v2 Chapter 1166： plaza agreement one

September 22, 1985, New York, USA, Plaza Hotel.

The Plaza Hotel was built in 1907; it is located on 59th Street in New York, USA, across the street from Central Park, and faces Admiral Plaza in the east, hence the name of the Plaza Hotel.

The hotel was built in the style of the French Renaissance, creating a "castle"-like building on the south side of Central Park. The interior decoration of the Plaza Hotel is extremely delicate. There are more than 1,600 crystal chandeliers alone. These crystal chandeliers are complex and gorgeous in design, and each is a valuable work of art.

In the center of the hotel lobby is the famous "Palm Hall", where palm trees mirror marble columns, crystal lamps are refracted through layers of mirrors, and silverware inlaid with gold is placed on a white cloth table. Celebrities such as legendary actresses Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor have feigned here.

At this time, the conference room of the Plaza Hotel in New York is experiencing the most important meeting in the past 80 years.

Five developed countries including U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker, Japanese Finance Minister Toshita Takeshita, Federal German Finance Minister Gerhard Stodenberg, French Finance Minister Pierre Bergberg, and British Finance Minister Nigel Lawson The finance ministers of the industrialized countries and the governors of the five central banks met at the Plaza Hotel in New York.

Since 1980, the domestic economy of the United States has undergone two changes. First, the foreign trade deficit has expanded year by year, reaching as high as $160 billion in 1984, accounting for 3.6% of the GDP of that year. The second is the emergence of government budget deficits. Under the shadow of the twin deficits, the U.S. government introduced international capital to develop the economy by raising the domestic basic interest rate. The large inflow of foreign capital made the dollar continue to appreciate, and the competitiveness of U.S. exports declined, thus expanding into a crisis of foreign trade deficit. Under the pressure of this economic crisis, the United States hopes to use the depreciation of the dollar to strengthen the foreign competitiveness of American products and reduce the trade deficit.

In 1977, the U.S. Treasury Secretary Brumesa of the Carter administration used the trade surplus of Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany as an excuse to verbally intervene in the foreign exchange market, hoping to stimulate U.S. exports and reduce the U.S. trade deficit by devaluing the dollar. His remarks led to a frantic sell-off of the dollar, which fell sharply against the currencies of major industrialized nations. At the beginning of 1977, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Japanese yen was 290 yen per US dollar. In the autumn of 1978, the US fell to a minimum of 170 yen, a drop of 41.38%. In the fall of 1978, U.S. President Jimmy Carter launched a "Save the Dollar Package" to prop up the dollar's price.

From 1979 to 1980, the world's second oil crisis broke out. The second oil crisis led to a sharp rise in U.S. energy prices, and the U.S. consumer price index rose along with it. The U.S. experienced severe inflation, with the inflation rate exceeding double digits. For example, putting money in the bank in early 1980 would have a real return of -12.4% by the end of the year.

In the summer of 1979, Paul Volcker became chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. In order to manage severe inflation, he raised official interest rates three times in a row and implemented a tightening monetary policy. The result of this policy was double-digit official and market interest rates in the United States, and short-term real interest rates rose from an average of near zero between 1954 and 1978 to 3% to 5% between 1980 and 1984.

High interest rates attracted large inflows of foreign capital into the United States, causing the dollar to soar. From the end of 1979 to the end of 1984, the dollar exchange rate rose by nearly 60%, and the exchange rate of the dollar against the major industrial countries exceeded the level reached before the collapse of the Bretton Woods system.

The substantial appreciation of the dollar led to a rapid expansion of the US trade deficit. By 1984, the US current account deficit reached a record high of $100 billion.

If this continues, the US economy will be very dangerous and may even lead to collapse. A country with a strong military might be a good choice if it wants to solve its economic problems. But the Soviet Union is still there, and the Americans don't dare to be too presumptuous. In addition, Japan and Germany are hard-core allies, and they cannot directly occupy the two regions.

As the host and the leader of the G5 alliance, U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker first said: "The domestic economic situation in the United States is very bad, because the dollar has appreciated greatly. It has caused heavy losses in the domestic manufacturing industry, and there is no competition in the international market at all. Advantage."

"Although the U.S. government advocates economic freedom and never interferes with the operation and development of domestic companies. But if the U.S. wants to maintain high military spending, the taxation of domestic companies must not be reduced."

"At present, the Soviet Union is the big enemy. Only by sharing the same hatred and overcoming difficulties can we be in an invincible position in the competition."

