Chapter 532 "Freedom of Wealth"

  If there is any teacher in the world that is the worst and not worth learning, it is Ferdinand de Lesaps.

Because of the construction of the Suez Canal, Egypt was forced to shoulder a huge debt. The British lent money to Egypt to buy British food. Not only did they not help but also made trouble. By the way, they took away 44% of the shares in the Suez Canal. It's a magical skill, except for Egypt, Britain and France are good.

  The reason for this is because the London Stock Exchange and Said signed a blank check to Ferdinand de Lacepes.

  If you dare to give me a bad check, I will dare to write a big number. The careerist is not a young girl who is unmarried and pregnant. If you write a blank check of 500,000, your hand will still tremble.

  After the Suez Canal was repaired, all the voices that had been questioned disappeared, and Ferdinand de Lesaps turned his attention to the Panama Canal in the Americas.

  At the beginning of the 16th century, Spain, the world's number one power at the time, drove the locals to build a flagstone avenue that could cross the isthmus and connect the two oceans.

Then they stored the gold, silver, jewellery and other wealth looted from the Pacific coast in Panama City, south of the Isthmus, and then drove many slaves to cross the flagstone avenue and transported the wealth to the Atlantic port. , And eventually shipped back to Spain. However, although the transshipment of cargo from the isthmus is much closer than before, it had to bypass the southernmost point of South America, but it was still very time consuming because ships could not be directly navigable after all.

  The king of Spain at the time wanted to dig an isthmus canal and worked out a specific plan. However, due to the vastness of the project, the King of Spain later overthrew this plan. After that, in the next three centuries, even though the British, French and Americans had the idea of ​​digging a canal in the isthmus, they never realized it.

  Along with the gradual expansion of American power, in the middle of the 19th century, it built another railway on the Isthmus of Panama, which greatly strengthened the transportation capacity of the United States.

However, no matter how land can be installed, it can’t be compared to sea-going ships. The United States and France once again fought for the right to excavate the Panama Canal. In the end, France won. Ferdinand de Lécepes established a Panama Ocean Shipping Global Company. "Cut the leeks".

  All major officials and celebrities attended the opening ceremony and sang "Marseillaise" to celebrate this world-class project.

  The Prime Minister of the French Cabinet and the Minister of Engineering were highly praised, so the first batch of 300 million francs of stock was quickly sold out.

  Shooting stocks like this, the stocks skyrocketed, and Panama Canal Ocean Shipping Global became the most popular company. The executives of the company opened a construction company and issued another 300 million shares.

  Funds are in place so quickly, Ferdinand de Lecepes ambitiously announced that the canal will be opened within 7 years. The Panama Canal is only 40% of the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal is opened in 13 years. In theory, 7 years is enough. However, this is not the case.

  Panama’s terrain is dangerous, it is difficult to construct, and it is often faced with floods and heavy rains, making it difficult to carry out the entire project.

  If you want to see the mountains and open the mountains, see the water and fill the water with repairs, it was originally expected that the soil volume of 45 million cubic meters would become 400 million cubic meters, and the Panamanian company started construction directly without visiting it.

  Later, there was an outbreak of plague in the jungle, malaria and yellow fever were rampant. The project started in 1881, and by 1885 only less than 15% had been carried out, but the Panamanian company announced that it had already carried out more than half of it. The Panama company established a "Canal Bulletin" to publish the progress of the canal project, on-site progress and outstanding employees. In the same way, if the European media came to pay bribes, almost all the well-known media accepted bribes from Panamanian companies.

  Across an ocean, stock investors don’t know the real situation. The credibility of reporters is still believed by many people. Just like Rita Kist, she has people believe in whatever she makes up.

  Just take a photo and make up a place name that doesn’t exist, and investors will truly believe that the project is going well and the stock will continue to rise.

  The inspector sent by the French government turned a blind eye after accepting the bribe. At this time, the 600 million yuan raised was almost used up, so a new round of financing (cutting leeks) began.

  A large number of ministers, speakers, parliamentarians, and officials accepted the bribes and the French parliament immediately approved it.

  Under the influence of the media, the Panamanian company suddenly raised 850 million francs, and half of the money raised went into the pockets of the bribery.

  The field engineers found that the Pacific Ocean is tens of centimeters higher than the Caribbean Sea, so the sea level canal could not be completed with the technology of the time.

  This news was strictly sealed, "leeks", no, it was investors who continued to invest in it. A few years later, the 850 million yuan was used up, and the promised time limit was reached, but the project was actually completed by less than one-third.

  The investors who are in the dark are still investing money.

  After "financing" again, I don’t know how much money, the Panama company suddenly declared bankruptcy, which is equivalent to saying that the stocks bought by the stockholders with all the family funds have become a pile of waste paper.

