolished?"
Bian Shangmei said: "It is unlikely to be demolished. After the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Jiulong Village became a show place for politicians. Politicians would come to the village to express their condolences during every election and Mid-Autumn Festival..."
"Oh, listen to the voice of the masses." Nan Yi interrupted Bian Shangmei and said, "That's a good idea. We can learn from it."
“Hey!”
"Siba!"
When Nan Yi and his group were walking down the slope to the intersection, they happened to see several high school girls hugging and fighting with each other.
Untrained women only use a few moves in a fight, such as pulling hair, slapping, scratching, pounding chests, and kicking crotches. It is rare to see punches or kicks. The same is true for high school girls in Nan Yi's eyes. You pull my hair and I slap you, and it's a back-and-forth fight.
There was only one surprise, a girl who looked thin and weak. She was thin but strong. She grabbed the hair of a fat girl weighing about 130 pounds, slapped her with her hands, and cursed at her.
The girl looked familiar, and after a few more glances, Nan Yi recognized her as Jun Ji-hyun. She was still young and not very grown up, with a low nose bridge and a slightly round face, and did not look very delicate.
"Tsk, the face will become more three-dimensional with just a little adjustment." Looking at Jun Ji-hyun, Nan Yi turned to Bian Shangmei and said, "It looks good, with strong plasticity. What do you think?"
Bian Shangmei stared at Jun Ji-hyun for a while and said, "She has a good facial contour and figure, and her age is very suitable. She is a good candidate."
"A celestial being."
Upon hearing this, Tianxian stepped forward and kicked and slapped the girls one by one. After knocking out all the girls, she carried the confused Jun Ji-hyun to Nan Yi.
"You've got it."
After confirming again that he had not recognized the wrong person, Nan Yi walked away, leaving the stage to Bian Shangmei.
There was no earnest advice, no vigilant repeated confirmation of identity. When Byun Sang-mi gave Jun Ji-hyun a business card, she was in disbelief at first, but after confirming it, she jumped up instantly, not caring at all that her left cheek was still red.
Afterwards, Nan Yi learned that her name was Wang Zhixian, and Jun Ji-hyun was probably a later stage name.
After strolling outside, I returned to Nan Jiajun's villa at dinner time. Nan Jiajun, who had returned home earlier, had already asked the servants to prepare Korean set meal.
Eat and chat.
"Dad, as of yesterday, the Republic of Korea's external debt has reached 105 billion U.S. dollars, and short-term debt that must be repaid within one year accounts for 68%."
“What about the debt situation of large enterprises?”
Nan Jiajun said with an unpleasant expression: "The debt ratio of the top 30 large companies is as high as 518.9%."
"Oh, the crisis is coming. What do you think the chaebol families in the Blue House will do?"
“Take advantage of the opportunity to reshuffle the cards and swallow up small businesses that can no longer hold on.”
“What about the debt? How to solve it?”
Nan Yi picked up a piece of kimchi and looked at it carefully. The cabbage was contracted to farmers in Shandong Province by the Reclamation Group. The seeds were supplied by Nanniwan Seed Company, fertilizers and pesticides were supplied by Shiva, shipping was handled by Jiang Shang Fisheries, production was handled by the Nan Clan Zongjiafu kimchi workshop, and sales were handled by Midubo. Except for paying taxes, every penny of profit remained in their hands.
“It’s passed on to every citizen.”
Nan Yi nodded and said, "In the 1960s and 1970s, almost all developing countries that entered industrialization were ruled by military politics, or centralized politics. It doesn't matter what it is called. For an investment bank analyst, only strongman politics can effectively concentrate resources in a country, suppress and reduce social resistance, and enter industrialization.
For an investment bank seeking capital growth, it would never invest money in a chaotic country. South Korea after Park Chung-hee came to power provided an investment target for international funds.
