Chapter 506: The Influence of Capital
The power of capital is powerful, and its influence on Australasia is definitely more than just a tiny bit.
In just one month since the Four-Year Plan was announced, foreign investment in Australasia has more than tripled, with foreign investment in the last month reaching more than 27.35 million Australian dollars.
Although the speed of Russian capital investment cannot be so high every month, there is no doubt that these investments can greatly stimulate the economic growth of Australasia. The economy and industry of Australasia will usher in a new era in a short period of time. Big bang growth.
These Russian capitalists are definitely Australasia's lucky stars. With the help of these people, Australasia's four-year plan is definitely not just empty talk, it is very possible, and it is even 100% possible to be realized.
This is certainly a good thing, but it also brings some predictable problems.
First, Australasian labor laws must be enforced in these Russian-invested factories.
Systems such as the eight-hour work system and double overtime pay must be implemented, and the welfare benefits of workers in these factories must be guaranteed.
This is a big challenge for these Russian capitalists. After all, they have never talked about labor laws or human rights in Russia before.
The previous Tsarist Russian government allowed these capitalists to exploit civilians wantonly, and even the Tsarist government also exploited civilians wantonly.
But things are different now. Now in Australasia, you have to listen to the Australasian government.
The Australasian government still attaches great importance to human rights, and the welfare of workers must be guaranteed first.
Since mankind entered the industrial age, the power of workers has been powerful. As long as we can protect the interests of workers, we are actually protecting the interests of the common people included in the working class.
Most of the workers are civilians, which is the result of this era. Protecting the interests of workers can also protect the income of some civilians.
When civilians have income and can support their families, they will naturally not think about rebellion and revolution.
There are two ways for capitalists to enter the Australasian market. In addition to directly creating new companies and factories, another way is to acquire existing enterprises.
Either way, it will have a good promotion effect on the Australasian economy.
After all, when capitalists acquire original businesses, those original business owners will definitely not sell them at a low price. Instead, they will choose an opportunity to sell them at a high price.
After all, the current development environment in Australasia is relatively good. It has not been affected by the war, and the prevention of influenza is relatively complete. Therefore, few companies go bankrupt and most companies are profitable.
The acquisition or joint venture of part of local enterprises will allow more Australasian business owners to have enough funds to invest in other industries, or improve their living standards. In short, they will spend the money and play a role in society. Great circulation and promotion.
Money is the best thing for a country only if it circulates continuously.
Some more extreme countries will promote people's desire for consumption. Part of people's consumption is fed back to the government in the form of taxes, and part of it goes to other people, starting the whole cycle again.
In this way, money will be circulated many times, which will be an unparalleled boost to the economy.
But if people choose to accumulate money in their own hands and not let it circulate, the promotion of economic circulation will be ineffective and economic growth will slow down.
Promoting people's desire for consumption is a big problem for every government, but most countries will adopt relatively mild methods, such as subsidies and discounts for some goods, to promote people's consumption by reducing costs.
This is not a bad thing for the public. After all, generally speaking, they are not at a disadvantage and can buy more cost-effective products than before.
The most undesirable thing is to take various measures to force people to consume. Squeeze people's basic living needs to promote the circulation of money in society.
People in this situation do not want to buy things, but have to buy things.
Although it is beneficial to the country, it will also greatly increase the burden on the people, which is not good news for the civilian class.
Naturally, Arthur would not do this. After all, any action of the royal consortium can stimulate market consumption. There is no need to use such a very unethical and prestige-losing decision.
The government is still very strict with these enterprises controlled or founded by Russian capital. It must not only strictly supervise their implementation of Australasia's eight-hour work system, but also supervise them to improve the system to protect workers.
Only when all regulations are passed can these factories and businesses be opened smoothly and start operating in Australasia.
It is worth mentioning that the government has almost no preferential policies and subsidies for these new enterprises, but there are still certain tax reduction policies in industries and fields that are important to the country.
Generally speaking, tax cuts are given for one to two years. This is not to treat these enterprises established by Russian capital favorably, but to encourage Russian capital to take root in Australasia and the industries Arthur wants.
