"You're all dreaming if you think the Federal Reserve will allocate funds without the Treasury Department's approval. The Treasury will never sanction such a reckless plan. Even if the Treasury were willing, the American public wouldn't agree. With the general election approaching, neither candidate can afford to endorse such an outrageous proposal. The entire nation would oppose it!" Seeing the eager expressions on almost everyone's faces, as if ready to urge the Federal Reserve to commence its world-saving endeavors, Dr. Cooper immediately poured cold water on their enthusiasm, hoping to bring them back to reality.
Indeed, while the idea sounded magnificent, the difficulty of its execution was far too high.
As Dr. Cooper had stated, although the Federal Reserve held the power of currency issuance, every single dollar required the Treasury Department's approval. Therefore, if they wanted the Federal Reserve to inject funds, they first had to appease the Treasury Department.
And $4 trillion was no small sum; for the United States, it was an astronomically large figure. The Treasury Department itself could not directly enact this, nor did it have the authority to do so.
The normal procedure would be for the Treasury Department to propose a bill, which would then be submitted for review by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. After both chambers passed it, it would be sent to the President for signature and seal of approval.
Thus, the entire process was equivalent to obtaining the approval of the entire American political system, a task of no small magnitude.
Not to mention, once this news was made public, if the entire American populace learned that their country was printing $4 trillion to bail out greedy Wall Street capitalists, they would undoubtedly be furious. This would trigger widespread protests.
The elected members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, considering the upcoming elections, would likely have no desire to offend their constituents and risk losing votes.
Especially in this election year, with the final showdown just four months away, the candidates from both parties were locked in an intense competition. Who would dare to offend the American people at this juncture and risk losing the election?
This was absolutely out of the question.
Everyone understood these fundamental political rules and developments. Therefore, when Dr. Cooper pointed them out, many faces became dejected, and they shook their heads. The difficulty of having the Federal Reserve directly print money was indeed too high.
However, their gazes then turned to young Swift. Since he dared to propose this suggestion, he must have a corresponding solution to the problems, right?
As expected, upon hearing the opposition, young Swift, who was well-prepared, began to speak, "Indeed, Dr. Cooper, everything you've said is absolutely correct. These are indeed the difficulties we will encounter in the actual process."
"But everyone, can the combined strength of all of us together not overcome these difficulties? Furthermore, these difficulties, in the final analysis, are about how to persuade those politicians to agree to our plan. And politicians are the most unprincipled, greedy, and shameless creatures in the world. Persuading these politicians is, in fact, a very simple matter. As long as our respective bosses behind us exert their influence, which politician would dare to disobey us?" Young Swift's description of politicians made everyone unable to help but laugh, as it was indeed the reality of American politicians.
Thinking about it this way, the difficulty did not seem so high anymore. Swift then continued, "Regarding how to push through this $4 trillion bailout, I have already formulated a detailed plan! As long as everyone can work together to execute this plan, I guarantee that no one's interests will be harmed. On the contrary, everyone will make money, and the plan will undoubtedly succeed smoothly!"
"Mr. Swift, please tell us quickly, what is your plan!" someone asked impatiently.
"My plan is very simple: to address two core pain points. One is how to resolve the opposition from the American public, and the other is how to get the politicians to agree!"
"The solution to the first pain point is very simple: make the public feel the same pain as we do!"
"Currently, the subprime crisis primarily affects us, unfortunate institutions, and some unlucky individuals in the stock market. We are feeling the tangible pain, so we must also make the public feel the same pain. Only then will they understand the necessity of the $4 trillion bailout plan."
"And making them feel pain is very simple: do nothing, just wait for a while!"
"We should immediately stop intervening in the market and abandon all means of market stabilization. Just let the market fall, fall wildly. Let all stock indices circuit-break, let all stocks explode, and let a large number of companies go bankrupt due to inability to operate."
"This will lead to massive unemployment, people unable to receive wages, and large numbers of people falling into the abyss of poverty, waiting for rescue to descend from the heavens!"