Park Chung-hee was ambitious to restore South Korea's economy. After investigating South Korea's actual situation and summarizing previous policies, the Park Chung-hee government believed that South Korea's current commodity economy was still extremely underdeveloped and lacked competitive enterprises. It was a pipe dream to rely on the natural evolution of the industrial structure and the independent development of private enterprises to achieve economic take-off in the short term.
So he decided to follow Japan's example and adopt an oligarchic development model, using top large enterprises to drive the entire economy, and then embark on a path of active government intervention to promote economic development.
After the policy was established, Park Chung-hee's government immediately launched a five-year economic plan. Moreover, since the South Korean domestic market was almost saturated, he put forward the slogan of export first, hoping to use the vast overseas market as an engine to drive the development of the entire South Korean economy.
Facts have proved that Park Chung-hee's economic policy was correct and its effect was obvious. During the 18 years when Park Chung-hee was in power, the average annual GDP growth rate reached a terrifying 8.8%; during the periods of his successors Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, the GDP growth rate was also above 7.5%.
Therefore, from the 1970s to the 1990s, South Korea's economy took off in an all-round way. At the same time, South Korean society also underwent profound changes: a large number of world-class companies with international competitiveness emerged in the fields of construction, chemicals, electronics and semiconductors, machinery, automobiles and ships, and South surpassed Japan and the United States in many fields; in 1986 and 1988, the Asian Games and the Seoul Olympics were successfully held.
30 years of sustained high-speed growth has transformed South Korea from a backward agricultural country into a moderately developed country with a per capita GDP of US$4,500, becoming one of the internationally renowned Four Asian Tigers and creating the so-called Han River Miracle.
Nan Yi glanced at Nan Jiajun and Bian Shangmei, "But, what is the reality? The chaebol groups supported by Park Chung-hee have been symbiotic with finance from the very beginning, constantly borrowing money on the road to expansion, and these debts are actually borne by banks, causing serious bad debts in banks; and in order to make money, the chaebols engaged in market speculation, causing excessive expansion of bubble economies such as real estate.
The Miracle of the Han River, the development of many industries, the affluent life of the people, all are built on the basis of borrowing. 100 billion US dollars is 804.45 trillion won, and the population of South Korea is 45.954 million, which means that every South Korean is in debt of 1.75 million won.
In January, Hanbo Steel went bankrupt, and Sammi Steel went bankrupt. Who will go bankrupt next?
Bian Shangmei wanted to answer, but after taking a look at Nan Jiajun, she gave up the idea.
Nan Yi saw this and gave her an encouraging look, "Shang Mei, we are discussing, you can speak freely."
Then he looked at Nan Jiajun and said, "Don't act like the boss at home. Listen to other people's opinions. The same goes for the company. Give everyone the opportunity to express their ideas during meetings. Autocracy is the beginning of destruction."
"Dad, I have never been a dictator." Nan Jiajun explained.
"That's the best." Nan Yi nodded, then looked at Bian Shangmei, "Shangmei, I really recognize your abilities and your relationship with Jiajun, but Jiajun has to make some sacrifices to be in his current position.
The main factor that determines his marriage is definitely not love. Marriage and strong alliance are what he should do. To you, our Nan family can only say sorry. Jiajun can't give you marriage, but can only give you compensation that has nothing to do with love, such as position, equity, and so on. "
Bian Shangmei stood up and bowed to Nan Yi, "Uncle, the president has already explained it to me. I don't care."
"If you want, you can call me Dad."
Bian Shangmei was delighted when she heard this, and quickly bowed again and called out, "Dad."
Nan Yi pressed his hand down and said, "Sit down and tell me what you want to say."
"Yes." After Bian Shangmei sat down, she said, "Dad, the next company to go bankrupt should be the Kia Group. Its financial situation is very poor and it is difficult to maintain."
"Since the chaebols were supported, the ranking of the top ten chaebols has always changed every five years, with new ones coming in and old ones being kicked out. The ones that have remained unchanged are Star and LG, while the ones with a relatively good upward momentum are SK, Lotte, and Hyundai. It will be difficult for them to be washed out in this reshuffle, or it should be said that the reshuffle will be initiated by these few companies.
