Mediterranean hegemon

The plummeting lira exchange rate became a significant symbol of Italy's economic situation in February 1930, revealing to the international community the "dangers" of decoupling from the gold standard. As the U.S. stock market began to rebound recently, it had risen to 220 points in mid-February. , so the focus of international public opinion temporarily shifted away from the United States and focused on Italy, focusing on Contini.

"Times" published the Person of the Year in 1929 as usual in January. Under the unanimous selection of many readers and editors, Contini overwhelmed everyone, including Irvin Young, who was once elected in history, and became the Person of the Year in 1929.

Speaking of which, Contini has a close relationship with Time Magazine. He has appeared on the cover of this magazine 6 times, far more times than anyone else. There are four photos that impressed readers the most. The first photo shows Contini and his people appearing in several famous department stores in New York. The text next to it is: buy! buy! buy! , the second one is Contini saying when visiting the farm that "Dow Jones 300 points is the starting point of a new round of bull market in the United States." The third one is of course a photo of him firing at the Federal Reserve. The editorial department gave it to Contini in the form of a cartoon. There was an additional Browning 12.7mm heavy machine gun, and then it opened fire at the building in the distance, shouting "Buy, sell, sell!" Although the building did not have any written symbols, a knowledgeable person would know it at a glance. Clearly it is the Federal Reserve office building; the fourth picture is of him leaving on the Caracciolo, waving to farewell supporters...

Then the "Weekly" also did two special reports, one introducing "United Empire and His Ambition!", which told the history of the United Group, but it was written before the crisis unfolded. This time it made another special report, answering A topic of common concern to the American people: How much money does the president make from the United States? Then he appeared on the cover of a magazine. Many people used their efforts to estimate Contini's wealth. The least person estimated it at 1.2 billion, and the most person estimated it at 30 billion. billion, the generally reliable view accepted by most Americans is around 2.2-2.4 billion.

Although this is a number that makes people jealous almost crazy, everyone feels that this is what the president deserves. The president reminds everyone to boldly buy stocks at 270 points, and prompts everyone to sell at more than 400 points, even if they are not on the bus in front of them. If you follow the instructions given by the CEO in a down-to-earth manner, you can make a fortune. As for not buying when it’s your turn to buy, but jumping in when it’s your turn to sell and losing money, who can blame you? As for Contini's criticism of the Federal Reserve, everyone thought it was enjoyable, enjoyable, and right - because the president was right about the pattern of the stock market, then he was right, and conversely, the Fed was wrong. Everyone's logic was that simple.

Besides, the president did not take more than 2 billion back to Italy for personal enjoyment. The president repaid part of the loan, repurchased the company's stocks, invested 15 million US dollars to establish a stabilization fund, and promised "risk guarantee". In the past few months, They bought the assets of many bankrupt American companies to give the capitalists their last bit of dignity, and hired thousands of Americans who had lost their jobs. They felt that what the CEO did was very legitimate - the American people do not hate the rich, but the rich. In their eyes, the CEO's behavior is much better than that of Wall Street tycoons. At least he donated money to charity and paid US$100 million in taxes.

As for the gifts received by the National Guard, it was also revealed by reporters. Although using "functional drinks" to refer to brandy violates Prohibition and arouses the dissatisfaction of moral defenders, most people think that the president is good and is better than 99% of American rich people. If all the rich people in the United States could do this, the United States would have become an ideal society long ago.

Many reporters made it clear that they greatly missed the lively scene of United Bank's press conference when the president was there. At that time, there were breaking news and shocking words every time. The media was so happy that the news surrounding the president alone could sustain them. Two pages were opened, but as soon as the president left, the scene disappeared. Although Antonio and Leo did not refuse to be interviewed by the press, what they said was similar to those of the giants and bankers on Wall Street - cautious, conservative, and the so-called left and right people said that they were too clear to drink!

Audiences called or wrote to the media to express their dissatisfaction with their performance during this period. This put a lot of pressure on the press and urgently needed a breakthrough. But soon they saw big news again. When they heard that the president returned to China and became a cabinet minister and president of the National Development and Reform Commission, several major newspapers with keen sense of smell immediately sent an interview team to Italy to follow and interview the president personally. In order to facilitate the transmission of information, several major newspapers The newspaper also jointly funded the hiring of a group of former military communications soldiers, using four radio stations to transmit news from Italy.

This investment has discouraged small and medium-sized newspapers, but it has brought countless traffic to several major newspapers: "Catching up with the Premier League", "The Great Leap Forward", "Three Red Flags and the General Line", "Two Stage Goals", "Ten New terms such as "year plan" and "400 billion lira investment" instantly set off the American media. 95% of the financial professionals, bankers, and economists interviewed were not optimistic about this routine. Civilized comments said that this approach is "too much." "Radical", people who have always disliked the CEO simply dismissed him as "crazy", "stupid", "delusional"...

Some congressmen even accused Mussolini of it: "Mr. Mussolini trusts a 27-year-old young man so much just because he is his son-in-law. He is suspected of being nepotistic. Is Italy so big?" A country can’t even find a qualified economic manager? If it still bets on its political future and shares, has Italy begun to gamble on its national destiny?” The words implicitly imply that there is something wrong with the Italian system.

In fact, he didn't understand Mussolini's pain at all: the leader didn't really want Contini to sit in this position, but he was riding a tiger with a lot of internal and external pressures, and he had to accept it even if he didn't want to!

This statement was normal. There were indeed a group of liberal congressmen in the United States who were dissatisfied with the Italian system and Mussolini's style. However, fans of the president from top to bottom in the United States were unwilling to let go and stood up to argue: "The president said that if he reaches No, if you are willing to sacrifice your political career and all your property, how dare you people be willing to sacrifice your personal career and all your family property?"

Of course, no one is willing to accept such a bet, because if the president loses, they will not get any benefits. Those properties belong to the Italian national finance, and at most there will be a little reputational benefit; if they lose, they will have to fulfill their promise to Donate all property to charity - who would do such a stupid thing?

Thinking this way, it is certain that no one is willing to commit to the gamble, but he cannot give in, so there are more and more news and reports attacking Contini.

Only Livermore, who knew the inside story, was willing to believe that what Contini said was true: before the president left, he asked to establish a long position of 3 billion US dollars. As the index rose from 150 points to 220 points, the 3 billion dollars had almost earned 1.4 billion US dollars. , as long as the president wants to, he will be able to do things well in Italy, because he has the capital, what do other politicians know, they are just a bunch of frogs in the well!

Some economists tried to use numbers and professionalism to analyze, mocking: "The president said he would surpass France, but the exchange rate of the Italian lira has plummeted from 25 lira to 1 U.S. dollar in November to 45:1. During the same period, the exchange rate of the franc remained basically stable, but from this perspective, the gap between Italy and France has not narrowed but widened. If the president thinks that doubling means doubling the price in lira, that is too simple. France wants It would be easy to double that, to be fair, it would have to be comparable in both dollars and pounds."

Some newspapers believe that the United Group issued 3 billion US dollars of bonds, and the exchange rate at the time of issuance was only 30-35 lira: 1 US dollar. Now it has fallen to 45 liras: 1 US dollar. Under this momentum, how will the United Group repay its debts in the future? They believe that rating agencies need to reassess Italy's national credit rating.

Several appraisal companies have just taken a vote in joint bonds, how could they immediately go back on their word? Isn't this a slap in the face to themselves? They came out one by one and claimed: "Italy's sovereign credit rating will remain stable in the short term, and the exchange rate is not a key indicator in determining the rating."