The relatively vacant areas in Australasia are chemical industry, light industry, some textile factories and construction companies.
There will be many major construction projects in Australasia next, and enough construction companies are still necessary. What's more important is that most of the time the companies established by these Russian capital are larger than the local companies in Australasia.
Although the lives of Australasians are getting better day by day, this growth is accumulated slowly, and only a small number of people have made themselves rich by relying on the country's large-scale construction and development.
This has also led to the fact that most of the companies in Australasia are small and medium-sized enterprises with assets of no more than 5,000 Australian dollars, and less than 10% of the companies are large companies with assets of more than 10,000 Australian dollars.
Although it may not seem like much, A$10,000 is not a small number at any time.
According to the exchange rate, ten thousand Australian dollars is equivalent to five thousand pounds, which is the value of 36,650 grams of gold.
Even based on the price of gold in later generations, ten thousand Australian dollars is equivalent to more than fifteen million in assets, which can only be owned by a small number of people.
With the influx of Russian capital now, the number of businesses worth 10,000 yuan in Australasia should be able to increase several times, and the number of households worth 10,000 yuan will also increase accordingly.
The value of the Australian dollar is not low. Even in British society, there are definitely only a small number of families with assets of 10,000 Australian dollars.
This is also a drawback brought about by capital development. The wealth of a region is often controlled by fewer people, and the lives of ordinary people are actually not high.
What Arthur hopes is to use his own abilities to improve the lives of Australasians as much as possible.
If this four-year plan succeeds, the next four-year plan will become the mainstream plan of the Australasian government in the future.
After all, the term of each cabinet government is only four years. Compared with the five-year plan originally proposed by Arthur, the four-year plan is more in line with the actual situation in Australasia.
Although less things were accomplished in four years than in five years, Australasian policies were always implemented under Arthur's supervision and control, and the general direction would never deviate.
To be honest, the influx of capital also made Arthur breathe a sigh of relief.
Arthur was previously worried about some relatively weak areas in Australasia. With the addition of these Russian capitals, they should be able to catch up in a short period of time, or at least make up for the previous gap.
A country that develops in an all-round way is healthy and its development potential can be revealed.
Although Australasia has caught up in some aspects, its development time is only 19 years, and there is still a big gap between it and those established countries that have been developing for a long time.
The compensation of this kind of background is far beyond the ability of numbers to reflect. A conservative estimate is that it will take at least ten years to close the gap in these foundations.
If the impact of World War II is also included, it may have to wait until after World War II for Australasia to become a fully powerful country in all aspects.
Although we have enjoyed the benefits that capital has brought to the country, we also need to prevent the disadvantages that capital has brought to the country.
During World War I, capital played a crucial role in promoting the war. It is no exaggeration to say that some European countries and the United States are already being affected by capital.
When the power of capital expands, it can even provoke wars between countries. Since capital began to show its fangs, even national policies can be influenced by capital.
Not to mention World War I, even the future World War II will have the influence of capital. It seems that Hitler started World War II, but was there really no influence of capital? Absolutely impossible.
Even if there is no Hitler, there will be other Tellers who, under the influence of capital, will lead Germany to the battlefield. This cannot be changed by individuals.
The power of capital was most vividly demonstrated in the United States in later generations. Behind every action taken by the United States, there is capital.
Because of this, Arthur is still very wary of capitalists. After these people have power, they can really do anything. Arthur's fear of the capitalist class is even equal to that of Soviet Russia.
Fortunately, in the current Australasia, Arthur himself is the largest capital and controls most of the Australasian economy.
For such a monarchy, especially when Arthur controls the economy and military, there is actually no need to worry about the influence of capital on the government.
After all, the size of the royal consortium is no joke. If there is capital that wants to influence the government, it must first see if this capital can withstand the offensive of the royal consortium.
Although the current royal consortium only has military industries and banks, it is only the royal bank that can cut off the economic sources of a considerable part of the capital.
You know, the Australian dollar is jointly issued by the Royal Bank and the National Bank, and Arthur can control the issuance of the Australian dollar at any time.
Once the source of money is mastered, no matter how huge the capital is, it will only be manipulated by Arthur at will.
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(End of chapter)