Jiajun, except for Lotte, please visit the other four more often."
"Dad, why was Letian excluded?" Nan Jiajun asked.
Nan Yi frowned and said, "Lotte was developed from Japan. I personally don't like it. It's impossible to be on good terms with every company. I exclude one company based on my personal preference. Is there a problem?"
"No."
"Very good." Nan Yi pointed at Bian Shangmei, "Shangmei, you don't have to follow me in the next two days. Make me an economic forecast report for South Korea in the next two years. We will continue the discussion the day after tomorrow. Do it carefully. The report will affect your evaluation and then affect your equity figures."
"Yes, Dad, I will do my best."
"Have a meal."
After dinner, Nan Yi sat in the garden of the villa and read the newspaper.
There was no wind today and we had a bonfire. Although it was covered with spring snow, it was not cold at all.
On the second floor, Nan Jiajun and Bian Shangmei stood on the balcony, looking down at Nan Yi in the garden.
"President, does my father always have so many bodyguards around him?"
"My father said that he is a coward and doesn't like to take risks. He always pays attention to his own safety. It's the same for us. When we go out to work, we will be accompanied by a team of bodyguards."
"I found that my father was in very good health and could walk from morning till night without rest."
"The body is the capital of revolution, this is what my father often said. No matter what you do, you need a good body, even if you are a playboy. At home (Qidian Orphanage), we have been receiving combat and shooting training, and we also often do cross-country long-distance running. In my father's words, you must be able to escape when you encounter danger."
Nan Jiajun said this with a knowing smile, recalling the past.
"Why not resist?"
"Why should we resist? A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. If you escape from danger, there are plenty of ways to retaliate afterwards. It is not worth it to be a brave man. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, you will kneel down and beg for life. As long as you are alive, everything is possible."
Nan Jiajun raised his leg and kicked the red wine bottle on the balcony railing. The bottle did not move at all, but the bottle mouth was kicked away by him, and a silver light flashed at the tip of his shoe.
"I……"
Before Nan Jiajun could finish his words, Nan Yi in the garden had already raised his head and yelled, "Ah, Xiba, you little bastard, get off me, you're hitting me."
"Dad, it's not me, it's Shang Mei."
“…”
As the sun sets, the arbitrageurs are far away.
Near dusk, on the streets of Bangkok, a balding middle-aged white man was browsing the bustling scene accompanied by two Thai government security guards.
This middle-aged white man is called Arminio Fraga. He has an impressive resume. In 1981, he received a bachelor's and master's degree in economics from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. In 1985, he received a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. In his early career, he worked at Salomon Brothers and Garantia Investment Bank.
Fraga has taught at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, the Graduate School of Economics at the Getugars Foundation, Columbia University's School of International Affairs, and the Wharton School; he is a member of the Group of Thirty and the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the boards of several non-governmental organizations.
From 1991 to 1992, he served as Director of the International Affairs Department of the Central Bank of Brazil. Since 1993, he has moved to Soros Fund Management in New York as Managing Director (Soros has more than one Quantum Fund).
If you look at it from a God's perspective, in two years, he will still be the Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil.
No matter what, Fraga is definitely an internationally renowned economist, and his appearance in Bangkok is naturally related to his current identity.
Based on his international status, the Bank of Thailand sent a deputy governor to receive his visit, and the two sides had a perhaps frank conversation.
During the conversation, Fraga bluntly pointed out that Thailand's economy has various problems. On the one hand, if the government is determined to protect the currency exchange rate, it must maintain higher interest rates to attract sufficient funds.
On the other hand, because Thailand has a considerable deficit in its international trade account and the instability of its banking system, currency depreciation and lower interest rates are more attractive. Therefore, Thailand must strike a balance between the two, otherwise it will fall into a more dangerous situation.
