The spring breeze of reform blew across the British Isles, but Britain was not able to change its face. It's not that reform is impossible, the crux of the problem is how to reform.
The domestic economy continued to decline, stimulating the British, and the elites knew that Britain had reached a fork in the road and that social reforms had to be carried out.
Despite the economic problems, Britain is still at the top. It is not popular in the European world to say that prosperity and decline are not popular in the European world, and they have scoured the history books of Britain, and they have been arrogant this time.
If it wasn't for the rise of the Holy Roman Empire, which put more pressure on them, it is estimated that the vast majority of British people would not even have a sense of crisis.
In fact, even now, the British do not have a strong sense of crisis, and they simply do not think that the mighty British Empire is at risk of overturning.
There is no way, Shinra is too quiet. Even if a super battleship was created, it would just come out and wander around and go back.
The originally expected arms race, because the Vienna government did not follow up in time, made the British lose their interest.
After all, there are still a lot of old-fashioned warships in Britain. At this time, the "Dumpling Contest" is provoked, and all the old-fashioned warships in front will be scrapped.
The landlord's family also has no surplus grain, especially during the downturn of the domestic economy, the government's fiscal revenue does not rise but falls, and the budget must be saved a little bit.
Anyway, with the protection of the strait, as long as the advantage of the Royal Navy is still there, everyone will not panic.
If there is not enough external pressure, it is natural that the internal unity cannot be united. After all, reform is a double-edged sword. Some people benefit from it, and some people benefit from it.
Conflicts arise when vested interest groups are unwilling to give up their interests. From the prelude to the reform, the British Parliament fell into a mode of chaos.
The British government these days has very limited powers. Not only is there a parliamentary restriction, but there is also a king pressing on it.
King Edward VII is no rubber stamp as the king of Britain reinventing the monarchy. It is simply impossible for the cabinet government to toss around casually.
Conservatives are powerful, and the government has such strong internal constraints. Naturally, the progress of the Campbell government's reforms cannot be accelerated.
For a big country, reform is naturally a matter of delay rather than urgency. It doesn't matter if it is slow, but if it is fast, it will cause big problems.
For businesses, however, the situation is different. The traditional industry is not bad, it has built a moat itself, and it can survive even if there is an impact.
The real unfortunate is the emerging industry. Constrained by the small size of the British local market, it is inherently inadequate. In addition, it started a step slowly, and before it had time to fully develop, competitors were killed.
The most typical of these are machinery and equipment manufacturing and the automotive industry chain. The related companies are either bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy.
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Stepping out of the government office building, McCall's smiling face was gone. As the boss of a leading manufacturer of high-end machine tools in Britain, it stands to reason that McCall's small life should be very nourishing.
The reality is quite the opposite, because of a miscalculation in the second industrial revolution, McCall's machine tool shop has been focusing on the traditional field.
Not only his family, but the machine tool manufacturers in Britain have all plunged into the field of steam engines, and have not laid out in the emerging power field at all.
With the large-scale popularization of electric power, electric power is also emerging, and gradually occupies a dominant position in industrial production.
One step at a time, one step at a time.
By the time McCall reacted, competitors' products had already entered the British Isles. With excellent performance and low running costs, it quickly stole a chunk of the pie from them.
Benefiting from the conservatism of British capital, it was not diligent in replacing equipment, and the steam engine still had merit and was not completely eliminated. McCall's factory still survived.
However, with the strong entry of competitors, a large part of their orders were still taken away, especially almost all overseas markets were lost.
The market share has decreased. In order to survive, the British machine tool companies that chose the wrong path have passively fallen into a brutal price war.
Even leading companies are no exception. After all, now they're just a British leader, not a worldwide leader. Compared with international counterparts, McCall's company has fallen behind in comprehensive technology.
Changing tracks is easy to say, but doing it on a new track is not so easy.
To survive, McCall had to turn to the government for help.
Don't talk about "free economy, oppose government intervention in the market", those are slogans shouted when needed; now they are no longer needed, so naturally they should be thrown away.
As a "high-tech" industry leader, there are always some privileges. Regardless of whether the technology has lagged behind its international counterparts, McCall's machine tool factory in China is still the first brother.
As long as the London government does not want to see the field of high-end machine tools fall into the control of competitors, it must support local enterprises.
For his own personal interests, McCall, a teenager who once admired free trade, has now become a staunch advocate of "trade barriers".
There is no way, without the use of extraordinary means, normal business competition cannot compete with competitors at all.
Even if McCall ruthlessly increased the R&D budget of £50,000, it was far from the investment of the competitors.
The technology itself is backward, and the R&D investment is insufficient. It is obviously a spring and autumn dream to rely on technological breakthroughs to overwhelm competitors.
It's not impossible to continue to increase investment, but McCall is first and foremost a capitalist. For capitalists, interests come first. As long as you can make money, it doesn't matter whether you can outperform your competitors.
If you really invest in unlimited, you may be able to catch up technically, but the return on investment is absolutely impossible to see.
If you can't make money, it's useless even if you are the world's first.
Investors have only one requirement for a company—to make money; there is only one indicator for evaluating whether a company is excellent—is it enough money.
McCall has long passed the age of second year, and naturally he will not stud all his net worth for a name.
Rather than conducting scientific research trade, it is better to conduct political public relations and directly block competitors from the country.
The domestic market alone may not allow the company to make a lot of money, at least it can guarantee long-term profits.
As long as there is enough time, McCall believes that his own business will definitely catch up, and then compete with international competitors for the market.
As for how long it will take, no one knows. It may be three years and five years, or it may be twenty or thirty years. Anyway, there is always hope.
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No matter how the situation changes, as long as life goes on, the banquet is always indispensable.
Leaving Government Street, McCall drove a limousine from Shinra to the suburbs to a manor called "Petel".
