George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 28

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“Why are you messing with loans! Why!”

Ugh, my ears are ringing. Is he really 75? Maybe he’s actually 50? I’d believe it if someone said he swallowed a steam locomotive. And why, you ask? Because Wall Street is trying to ruin the American, and even the global, economy. Anyway, I needed to calm Greenspan down. No matter how right he is, listening to someone in such a state just makes you feel inexplicably resentful.

“The regulations I want to propose are just basic common sense.”

“Common sense?”

“Strengthening regulations on subprime loans [loans given to borrowers with low credit ratings]. Maintaining mid-range interest rates between high and low rates.”

“Subprime? I’ll concede the mid-range interest rate. But why subprime? Weren’t you talking about real estate earlier?”

“Clearly stating income and assets for loans. Not allowing money to be lent through any other means.”

A perfectly reasonable request. In fact, a regulation anyone with a brain would think of. More like a rule.

“That’s common sense even without regulations! Common sense! Who would lend money like that? Have you ever seen such a ridiculous person! If we interfere with every trivial thing, it will set a precedent and the American economy will collapse!”

Ah, I can’t control my excitement.

“Trivial? Oh, really? Listen further. If you think housing prices will keep rising, wouldn’t banks change their minds?”

American housing prices will keep rising. So, if they can’t repay the loan, the bank can just take the house, right? How convenient.

What would the executives of Wall Street and the banks think when they found out about this? Well, even subprime borrowers, who aren’t prime borrowers, have houses. Or they don’t need to. They would buy houses with the borrowed money. Houses whose prices are skyrocketing in real time!

So, if the subprime borrowers can’t repay the money, they can just be reimbursed with the much higher real estate, right? Ironically, the subprime borrowers would be thinking similarly. They can just pay off their debt with the house and borrow again.

“Then everyone will sell their houses. That’s….”

American real estate will plummet.

“It’s chilling just to imagine. What do you think will happen then?”

The bubble, inflated to its limit, bursts with a roar commensurate with its size. The bubble created by people’s greed, desire, and miscalculations devoured the American Dream to its limit and evolved into a monster that could bring America crashing down.

“But that’s just one of the immense possibilities the economy has.”

So, what happened in my world is ‘And it actually happened.’? Ugh. I can’t explain it in detail. My major wasn’t economics, so I needed to continue the story based only on what I knew. The person in front of me was an old monster who had controlled the world economy for 20 years, so if I added my own opinions unnecessarily, I could be caught and my theory itself could collapse.

“You understand, but you won’t grant this request because it’s just one of the infinite possibilities? If that time comes, will you still be able to say the same thing?”

“It’s a bigger problem than that! President! I’ve dedicated my entire life to studying the Great Depression! I’ve written several papers with scenarios similar to what you’re saying! So, I understand that your argument is valid. But these small cases and precedents will accumulate and bring destruction! How do I know your successor, my successor, won’t abuse these cases! Requests and solicitations are only a hair’s breadth apart.”

“Ah, so you predicted the dot-com bubble so well?”

“That was a disaster brought on by investors and IT companies themselves. The topic is quite different from what we’re discussing now.”

“No, we all learned one thing. That vague expectations, and unsubstantiated dreams and hopes, are total crap.”

“The President is now directly denying neoliberalism and the American Dream. Dreams are the driving force of growth, not just for America, but for humanity.”

“If those dreams and hopes are justified. Don’t you know, Chairman of the Fed? You don’t really believe the accounting books of companies and banks are really working properly, do you?”

“There may be some deviations, but it would be a big mistake to think that everyone is like that! President!”

“Some? Could that some be 99.9% out of 100%? Don’t jump to conclusions that it’s just some deviations! Economic President!”

It’s not a good example here, but the epitome of that was the South Korean military. Everything revolved around ‘flexibility.’ Living-related corruption? Do it if you’re told to? What a load of crap.

The word ‘moral hazard’ didn’t emerge for no reason when the global financial crisis came in 2008. Everyone went bankrupt and was out on the streets, but the guys at the very top of Wall Street were having bonus parties with the money they received from the bailout.

“So, Enron, WorldCom, and Global Crossing are 0.1%?”

“Hmm.”

The fact that I made the Economic President shut his mouth with logic for the first time made my spine tingle. There’s no weapon more powerful than the truth.

“Don’t think that accounting fraud is a characteristic only they have, Chairman of the Fed!”

“But I’m hearing about WorldCom for the first time. Is there solid evidence?”

Ah, not WorldCom yet. WorldCom was known as a solid company, at least until Cynthia Cooper blew the whistle. The federal government wasn’t stupid, so they suspected WorldCom, but they didn’t have any solid evidence.

“I am the President of the United States. There is nothing I do not know.”