Perhaps it was Fraga's scholarly demeanor that made the deputy governor who received him relax his vigilance. Facing Fraga, he completely forgot that Fraga was an economist working for a top predator institution on Wall Street. The deputy governor frankly admitted that Thailand had accepted any interest rate that was proven to keep its exchange rate within the specified range, but due to the big troubles in the banking system, the government gave more priority to interest rates.
The seemingly irrelevant words brought Fraga a lot of information, the most important of which was that "the Thai baht will depreciate." He saw an opportunity to short the Thai baht, as if it was a building full of US dollars with a crack in the wall, and green US dollars were constantly leaking out of the crack. As long as he raised his hand, US dollars would flow into his pocket continuously.
Pretending not to have heard clearly, Fraga confirmed it again. Out of courtesy, the vice president, who was completely unaware that he had revealed the secret, repeated it once more.
Fraga immediately realized that Thailand was powerless to change its current exchange rate policy. No matter how many official statements it made in the future to ensure the stability of the exchange rate policy, it would not be able to prevent the fact that the Thai baht was about to depreciate. It was only a matter of time.
The reason why the Thai baht cannot actively choose to devalue is not only because it needs to attract foreign investment stably, but also because of the political pressure from other countries and regions in Southeast Asia. The so-called Four Asian Tigers and Four Little Tigers have all taken the path of export-oriented economy.
This model mainly relies on the inflow of foreign capital and technology. In the current situation, maintaining the stability of the currency has become inevitable. No capital will be willing to invest in a country with an unstable currency for a long time, and they do not want to accept losses in exchange rates.
This is also the reason why the RMB has been trying to maintain its value after announcing a one-time devaluation in 1994. The country needs to attract foreign investment and naturally has to safeguard the exchange rate interests of foreign investors.
Thailand fixed its exchange rate, and then foreign capital and technology flowed in, and then the economy took off. During this process, the exchange rate system must not be changed easily. It must continue to attract foreign investment, but also consider the pressure from neighboring countries.
As we all know, once a country announces a currency devaluation, the country's products will become more competitive in the international market. However, in Southeast Asia, almost all countries use exports as a driving force for domestic economic development. Thailand, which has the largest market share, needs to maintain the integrity of the exchange rate system. Once it announces a devaluation, other countries will follow suit and choose to devalue their currencies and engage in export price wars for their own reasons.
By then, the economic situation in the entire Southeast Asia will fall into chaos. Therefore, for regional economic considerations, Thailand, as a regional power, has an obligation to maintain its exchange rate stability. This is why other Southeast Asian countries will lend a helping hand when the Thai baht is under attack.
Fraga stood at the intersection, looking at the busy crowd around him, feeling sorry for the people. Compared with the profit-seeking vultures on Wall Street, Fraga still had the air of a scholar and a touch of compassion for the world.
Of course, Fraga's compassion for the world is contradictory and has limitations, just as some marine animal protection organizations will help whales and turtles remove barnacles from their bodies at sea, and just as some people will help small animals remove horsefly larvae, fleas, etc. Kindness has always been point-to-point, not face-to-face. The foundation for establishing moral standards is purely out of the preferences of the powerful. Talking about animal protection after eating a medium-rare steak is also a manifestation of great kindness.
People have always been contradictory, limited, and hypocritical. After Fraga felt compassion for the world for a moment, he became happy again because of the green US dollars that were about to be in his hands.
…
It was another morning, and Nan Yi went to "Kolak-dong", the largest wholesale agricultural product market in Seoul. After spending half a day understanding the wholesale prices and business conditions of agricultural products in Seoul, he found a nearby barbecue restaurant to fill his stomach and went to NW Entertainment in Apgujeong.
The president of NW Entertainment is Bai Guixia. He had already received a notice from Bian Shangmei, and when Nan Yi arrived, he was waiting outside the company's gate.
After the greetings, Nan Yi came to the conference room to look at the documents.