"And at that time, if we propose the $4 trillion bailout plan, stimulate the market, solve the employment problem, and give these people a little money to temporarily solve their living problems, wouldn't you also feel that this is a great plan?" Young Swift's words made everyone's faces light up with joy.
That's right, such a simple method, why hadn't they thought of it?
As long as they let the market fall, and the common folk couldn't survive, then forget opposing it, they would probably be begging for support for this bailout plan!
"As for the government, in fact, once the first problem is solved, the second problem is also largely solved. After all, as long as the public does not oppose it, and with our respective bosses behind us contributing, the politicians will have no reason to oppose us, unless they never want to receive our campaign donations again."
"Furthermore, I personally have a very good personal relationship with a certain candidate, one with a similar skin color. This candidate's election prospects are currently very promising, and barring any unexpected developments, they will be the next president."
"I am willing to personally communicate and negotiate with this candidate, persuading him to actively promote the $4 trillion market rescue plan... Forget it, I'll put my neck on the line here and say that if I can't convince him to agree, I'll strip naked and run around Wall Street!"
Young Swift's words caused a burst of laughter in the room. Everyone's faces were filled with joy at this moment.
Because none of them were foolish; everyone present was an absolute elite, and they could see at a glance that young Swift's plan was virtually perfect, with almost no possibility of failure.
In fact, one only needed to understand one point: Wall Street institutions and the U.S. government were essentially controlled by the same group of people, who could be considered their left and right hands.
Now, if the left hand were to loosen its grip to help the right hand overcome the crisis and release it, wouldn't that be a natural course of action?
Of course, there were still some who objected, and some who would stand up to oppose.
For example, Dr. Cooper immediately spoke up, "Everyone, this plan absolutely cannot be executed. It will destroy the American economy and our future!"
"Once we allow the market to deteriorate further and allow businesses to close and go bankrupt, while it may indeed make voters feel pain and change their attitudes, it will also lead to the death of a large number of businesses. Even with subsequent financial support, these already dead businesses cannot be revived. We will forever lose a large number of vibrant enterprises and companies."
"This will further lead to the outflow of American manufacturing. We will only be able to import more products from other countries, or more specifically, from China, to meet our needs. In that case, these dollars will ultimately flow to China. China will then use our dollars to develop even stronger manufacturing, which in turn will kill our own manufacturing. This is an act of suicide!"
"Furthermore, how will the international market view us if we directly inject $4 trillion into the system? After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the U.S. dollar became the dollar, and the dollar became a currency completely linked to credit!"
"Our injection of $4 trillion is equivalent to overdrafting the credit of the dollar, as the dollars we overdraw will eventually flow to other regions of the world, making those people bear the cost for us."
"This behavior might seem exhilarating, but ultimately, it overdrafts our credit. Many countries in the world are already dissatisfied with the dollar, and if we make another move like this, it will cause more people to lose hope in the dollar."
"Therefore, while there might not be any major impact right now, this is definitely a terrible beginning. In ten or twenty years, it could trigger instability in the dollar's status. And once the dollar can no longer be the world's reserve currency, and the world refuses to settle transactions in dollars, then the collapse of the United States will be a visible reality."
Dr. Cooper painstakingly analyzed these points for everyone, but it seemed no one was willing to listen to him anymore. Instead, they eagerly gathered around young Swift, continuously inquiring about more details of the plan.
Young Swift, too, was fully prepared, with all the details meticulously planned. Thus, he answered all questions fluently, filling everyone with confidence in this $4 trillion market rescue plan.
As for Dr. Cooper, who was barking incessantly over there... why bother paying attention to what this guy was saying? Could his nonsensical ramblings help them escape the predicament?
If not, then his words were worthless.
Therefore, no one paid attention to Dr. Cooper, leaving him alone to speak like a clown until he finally realized how ridiculous his own words were and closed his mouth. He glared fiercely at young Swift, and if Dr. Cooper had a gun in his hand at that moment, he would have undoubtedly fired without hesitation!