Tonight, there is a banquet organized by business leaders here. As an important member of the business community, McCall was also invited.
Although it was early, there was still a lot of people in the manor, and it was obvious that there were many people who suspected the same thoughts.
I don't know when it started, "banquet" is no longer a simple "banquet". Most of the time, the people who attend the banquet have their own purpose.
Stepping into the venue, McCall found his own little circle. McCall used to be the focus of a banquet, and there was a bunch of people flattering wherever he went.
It is a pity that the good times did not last long. With the intensification of competition in the machine tool industry, the right of machine tool companies to speak in the market is constantly decreasing.
Gone are the days when production orders were placed a few years later, and the goods depended on the relationship.
For the survival of the company, McCall had to put down his face, actively participate in social communication activities, and strive to maintain the relationship with customers.
Of course, that's not enough. Capital seeks profit, and if the quality of the product is not good, no matter how good the friendship is, it will not matter.
One of the important factors that can maintain the current basic market is that everyone is mixed in the same consortium, and there is a certain proportion of cross-shareholding.
Everyone is a community of interests, and everyone is more willing to use their own products when the products are cost-effective.
The performance can't be compared, so it can only kill the price. The machine tool industry, which was originally a huge profit, has hit the price of cabbage recently.
The pure machine tool business is now selling one at a loss. If it is not for after-sales service to make money, McCall's machine tool company can now consider closing its doors.
After a short glass of wine and touched someone, McCall asked with a smile, "Byron, I haven't seen you for a long time, how have you been recently?"
No matter how much inner pressure, there is a twelve-point enthusiasm for the client McCall. It is this positive marketing attitude that allows McCall to crush the domestic counterparts and secure the throne of the leader of the subdivision track.
The middle-aged man shook his head and replied with a wry smile: "Very bad. Damn Austrians, like big rats, keep grabbing our wealth.
I haven't had a good day since they introduced a new model last year. To tell you the truth, I have made three layoffs since the beginning of the year. "
It's no secret, just look at the brand of cars running around, and you'll know what's going on in the British car industry.
The characteristic of industrialization is that the more the same product is produced, the lower the production cost of a single product.
The British auto industry started not too late, even very early. As early as 1680, the famous British scientist Newton envisioned the jet car. Although the jet car was not built, the idea of the car was put forward.
In 1804, British engineer Richard Trevithick created the world's first steam engine car, which opened the prelude to the British automobile industry.
It's a pity that the king at the beginning was played as a bronze in the end. Since then, the history of automobile development has been transferred from Britain to France, and then to Shinra.
The steam engine car is also a car, although it is not very convenient, it is still very valuable in certain occasions, so it is still produced in small quantities.
It stands to reason that British auto companies with industrial heritage should not be left behind. The crux of the problem lies in the second industrial revolution.
Missing the second wave of the industrial revolution, the internal combustion engine technology has not kept up, and the engine of the car has become the biggest shortcoming in the British auto industry.
The performance of their own engines can’t keep up, so they can only be imported from overseas. Anyway, it is the era of free trade, and you can buy them if you want.
The core technology is controlled by people, and it is impossible not to pay the price. The most direct manifestation is that the production cost has risen.
It's just that the engine is expensive, but it can be tolerated, and the big deal is to earn a little less.
The problem is that the production capacity of cars in Britain is very low, and even the production of spare parts is not high, and the cost of production will go up.
Most of the locally produced spare parts are not only more expensive than imported ones, but also cannot keep up with the performance.
Supporting domestic production does not exist. Capital seeking profit is naturally a cost-effective purchase. The direct consequence is that the British automobile production enterprise has become an automobile assembly factory.
In addition to bearing the name of a car manufacturer and having an extra car logo, the auto repair shop outside their job can also do it.
With the development of technology, information is becoming more and more transparent. After discovering this, more and more auto repair shops have played cross-border, which has intensified market competition.
The domestic competition was already very fierce, but I didn't expect the international competitors to kill again. With the advantage in performance, many of Shinra's car brands have gained a firm foothold.
The first is the fall of high-end brands. If you look at the cars in the manor, you will know that they are almost all imported cars.
Including Byron, the car manufacturer, the cars are also imported. There is no way, their own products are actually worse in performance. For the sake of life safety, we all know how to choose.
If the high-end market is lost, it will be lost, and there are not many sales. Before the influx of imported cars, the most important means of transportation in British society was the horse-drawn carriage.
It's different now, and a flood of cheap cars has followed. Assembly factories without core technologies will naturally have no good days, and a large number of market shares will be squeezed.
In order for the company to survive, Byron had to choose to lay off staff and reduce production. But these can only solve the urgent need, and it is far from enough to survive the crisis.
The customer's life is not easy, McCall naturally can't raise the problem of the order. In a sense, everyone is now on the same boat.
If you want to live a comfortable life, you can only destroy the free trade system first and protect the market with tariff barriers.
"Be optimistic, my friend, and it will get better. The difficulties are only temporary, and the main problem is the free trade system.
Without this system, we would be able to raise tariffs to protect the market and buy businesses time to grow.
That's what the Austrians did back then. If it wasn't for the implementation of trade barriers, they would never have become the world's largest industrial power. "
Lying is also a knowledge. As a qualified capitalist, this is the most basic survival skill.
Although McCall himself does not believe that Britain's industry can be overtaken by trade protection, he must not be cowardly in terms of momentum.
Raising the glass and touching it, Byron drank it directly, and then said with the enemy: "My friend, you are right.
It's all the fault of that wicked Free Trade Agreement, and if it weren't for this treaty, Britain's wealth would not have been swallowed up.
We must correct this mistake for the sake of Britain. We must not let this damn treaty continue to poison Britain's future..."
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