“I understand for now. I will keep it in mind.”

“And if such impure things happen, I will not provide support no matter what. That is, I will not do a bailout. I will use all my authority to stop it with all my might.”

Actually, if that happens, I’ll do a bailout. But if I don’t say this, I don’t think this guy will understand. I have to make him understand, even if I play the villain. If this doesn’t pass, the arrangements I’ve been preparing will collapse.

“If you don’t do a bailout when that happens, America will collapse.”

That’s right. America will collapse. That’s the global financial crisis that will happen in 2008. But so what? If it collapses even after being warned like this, it was destined to collapse from the start.

“So, what does the Fed do? Isn’t it supposed to supervise financial institutions? So, are you saying we should just let it go? I don’t need people who don’t work.”

“What an impolite thing to say!”

“Also! Is the request I’m making now unreasonable? If you think it’s unreasonable, you don’t have to do it. I was a businessman before I was President! And a supporter of neoliberalism! But the results of leaving it as it is are too obvious, so I’m just making a ‘request’!”

Yes. A request. Aren’t words truly mysterious? It was a reasonable request now, but later it could become a solicitation, as Greenspan said. In America, where mutual checks are fundamental, if a precedent is set where the President pressures the private company, the Fed, to get what he wants, there will be countless people who will abuse it.

The interpretation of law is truly profound, and even rearranging a single word can lead to a completely different meaning. But a precedent is set? That’s all there is to it. In a way, my actions now could be seen as the foolish act of ignoring the future and focusing on the present.

But. So what?

“I will fix it.”

If things go wrong, I can just fix it, right?

“How?”

“You know too. There are many interesting things you can do in this position. I will make it as if it never happened, no matter what method I use. Why? Should I even commit harakiri [ritual suicide by samurai] for you?”

Harakiri. It came out of my mouth, but it was absurd.

“You’re saying you’ll take all the blame and die if things go wrong.”

Whether that’s a real physical meaning or a figurative meaning. Frankly, this body isn’t even my body. As soon as I finished speaking, Greenspan closed his eyes. He must be weighing the validity of the conclusion he will draw between the experience and theories he has accumulated over the years.

“This request will be very expensive, President.”

In the end, Greenspan had no choice but to leave the room with a serious expression. The right argument had to be countered with the right argument, but when I said I would take all the responsibility, the right argument that Greenspan had been uttering became strained.

Well, it’s not just because of the low interest rates I’ve been talking about so hard. There’s also the problem of government bonds being bought in large quantities from China and other countries. But the government bond issue was difficult to touch. Because Greenspan will soon say directly, ‘I can’t stand you guys playing with government bonds from this moment on!’

But if you know, in the age of capitalism, you can just buy back the government bonds you took. Should I buy Chinese and Russian government bonds soon?

“By the way. ‘It’s not my body,’ huh.”

Yes, it’s not my body. I was complying with the given role and doing the job of the President of the United States with half my mind gone, but the sense of reality was still floating.

I am Kim so and so. Kim so and so. No matter how much I repeat it, this body is George Bush. Then I have to live like George Bush.

“What do I really want to do?”

It’s probably not to achieve world peace and save humanity. If it were, I would have defended the Middle East with all my might. But I prioritized the interests of the United States, so I stopped in Afghanistan.

Consolidating America’s hegemony? Hmm, that’s not entirely wrong. I’m definitely moving towards that goal. But why is there a need to consolidate? That’s George Bush’s job, not Kim so and so’s. Of course, I’m doing this now because I’m George Bush.

Honestly, I felt like the message ‘We must make America prosperous!’ was being forced on me from within. Whether it’s because someone else’s soul has entered Bush’s body. Or whether it’s a side effect of the memories and knowledge gradually mixing together. It felt strangely like I had to do this.

It’s not that I don’t miss my homeland, South Korea. Except for the military, of course. The military was truly terrible.

Well, should I do the job of seizing America’s hegemony as a price for occupying this body?

So, what’s the conclusion?

“Ah, screw it.”

I can just do whatever I want, so why am I doing such psychological contemplation that my head is splitting? These philosophical 고민 [agonizing thoughts] can be done 8 years later. Now is the time to run without looking back.

Wait. Whatever I want, you say?

“Chief of Staff. You can come in now.”

I brought back the card Chief of Staff I had sent out.

“The F-22.”

“The F-22? Ah, are you talking about the YF-22 of the ATF [Advanced Tactical Fighter] project?”

“Ah, yeah. That.”

“Is there something wrong with the top national defense project that will be in charge of America’s defense?”

Whenever I open my mouth, it’s as if he’s confirming that there’s a problem and trying to solve it. It seems the Chief of Staff has been moved.

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then?”

“I’m going to ride it.”

“Yes?”