Chapter 622: Resource Trap
Chapter 609 The Resource Trap
The era of colonial expansion was over, and the center of gravity of the Vienna government once again returned to the country. The most serious problem in Austria now is the uneven economic development within the country, and the gap between the rich and the poor is constantly widening.
Looking at the per capita income of 64.6 guilders alone, this figure was already not low. After deducting children and the elderly, the per capita income of the labor force is even more than 100.
However, the reality is that the big capitalists and nobles earn tens of millions of dollars a year, while the vast majority of ordinary workers actually earn less than 30 guilders a year.
In this regard Franz is also a vested interest, as pulling up the per capita income exists, but now he has to headache for the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
Take Vienna as an example, as the city with the highest per capita income in the world, Vienna’s per capita annual income is as high as 328 God’s guilders.
This income is placed in any country or region in the world, that is the middle class upwards.
As the financial capital, cultural capital, technological capital, and educational capital of Austria, Vienna has so many resources to add up to this level that it doesn’t seem strange.
However, the statistics told Franz that this was only superficial prosperity, and the internal problems were already very serious.
Vienna had a population of 1.06 million, of which 620,000 were of working age. Just under 11.2% earn up to 328 s.d. per year, and only 29.6% earn more than 100 s.d. per year, with 24.6% earning less than 30 s.d. per year. (Counting only the labor force population)
This is still the capital city with such a large number of low-income people, I’m afraid it would be even worse if it were any other region.
According to the statistics, the number of poor people with an annual income of less than 20 guilders is as high as 31.2%. This is not a figure that a developed country should have, but this is the reality.
The gap between the rich and the poor is only one aspect, regional development imbalance is even more alarming. The poorest small county has an annual per capita income of less than 8 guilders.
This income, it is estimated that only enough to eat potatoes. This is still based on the premise that Austria is a grain-producing country, if in England, then you can only find wild vegetables to make do.
And this gap, is still getting bigger. The poorer the region the poorer, the richer the region the richer.
Old problems have not been solved, and new problems have arisen. With the development of the economy, the gap between urban and rural areas is widening at an alarming rate.
From the abolition of serfdom in 1848 to 1854, these five years were the golden time for the development of the Austrian rural economy, and agricultural output increased by fifty-six percent in five years.
Then the development of the rural economy slowed down rapidly, especially after the agricultural crisis in 1873, the Austrian rural economy also had a negative growth for a while.
In the case of the national economy soared, the Austrian rural economy in 1875 growth rate of less than 1%, almost can be said to be in the same place.
So many problems converged that Franz’s hair was about to fall out. “Solve” was easy to say, but the question was how?
The problem was how to solve it. It was not only Austria’s problem, but also the 19th century, when no country was exempted from solving these problems.
Since Franz raised these issues, the Vienna government has been trying to find a solution, but the reality is still so cruel.
Franz didn’t even dare to order the bureaucrats to have to solve it, because once this order was given, he was afraid that he wouldn’t see the real data.
Now is not the Internet era, in this era of backward communication, to whitewash is very easy, a big wave to change the data on the line.
Deception is the natural skill of bureaucracy, and the Tsarist government next door is an example of this. Ever since Alexander II pushed through his reforms, the Russian empire has grown at an astonishing rate on paper.
On paper alone, the industrial strength of the Russian Empire has already surpassed that of Austria, and it is estimated that in a few years it will surpass that of the European continent, and perhaps in Alexander II’s lifetime, the Russian Empire will be able to surpass the rest of the world.
In contrast to the bureaucrats of the Tsarist government, the Austrian bureaucrats had a conscience. Data falsification also existed, but it was definitely not that heartless.
This is to Franz’s credit. As a qualified emperor, a clear distinction between reward and punishment was necessary, so a strict system of rewards for whistle-blowing was established.
You can falsify data, but you have to make sure that everyone cooperates, and it’s not enough to be able to make sure that the next government cooperates, you have to make sure that the next and the next government cooperates.
Liability for life, all those who knowingly fail to report are all jointly and severally liable. Remove all honors received and go to jail together for the rest of their lives.
As a whistleblower directly promoted to the third level, you can also enter the investigation department work, specializing in investigating data fraud.
As a sacrifice for this policy, the bureaucrats in the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina were the first to go down. An official originally favored by Franz was all but put on the list of cabinet alternatives and similarly planted.
Thousands of public officials went to jail at one time, and the entire bureaucratic group in the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina was implicated in the near total annihilation.
After this impact, everyone tightened up, and the data returned to normal at once.
Who doesn’t have a few political enemies in the bureaucracy? If local governments were all on the same page, the Vienna government would have been unable to sleep!
If the top is tight, the bottom will naturally not dare to mess around. It’s just statistics, just report them honestly. It’s easy to fake political achievements, but it’s even easier to go to jail.
Vienna Palace, economic conference
Franz directly beat the table: “The domestic economy is developing rapidly, but the gap between the rich and the poor, the regional gap, the urban-rural gap is also becoming more and more serious, and now the time has come to solve the problem.
If we delay any longer, if we want to deal with it in the future, it will only become more difficult. I don’t ask for a hundred percent solution to the problem, but I have to make sure that the situation can’t continue to deteriorate.”
The requirements are that low, and with the existing productivity, Franz is clear that there is no way to solve these problems.