At that time, small and medium-sized investors in all French towns and villages were crying, and 1 million people were affected. Various scandals broke out at this time, bribing officials and reporters, falsifying engineering reports, covering up company financial status, etc. At least 2 billion funds were invested in this bad At the end of the project, 35%-50% of the funds were used to accept bribes. The three prime ministers, more than 200 parliamentarians, the Army, the Ministry of Public Works, journalists, and the newspaper companies behind the journalists were all accused in court.

  Hundreds of officials each showed their magical powers, and almost no one was accused. Ferdinand de Lesaps and his son were sentenced to only 5 years and a fine of 3,000 francs.

  Four months later, the court changed its words. Everyone was innocent. Western rule of law and media supervision became a joke. The dream of financial freedom for the French public was lost, and many investors broke their homes.

  Of course, there is no compensation for the dead workers. After the Americans took over, they redesigned the entire project and strengthened budget control. This enabled the construction of the canal to proceed smoothly. It was not until August 15, 1914 that the Panama Canal was successfully tested.

  No matter how solid the guarantee project is, there will still be problems when something goes wrong.

When "Leek" received the news, the oligarchs had already left. Lucius Malfoy had no property in the United States. After the Second Wizarding War, in order to pay war reparations and clarify relations, he sold everything he could sell. This time he planned to Investing in the U.S. housing market to earn some "little money", as a result, internal news came over there that the pressure of the U.S. economy to rise after 9/11 was huge. In order to stimulate economic recovery, the US government wants to increase the housing ownership rate of residents. Between 2001 and 2003, interest rates were cut 13 times, and interest rates fell from 6.5% to 1%. At the same time, the United States also passed the "American Dream Down Payment Act" to further promote the purchase of houses by Americans.

  In 1999, only people with good credit and stable income could borrow money to buy a house, with a down payment of at least 20%.

  In 2000, the down payment for loan purchases dropped to 3%. After that, it was reduced to zero down payment and uncertified loans. Many people who do not have the ability to repay can also borrow to buy a house.

In 2005, low-income and poor families accounted for 70% of loans. The risk was too high. At this time, investing money in was harmful to "friends." Lucius did not go to the colorful real estate market in the United States, not even himself. British real estate is also selling carefully.

  In the face of the financial crisis, it is not safe to hold coins. It is best to hold gold. Those Chinese "local tyrants" with large gold chains are smart, as long as they are not afraid of being robbed.

  As the world's largest holder of gold, the US government is known to control the price of gold that can fluctuate in accordance with the interests of the United States. But silver is different. Global silver mines are mainly distributed in Mexico, Peru, Australia, Poland and other regions. If safe-haven funds continue to be invested in the gold market, it will be dead end. The price of silver will fluctuate greatly after the subprime mortgage crisis breaks out. Silver is suitable for both medium and long-term holdings and speculation. It is more stable than "unmovable" real estate. It also happens that wizards and werewolves are fighting and need a lot of silver, so Lucius Malfoy took advantage of the opportunity to deal with goblins. Started hoarding silver in Gringotts.

   "You peeked at my files, now you understand what Lucius is doing?"

  After eating paella lunch, Severus asked her to drink a non-alcoholic Spanish drink, but she still felt dizzy, as if floating in the air.

  He shook his head helplessly, as if sighing that he had married a stupid wife.

  "Why should it be stored in Gringotts?" she asked.

"The Muggle financial crisis will not affect the wizarding world. Even if there is a war, they will not find Gringotts. The money will always be his. Some of his Muggle friends are also asking him to help keep it. We are now It's a rich man!" He tried to transform her poor worldview.

  Pomona shrugged, she still felt that money should not be wasted on eating, drinking, and having fun.

  While passing by a small bar, there was a news broadcast on TV that Somali pirates kidnapped a multinational merchant ship for a ransom of US$500,000 each.

  After the Suez Canal was dug through, everyone entered the Mediterranean from the Red Sea. There were many ships passing by the Golden Waterway in the Gulf of Aden. They caught big and small fish together, and even the WFP's disaster relief ship to Africa was also robbed.

  600 years ago, Chinese navigator Zheng He visited the coastal cities of Somalia during his voyages to the West. That was the first time a Chinese government official visited Africa.

  A Slytherin should make people feel intimidated. If he gains sympathy from others by "selling miserables", it is really sad. She still likes "bad guys" Slytherin.

   "Don't make too much, you guys are hateful enough."

   Severus snorted, "Why don't you tell them, always teach me?"

   "They won't be obedient." Pomona squeezed his thin cheek. "Are you obedient? Severus?"

  Severus looked at her with a smile, and suddenly patted her on the ass. She screamed again and again, which made him laugh proudly.

  　 Yesterday the Philippine volcano erupted. The VEI of this volcano is only 2-3, which will not affect the global weather. However, coupled with the rain forests in Amazon Africa, the Australian wildfires and the Siberian fire in 2018, I hope this Gengzi Year can pass safely

  　　

  　

  (End of this chapter)