The original intention of establishing NW Entertainment is the same as that of Wangbei Film and Television. It is not for film and television itself. NW Entertainment was established earlier. Its original purpose was to launch plastic surgery stars. Now there are two actresses in the company who have undergone major surgery, Kim Yoona and Song Ji-yeon. They have had almost everything from head to toe done, which is tantamount to a complete makeover.
According to the information, Song Ji-yeon has developed well and has achieved her original intention. However, Kim Yoon-a's performance has been mediocre and has shown signs of investment failure.
Nan Yi spelled Kim Yoon-a's name as "Kim Yoon-ya", which can be directly transliterated as Kim Yoon-ya or Kim Yun-er. He wrote the two names in Chinese in the relevant positions of the information, and wrote a line of notes on the side: change the stage name, support with the roles of the first and second female lead, and give up if there is no improvement.
It cannot be said that NW Entertainment is supporting Song Ji-yeon and Kim Yoon-ah at all costs, but at least it is very attentive and will definitely do them justice. If it really cannot support them, there is nothing they can do but choose other candidates.
After seeing the artists who had plastic surgery, Nan Yi looked at the information of other female artists, including Yoon Jeong-hee, Shim Hye-jin, Kim Hye-soo, Jeon Do-yeon, and Choi Jin-sil, four who have already made their mark, and Ha Ji-won, Bae Doona, Kim Ha-neul, and Lee Eun-joo, three of whom were signed from school.
Looking at the familiar names one by one, Nan Yi couldn't help but praise Bai Guixia for his good vision. After praising her, Nan Yi stared at Kim Hye Soo's photo for a while. She was different from others. She was the first artist signed by NW Entertainment and also the one chosen by Nan Yi. She was his favorite South Korean female artist, or more precisely, a woman.
Looking through the contracts of several female artists, it can be found that Kim Hye-soo's contract terms are much better than the others. Nan Jiajun is interested. Although Nan Yi has clearly stated that he has no feelings for Kim Hye-soo, he still treats her differently.
After reading the information, Nan Yi called Bai Guixia to him and told her, "Since they have signed a contract with the company, you must treat them well. Artists are artists. You only need to do things within the scope of their duties. Other than that, don't force them to do anything beyond their obligations. NW Entertainment is not Cheongnyangri."
Bai Guixia said with embarrassment: "Mr. Nan, artists usually have to socialize. We can't offend the PD, director, and screenwriter of the TV station."
Nan Yi naturally understood that one must abide by the rules of one's profession and that one cannot do whatever one wants just because one is strong. There is no strong force in the film and television industry that can overwhelm everyone else. Regardless of whether it is explicit rules or implicit rules, there will naturally be a group of vested interest supporters who will maintain them.
The film and television industry cannot bear Nan Yi's expectations. He has no interest in changing the rules. It is enough for him to make full use of the rules and put himself in the camp of vested interests.
South Korea's entertainment industry can be said to have learned from Xiangxun. It has accepted both the good and the bad, and the bad aspects are even worse than those of Xiangxun. Trainees serving drinks, slave contracts, black money invasions, and pimping are already the obvious rules. The only thing missing is Nan Yi's favorite one, "plastic surgery before debut", which completes the five deadly sins.
"I know that you have to attend normal social events and you have to curry favor with people you should curry favor with. If you are not willing to eat and drink with people, then you should not be an artist. I mean you have to sleep with people or make other excessive requests. Don't force artists to do it.
If they do it voluntarily, there is no need to stop them, just tell them that they will be responsible for any losses to the company caused by it; if it is involuntary and there is no big benefit, I don’t want to see this happen, understand ?"
"Understood." Bai Guixia bowed.
Nan Yi sorted out the documents on the table and asked, "Is Jin Huixiu working?"
"She hasn't been working lately."
"She has a new job. Let her be my playmate."
Bai Guixia's stomach was full of anxiety. Mr. Nan in front of him was a man who said one thing and thought another. He had just said that he would not force her, but now he was... a scumbag.
"Oh, yes, tell her she's paid."
