Chapter 15: The Big Short (2)
Whether it is studying in the United States or academic exchanges, it is a very exciting thing for American intellectuals, showing that the export of American culture is fruitful, and can allow the American spirit to influence the younger generation of Italy.
A reporter from the Christian Monitor interviewed Contini on this issue at an economic symposium with ill intentions, asking why he was handling the matter in this way, and asking him whether he was biased against American public intellectuals, especially liberal arts intellectuals.
"Prejudice? Inexistent! Contini laughed, "What is really biased is you, especially some media irresponsible fueling the troubles, such as the death of New York Governor Mr. Roosevelt in a truck accident at the end of last year, which is of course an unfortunate incident, as a friend of Mr. Roosevelt, I also expressed my condolences, not only went to his grave to lay flowers, but also condolences to his widow, when he ran for election I also donated 50,000 US dollars!"
However, no matter how much I express my condolences, I can't exaggerate about it, I think it's a very common traffic accident, but it changes in the mouth of your media. Just because the driver of the truck involved in the accident was of Italian descent, some people attacked and said that Italians were barbaric, rude, and unruly, and some even said that the New York gangs were mainly controlled by Italians...... This is all unrealistic rumor-mongering. We can make a bet and take a sample of traffic accidents in the United States for a year, investigate the ethnicity of these drivers, and see if they have the most Italian descent? You can also take a look at the inmates in the police station and the prison, are there the most Italian descendants among them? ”
The reporter nodded, in fact, the Italian drivers don't say anything, the Italian gangsters are still quite famous in New York and Boston, and now it is the period of Prohibition, and the gangsters rely on this to make a fortune, and there are often policemen or other people who are killed by the gangsters with "Chicago typewriters", and there are many descendants of the gangs from Sicily, Italy. However, the president is now denying it and shifting the topic to the crime rate, and the level of stealing of this concept is very first-class - it is not unreasonable for everyone to say that the president is eloquent and quick to respond.
"The reason why you want to put these hats on the heads of Italian descendants is because Italy is currently rising rapidly, and many fields have begun to compete with American products, such as United Motorcycles and Bailang Duoxi, which are well-known in the United States, which makes some people who claim to be the first in the world look down on them; Second, it is because of Italy's unique political system and ideology, which makes some conservative Americans haunt it...... Tell me that they are not ignorant, unjudged, and unlearned, but they are deliberately pretending to be deaf and dumb. They have only one idea: anyone who develops faster than me is an unruly, stealing chickens and dogs; Anything that is different from what I say is heresy - if it keeps saying that it defends freedom, why is Italy not allowed to have the freedom to develop fascistism? This is the root of the problem, at the national level, no country is a judge and arbiter of other countries, and it is okay not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. This is a classic double standard! ”
Contini's frustration made the reporter smile wryly.
"Next, let's talk about liberal arts, I myself am from a liberal arts background, how can I discriminate against liberal arts. But with all due respect, what liberal arts subjects should Italian students study in the United States? Studying politics? Italy is fascist and three flags, which cannot be learned in the United States, and there are no intellectuals in the United States who understand this; Studying law? The United States is a system of case law, Italy is a system of statutory law, and the two sides are not compatible at all; Studying history? Since the founding of Rome, Italy has a history of more than 2,500 years, while the history of the United States is less than 200 years; Studying literature? Italy is the birthplace of modern literature throughout Europe, with Dante's Divine Comedy, Petrarch's Songbook and Boccaccio's Decameron occupying the position of pioneers, while American literature is the inheritance and development of English literature, which is almost inherited from generation to generation; Studying art? Italy is the birthplace of the Renaissance, and every year a steady stream of scholars from all over the world come to investigate paintings, statues, music, dance, fashion, etc., while the most valuable art and antiques in the United States are handed down from Europe; Studying management? Not long ago, seven Ivy League schools, including Harvard and Yale, awarded me honorary doctorates, and invited me to give lectures, focusing on the management system of the United Group; Do you want to study religion and ethics? The Holy See and the Vatican are in Rome, and Italy is predominantly Catholic, and the United States is predominantly Puritans, although there is now religious tolerance, there is still a little bit of a problem; As for studying economics...... "Contini suddenly stopped.