Not being able to solve a problem is not the same as not solving it. In any case, doing it is better than not doing it, and even maintaining the current situation is a great victory.
Prime Minister Felix replied stiffly, ”Your Majesty, the biggest problem with the unbalanced regional economic development is the natural condition limitation.
One can only formulate appropriate economic development policies according to local conditions. There is still a large portion of this region that is limited by natural conditions, and neither industry nor agriculture are suitable for development.
In the larger scheme of things, these are areas that we must make trade-offs and focus on developing areas that are easier to develop.
The widening gap between urban and rural areas is a worldwide problem. With the development of industrial technology, the scissors gap between industry and agriculture will worsen.
The most effective way in the short term is to promote the annexation of land and the adoption of the large-farm production model to replace the small-farm economy that now exists in many areas.
However, this is the least desirable approach. The social problems brought about by land annexation are far more serious than the widening of the gap between urban and rural areas.
In fact, these two problems are not the key; the most important thing is the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor and the increasing number of poor people.
As long as the income problem of the lower class is solved, both the imbalance in regional development and the widening gap between urban and rural areas are acceptable.”
This is a false proposition. How can the wealth gap be reconciled without addressing the imbalance in regional development and the urban-rural gap?
The three have never been mutually reinforcing. Income, unlike the others, is regulated by the market, and it is impossible for the Government to control it by force.
Franz is no longer an economic buffoon and will not be naive enough to think that if the Government sets a higher minimum wage income, everyone’s income will go up.
This is an impossible thing, each industry can afford different labor costs, the market competitiveness of certain traditional industries, is cheap labor.
In addition to the nominal excuse of “environmental protection”, the labor cost in developed countries is too high.
Or the guild has become a profit-making tool for some people, in order to chase a higher return on investment, capitalists have to move factories.
Austria has not developed to that point, many capitalists are still in the stage of lying down to make money, the vast majority of industry profits are good.
The bottom of the income of the people can not go up, the main reason is still the labor market supply and demand. The so-called labor costs affect the competitiveness of the market, in fact, very bullshit.
Now the price of labor, labor costs actually account for a very low percentage. In addition to labor-intensive industries, the cost of labor in many industries is less than one-tenth of the price of the product.
Compared to competitors, the British, Austria’s labor costs are much cheaper, the cost of raw materials is similarly much cheaper, yet the retail price of products internationally is comparable.
This made Franz very unhappy that with so many superior conditions, the capitalists did not steal the market from the British. Apparently, the domestic market had fed them and everyone was no longer aggressive enough.
If they did not change, so that they have a sense of crisis, and continue in this way, I think Austria will also fall into the “resource trap”.
The original time and space of the British and French capitalists is so, anyway, can make money, why try?
One by one, all take the money to eat, drink and play, there is no sense of crisis, and finally watched the Americans, Germans beyond the past.
Change the status quo of domestic capitalists do not think of progress, is the core of this economic conference.
Franz: “Solving the wealth gap is indeed the core issue, what is the government’s plan?”
Prime Minister Felix: “The easiest way to bring up everyone’s income in the short term is still immigration. There is a surplus of domestic labor, but colonial labor has been very scarce.
We’ve been emigrating over the years, but we haven’t done enough. In the interior, we have done very little to even publicize the situation, and that has to change now.
The government plans to emigrate ten million people from the mainland to the colonies within five years. The main areas for this emigration will be rural areas that are too densely populated, as well as poor and remote areas.”
The poor figure dagger, a large number of immigrants into the colonies, the supply and demand in the domestic labor market will inevitably change, and the days of capitalists relying on cheap labor will be gone.
It is not that Franz is hard-hearted, it is completely forced by reality.
The original time and space German Second Empire is the best example, in addition to coal and iron, almost all the resources are lacking, the cost of labor is also higher than the French, there are not so many colonies to plunder, but they developed.
The talent dividend of compulsory education is one aspect, but more than that, it’s the sense of crisis in enterprises that drives everyone to push for technological innovation.
Austria has also had compulsory education for so many years, with a population that is not low in quality, and with a much richer market and resources, there is no reason why it can’t do it.
The second industrial revolution began to break out from Austria, it is reasonable to say that with Franz’s promotion, the new technology should be faster than the same period in history, however, the reality is very face.
In 1875, one-third of Austria’s newly registered patented technologies were in the royal industry, a figure that is still rising year by year.
Franz after research found that the original core problem is the enterprise is too comfortable days. Lying down to make money, capitalists are simply not willing to promote technological innovation.
This is determined by interests, low labor, raw material prices, and a wide market, so that they do not need to work hard to be able to make money.
While conducting new technology research and development is full of uncertainty, investment and return may not be proportional, people are simply not willing to take risks.
There is no pressure, so we can only create pressure. These days it is not yet the era of internationalization of capital, and Franz is not afraid of capitalists running away.
Engaged in international trade need government endorsement, every multinational conglomerate behind the government background. Even so, these groups are often pitied by the groundlings.
There are many classic cases of this, for example: British and French capital investment in Austrian railroads, infrastructure construction, was Franz took advantage of the economic crisis to the pit.
Another example: British capital in the United States to engage in the construction of large railroads, and in the end, it is also blood money.
Those with backgrounds were pitted, that is, pitted within the rules. Those without backgrounds, not to mention, don’t even need to speak up when they eat.
Push the book “the first Taoist priest in the Tang Dynasty
(End of chapter)