Chapter 384 Financial Discussion

Alan Wilson is really dealing with money. Although it seems a little inappropriate for him, a civil servant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to attend a meeting of the Ministry of Finance, but the rule in this kind of thing is that the dead are alive, as long as the supreme authority is willing Special things are done, nothing is impossible.

After arriving at the Ministry of Finance conference room, Alan Wilson greeted several colleagues from the Ministry of Finance. Not all of them were strangers. Many of them had attended the Whitehall reception, at least to a familiar level.

The conference room was bustling. After a while, Edward Bridges, the current civil servant and permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, walked in, and the conference room fell silent for a moment.

When Edward Bridges sat down and glanced around with a scrutinizing gaze, he said, "This meeting involves the development and prospects of the national economy, as well as the prospects for European economic recovery, because there will be an important international event soon. The meeting is about to be held, and colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will attend the meeting to prepare for the meeting."

"Now that we are meeting, everyone has some understanding of the current domestic situation. Although various indicators have returned to pre-war levels, it does not mean that the British Empire does not need assistance from the Americans."

Edward Bridges set the tone for the meeting, "Both Lord Stafford and the Prime Minister are very concerned about this."

Stafford Cripps is the current Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Labor Party. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Foreign Secretary are the right-hand men of the Prime Minister. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are both the number two figures in this government.

Stafford Cripps has a very good relationship with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of England and is considered an extreme leftist figure in the Labor Party.

However, Stafford Cripps was very suitable for post-war Britain. Without this Chancellor of the Exchequer, Prime Minister Attlee wanted to maintain both the National Health Service and the National Health Service at a time of monetary tightening. The alloy tube project is certainly not that easy.

Also, it was the support of Stafford Cripps that allowed the Trade Commission in the British-occupied area to instantly establish a rationing system, so one cannot simply distinguish between left and right, it is all complicated.

Just because the Labor Party came to power, and based on their resume, they were very extreme when they were in the opposition party, it does not mean that these Labor Party ministers must not do good things. Otherwise, the Marshall Plan was historically accepted by the Labor Party when it was in power. How? How do you explain that these ministers, who participated in the labor movement in their early years, accepted assistance from the Americans?

Talking about the concerns of Finance Minister Stafford Cripps, Edward Bridges went on to explain the current situation in the UK and what cards he had in hand to bargain with the United States.

"There is no doubt that the current developments show that after Senator Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, the hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union is deepening. From my personal point of view, there is no doubt that the most valuable card in the hands of the British Empire is It is a British-occupied area. As the most elite part of Germany,

As long as we hold it in our hands, Britain will recover sooner or later. Even if the Americans spend money, it will be useless. The coastline is in our hands, and the industrial areas are in our hands. The money the United States spends will only be attracted by the British-occupied areas with larger industrial scale. This is also There is no reason why even if we spend a pound, the British-occupied area is better than the American-occupied area, which has invested hundreds of millions of dollars. "

"Even the US military in the US-occupied area came to the British-occupied area to purchase some things. The US-occupied area, dominated by Bavaria, cannot be compared with the British-occupied area in terms of industry."

After hearing what Alan Wilson said, Edward Bridges raised the report in his hand and nodded in approval, "Alan is right, and the report in my hand can also prove it. Regarding the existence of the siphon effect, it has now been It has become a subject of research by the Ministry of Finance. Of course, it is too optimistic to make a judgment like this. The increasingly obvious hostility of the United States and the Soviet Union is both a danger and an opportunity."

When the United States first entered the war, representatives of the British financial community also made optimistic estimates for the United States. Due to the national sentiments of Britain and the United States, they believed that after the war, "Americans and British people will help each other and jointly adopt the Lend-Lease Act." System and industry cooperation to jointly lead the world."

And his hopes will be dashed. As Keynes discovered for himself in Washington, Americans saw the coming peace as an opportunity to shame the British Empire, not to support it.

After the establishment of the Braston Woods system, Warburg concluded pessimistically, "Britain's solution to post-war problems is to connect more closely with the Commonwealth Dominions and Western European countries, and cannot rely on the United States at all."

He was frustrated by what he saw as America's aggressive economic policies. Immediately after the war, the United States canceled Lend-Lease, confirming that Britain would first have to defend its own security. It also confirms that the United States may devote more resources to helping its former enemies rebuild rather than helping its former allies rebuild.