The reporter became excited: "You can study economics, president, the American economy is the most developed in the world, and you yourself admit it!" ”
Contini raised his voice and said: "The United States economy is the most developed, but it does not mean that the United States economics is the most developed, these students who come to study will work in various fields in Italy in the future, I am most afraid that they will become like some fools of the Federal Reserve after studying American economics - then it will be the Italian people who will suffer in the future, in order to prevent this drawback, it is better to wait for the students of the Italian Department of Economics to form a mature economic theory system and concepts before talking about visiting the school." ”
This news is exciting enough! Everyone next to him was stunned, and the president actually publicly said that some people in the Federal Reserve were stupid! Everyone held their breath and listened patiently, who the president said was a stupid fork!
"Because some fools have never understood that the root cause of America's prosperity and prosperity is not those who scratch their ears and cheeks at the numbers, work behind closed doors, or don't know how to pretend to understand a series of policies, it is these ...... behind me who really make America great and prosperous" Contini turned his head abruptly and pointed his finger at the representatives of the industrial and commercial symposium behind him, "It is they, these farmers, factory capitalists, businessmen, technicians, engineers and hard-working workers and peasants who make America great, not those who point fingers, Boastful people make greatness, and it is not those profit-seekers who only take shortcuts, buy short and sell short to create greatness. Although I often talk to the media about the stock market and the economy, have you ever seen me talking to unrealistic economists? Have you ever seen me talk to some speculators? No! I am willing to have meetings, talks, and chats with the real wealth creators of the United States, because they are the backbone and conscience of the American nation! ”
Everyone behind him was solemnly moved, and spontaneously stood up and applauded Contini, meaning that the president collectively supported the president, and the president said it too well, some bureaucrats are indeed stupid!
Contini seemed to be unsatisfied: "Maybe in the near future we will witness a tragic stock market decline, but I think you have no responsibility, you have fulfilled your obligations, it is these stupid forks and speculators who really destroy the market, but you don't have to be afraid, it is they who will jump off the building when they are all over the place, and then us, it's a big deal that everyone jumps together, who is afraid of whom!" We can say to them, You-jump-then-I-jump! ”
The crowd laughed and applauded even more violently. The president's personality is very popular with everyone, he doesn't say insincere, politically correct things like some politicians, the president can say whatever he wants, and he has to be free to scold people - his words at the closed-door meeting of the banking industry are well known to many people, and everyone thinks that the president is much cuter than those serious, sanctimonious tycoons. That's why there are so many president fans in the United States. Last time, a girl chased from New York to Philadelphia, Washington, and from Washington to Pittsburgh in order to meet the president, and finally blocked the president in Chicago.
Contini didn't talk nonsense, not only sent a signed postcard to the girl, but also generously invited the other party to dinner, took a group photo, and even invited her to the afternoon banquet, and then sent bodyguards to buy a plane ticket to send the girl back to Boston - although the girl was beautiful and willing to throw a hug, but the president did not have the idea of a spring festival. After this story was unearthed by reporters, many young girls in the United States are president fans - what do you say? Does the president have a fiancée? We don't care! We don't want it forever!
《You-jump-then-I-jump! The next day, the report made the front page of the Christian Monitor, with a portrait of Contini underneath, and even worse, the reporter was afraid that this was not exciting enough, and left a sentence on the lips of the portrait - some Fed bureaucrats are stupid! There are also 3 red exclamation points for this.
One of the most effective words in the day's newsboy selling newspapers was: "Come and see, the newspaper is in the newspaper today - President Ziano said that some Fed masters are stupid!" ”
It is common for everyone to scold the president, but there are not many people who scold the Federal Reserve, especially the president, a high-powered tycoon who comes forward to scold the Federal Reserve, and everyone's interest is immediately raised, and they have to buy it to see it - the retail sales of the "Christian Monitor" soared by 20% that day, and other newspapers regretted it, why didn't they catch the president, he obviously has a lot to say in his mouth now, and it is big news to be able to take it out!
What Contini didn't know was that the reason why Roosevelt's incident caused the "Italian descent" problem was because Eleanor had never dispelled her suspicions, but she didn't have any evidence, and she refused to give up, so she linked the Italian descent to the New York gangs - this seemed more reasonable, and then tried to see if there was any conspiracy in it, let her mind break the sky, and also thought that if it was a deliberate murder, it should be related to the gangsters, how did he know that it was the direct hand of the Italian dark people?
Contini's justification is reasonable, but more importantly, he has now become the Fed's biggest troll.
Livermore knows that the president's spray on the Fed is just a trick, and in the final analysis, it is a second step shift - the president believes that a future decline is inevitable, and the initiator is the Fed!