Said so well-known, but the people present are not fools. The U.S. can't manage its own economy, and is ready to scoop up the wool of other countries. Domestic companies can't compete with Japanese and German companies. Is it really because the beauty staff are constantly adding value! Not necessarily, there is no problem in the United States.

Just taking workers as an example, the wages of American workers are 1.2-1.5 times that of Japan and West Germany, but their working hours are only about 80% of those of workers in the two countries. You must know that these are ordinary workers, and executives are even more outrageous. Therefore, the economic development cannot be attributed to the appreciation of the US dollar alone. But no one can say this, and to be precise, no one dares to say it.

If you really dare to do this, you will completely offend Americans to death. As James Baker said, the Soviet Union was the enemy. They need Americans to fight polar bears and keep themselves safe. Although it is very dangerous to put national security in the hands of other countries, there is currently no good way.

At this time, French Finance Minister Pierre Beberg and British Finance Minister Nigel Lawson are sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai; after all, their economies are not large enough for Americans to fear.

In 1985, Japan replaced the United States as the world's largest creditor nation, and Japanese-made products flooded the world. The frantic expansion of Japanese capital made the Americans exclaim, "Japan will occupy the United States peacefully!"

Of course, this life is not so obvious because of the Black Cloud Group, but the reality is similar. Japanese products are still very competitive, at least Bao Zixuan is not sure to completely beat others. Although fighting alone may not be the opponent of Heiyun Group, but together, the strength of Bao's richest man is definitely not enough.

At the same time, the economic development of the Federal Republic of Germany is also very rapid. In the fields of machinery manufacturing, chemicals, finishing, and automobiles, it can be said that Germany has come to the forefront of the world. In addition, there is no huge military expenditure, so that all West German funds can be used for economic development, and life is very smooth.

For the two defeated countries in World War II, the economic power surpassed them. Of course, Britain and France are not reconciled, and it is nothing more than a feud between the two countries and Germany. Seeing that the Germans are unlucky, it doesn't matter if they suffer a little loss.

Japanese Finance Minister Nori Takeshita exchanged glances with Federal German Finance Minister Gerhard Stoddenberg. It can be seen that the two had already guessed the purpose of the Americans before. But at this time, many places need to rely on the Americans. At least in the face of the powerful military threat of the Soviet Union, without the help of the Americans, it will definitely not be able to withstand it.

Nori Takeshita said very seriously: "Only the United States can compete with the Soviet Union in the world, so Japan is not willing to collapse the U.S. economy. Minister Baker can directly say what Japan needs to do."

Seeing that the Japanese have expressed their position Gerhard Stoddenberg also understands; the general trend. If there is no agreement today, the Americans will definitely not let it go, and maybe something else will happen in the future.

Gerhardt-Stodenberg: "Minister Takeshita No. 2 is very reasonable. The U.S. economy must not collapse. Therefore, it is necessary for the Federal Republic of Germany to cooperate. Please also express it clearly."

He can't help but express his position. After all, the Federal Republic of Germany needs the United States more than Japan. Although it has been 4 years since the Western-81 military exercise, the shock it brought to the Germans has not been forgotten. Perhaps during World War II, the German tank in its peak state probably did not have that strength.

Without the help of the Americans, the poor military strength of West Germany alone; not to mention the confrontation with the Soviet Union, may not even be able to fight with its brother East Germany. After all, West Germany has been restricted in recent years, and the size of the army is limited; the weapons may be quite advanced, but compared with the steel torrent on the opposite side, the number is not a single star.

Seeing the two statements, James Baker was very satisfied. These two old boys are quite good, at least they know who is the master.

Seeing that both Japan and West Germany have expressed their views, French Finance Minister Pierre-Gerber said: "The French side will fully cooperate. At present, the Western world cannot afford the consequences of the collapse of the US economy."

Compared with the other three countries, France can be said to be the most confident existence. After all, when de Gaulle was in power, it was no longer a NATO country. And almost all weapons and equipment can be produced by themselves. It is even a major exporter of weapons and equipment, and the scale of exports at this time is only a little less than that of the United States and the Soviet Union.

Therefore, in front of the Americans, there is no need to bow down, at least the spirit of the Gallic rooster is still there.

Seeing that the finance ministers of the three countries have expressed their views, the British will not have any opinion. They are hard-core allies with the United States, and they are too fat to wear a pair of pants.