"From the current perspective, if the US aid can be in place, the UK can end the rationing system within a year. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer also want to receive aid. Of course, we also know that nothing comes in vain. , Americans have demonstrated this during wartime."

After Edward Bridges finished speaking, Alan Wilson replied, "In fact, there is no need for us to wait like begging. One thing can be seen from the example of the British-occupied areas in Germany, that is, areas with concentrated industries have a certain impact on backward areas. Siphon effect. From the perspective of Europe, which is currently in ruins, American industry is unscathed. This condition is also met!"

"So the so-called aid plan is not so much the United States coming to the world as a savior, but it is a trick played by the Americans to let European countries borrow money to buy American goods. I think there may be some problems with the wording, but in fact That's it. Just like our two-wing plan, it's just a variant."

"Think about it, everyone. During the war, the United States guided its economy to the war track. Enterprises that mass-produced civilian products switched to producing military products and increased production and scale. Previously, a large number of housewives left their homes to work in factories. As a result, the war ended and disarmament was achieved. , the demand for military products plummeted. There was no market to absorb the huge production capacity of these companies for a while. But at this time, Europe was facing the problem of reconstruction and had a strong demand for various heavy industry machinery products. Even Portugal and Iceland had not experienced the war. Countries such as China also have huge construction needs.”

Everyone in the Ministry of Finance nodded in approval, and one of the deputy secretary-generals said, "We also have our own advantages. According to the news from the U.S. Embassy, ​​there are some conditions attached to U.S. aid."

"This is not surprising. Americans never do business at a loss." Alan Wilson chuckled. "The recipient country must purchase a certain amount of American goods, withdraw tariff barriers as soon as possible, and cancel or relax foreign exchange restrictions. This There must be a few days, right?”

Seeing the colleague who spoke nodding, Alan Wilson said, "To be honest, once the foreign exchange controls are lifted, with the current strength of the US dollar, the pound will definitely encounter a run crisis, leading to exchange rate problems."

"We can give up the interests of the British-occupied areas, but we must be immune to these restrictions. After all, the domestic recovery is far beyond expectations. From a larger perspective, the United States also needs us. After all, we do not have a million-dollar French Republic in the country. Communist Party of Italy, we can cooperate with the United States to a certain extent, but too much concession is not a good thing.”

"You can't say that. If the Americans give enough, we can agree to some conditions appropriately." Edward Bridges finally came up with his own opinion, "It depends on how big the number is from the United States."

If you want the UK to cooperate, you have to add more money. This is what Edward Bridges means, and it is also what his colleagues in the Treasury mean.

After the meeting, Edward Bridges informed Chancellor of the Exchequer Stafford Cripps of the outcome of the meeting, who then went to the Prime Minister's Office.

At this time, Prime Minister Attlee was looking at the report on the estimated value of the colonies, and happened to see the Persian Gulf chapter. The next part, the Suez Canal chapter, had not yet been seen.

"Stafford, you're here." Prime Minister Attlee put down the report in his hand. When the Chancellor of the Exchequer came in, he asked him to sit down and asked, "Is it about the European Recovery Plan?"

"Yes, the Ministry of Finance has already had the results of the discussion." Stafford Cripps took out the minutes of today's meeting and said, "Isn't it too optimistic? Although the recovery is better than expected, but for the current situation As far as Britain is concerned, American assistance is also very important."

Although Europe has clear needs historically, it does not have much qualifications to consider bargaining.

The UK has now returned to pre-war levels, but huge foreign debt still exists. If it can receive this aid, it will still be a great financial benefit.

"If the Americans don't attach too many conditions, we will continue to resume production in the British-occupied areas." Prime Minister Attlee shrugged. "We have just signed a tin ore and rubber supply agreement with the Soviet Union. If the United States does not show sincerity, If so, we don’t have no room for maneuver.”

Although the sky in British India was bluer, the sky in the British-occupied areas was also bluer. Moreover, because of the geographical location and industrial scale of the British-occupied area, the sky in the American-occupied area, which was blocked inland, was also higher and bluer.

As Prime Minister, Attlee knew the role that the British-occupied areas played in promoting British economic development. If the Americans took advantage of them too much, Attlee might not cooperate.

Before Alan Wilson's trip to Paris, he received another negotiable condition. He did not rule out supporting France's annexation of the Saarland. He could use this as a condition to talk to the Americans. He was right, he was talking to the Americans about France. The annexation of the Saar region.