Chapter 879: History Always Seems Strikingly Similar

[Chapter 879: History Always Seems Strikingly Similar]

Since the boss decided to take things slow, Filson naturally needed to adjust his plans. Well, this design was definitely quite a puzzle.

The centralized distribution for supermarkets was relatively simple, but the orders from Amazon were much trickier. If it got too complicated, those drivers would likely cause a ruckus.

William White could not possibly be unaware that American truck drivers were not much different than auto workers in their behavior. The difference was that this job could be done by anyone; he was assigning small trucks, not container ships. In America, very few people did not drive.

Ah, it was indeed better in the land of the rabbit. He remembered a certain brand that, to ensure timely delivery, had sent out refrigerated trucks directly.

Just think about it, the products were already dispatched before the customers even placed their orders. As soon as the order call went out, those goods might arrive within an hour.

Only in the land of the rabbit could something like this work; it was absolutely impractical in America. Aside from a straightforward distribution route, there were no expectations for cooperation beyond that.

"Sir, I'm back."

"Haha, Jason, after being married for so many years you're still going on a honeymoon? It shouldn't feel that special anymore, right?"

Seeing Jason's slightly embarrassed expression did not help. It wasn't like he wanted to go; his wife had insisted on it, and not going would have created bigger problems.

"Ahem, Sir, I'm not as free as you are. This time, it really took a toll on me."

"Oh, come on. Just get yourself a new wife, and I guarantee you'd feel no fatigue. So, after your trip, what are your thoughts?"

"Sir, that's exactly why I came to talk to you. I'm trying to figure out if there's any investment value in real estate in Hong Kong and the land of the rabbit. If I hadn't stopped him, this wouldn't just have been a honeymoon; it would have turned into a property-buying tour."

"What!? I just heard that they sold fake jewelry. Did they actually take tourists to the sales office? Now that's pretty creative."

"Ahem, well, Sir, it was us who requested it."

Looking at this guy, William White was at a loss for words. He truly couldn't understand, were they really going for a honeymoon?

"Alright, alright, I'm not going to laugh at you. But with such a wide scope, how could I give you an opinion?"

"Sir, values are rising everywhere: Hong Kong, Shanghai, even Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Everything is trending upwards."

"Jason, haven't you noticed that real estate prices are also rising in America? Since there are suitable targets right under your nose, why are you going overseas?

Haven't you noticed that this conversation we're having now is something that happened a few years ago?"

Jason froze; he remembered back when his wife wanted to invest in Japan. That led to William White mercilessly mocking them. The events that followed were, of course, history; the housing market in Japan fell apart shortly afterward.

Jason's forehead began to sweat. Damn, this reckless spending was truly a disaster. It was a good thing he had come to ask for advice.

"Sir, isn't it a bit too serious?"

"How am I supposed to say otherwise? The returns on investment can be tenfold. If you buy a house for a hundred grand, the rent should yield ten grand a year.

Eight thousand is barely acceptable, but less than five thousand is pretty much insignificant. And what about Coca-Cola stocks? Why mess around with real estate?"

After grabbing a bite, Jason decided to head back and give his wife an earful. Of course, there was a strong chance it would only be talk, and he might end up kneeling in front of the keyboard later.

William White reminded him that if it was a short-term play, making a quick score and leaving was indeed a good strategy. The places he had mentioned previously all held plenty of opportunities to make money.

If he was considering a long-term hold, he needed to buy scarce resources.

William White found it amusing himself; it had only been a few years since the housing bubble in Japan burst, and yet there were still so many people who weren't afraid of getting burned.

Prices in the land of the rabbit were also rising alarmingly, which was unexpected. In his memory, the surge had started around 1999, and now those high-priced developments seemed to be labeled for foreign sales.

Tsk tsk, the land of the rabbit truly knew how to play the game. They were tightening their monetary policy but didn't care about foreign investment at all.

Oh, so you want to speculate on real estate?

Go ahead, it's not like loans are available. If you can manage to mortgage to a foreign bank, we wouldn't mind at all.

Yes, now there was the concept of mortgages. But so what?

They also had credit cards, but they weren't the same as American credit cards.

The so-called fifty thousand credit limit required you to deposit fifty thousand into your account. If you didn't deposit money, what kind of credit do you really have?

Of course, all of this was just part of the process. Once they figured it out, they would naturally make corresponding adjustments.

Going to the land of the rabbit to invest in real estate? William White thought Jason's wife was crazy. Did he realize that although there was a large population, demand wasn't as substantial as one might think?

As for why it had skyrocketed later on, there were many factors that contributed to that, which were better left unmentioned here.

Just to note this point: properties were still allocated rather than freely bought. If this issue wasn't resolved, who in their right mind would go buying a house?

If you could buy one, why would your workplace still allocate properties? Aren't homes meant for living? Why complicate it?

During this period, housing was still incredibly scarce in the land of the rabbit. Even so, not many planned to buy on their own.

Not to mention that the units would allocate homes, and as for the so-called commercial properties, they were out of reach.

Loans? Don't joke around. If you borrowed two hundred thousand, over thirty years, the principal and interest would cost more than five hundred thousand.

Was that madness or foolishness?

"Filson, is the real estate market booming in Asia lately?"

"Yes, Sir, all of our projects are sold out, but some of the department managers seem hesitant."

"There's no need for hesitation. I won't launch any new projects. It's too hot right now, just like the stock market. If the prices suddenly spike, it usually means they're about to sell off.

Building houses is different from stocks. If I'm halfway through construction and the market crashes, should I keep building, or risk it becoming an abandoned project?

By the way, what has Soros been busy with lately? I haven't heard anything about him for quite a while, which isn't normal."

"Indeed, it is quite strange. However, if he shorted the Asian markets, he might not even have the capital to do so."

"Ha, when has Soros ever been short on cash? That guy definitely has an agenda. By the way, Filson, why are we even talking about the stock market? That's too small of a game for him."

"Sir, although it seems small, they're still fully open. Unlike in Japan, they never had any restrictions from the start."

"Sigh, I hope they know what they're doing. Soros is stirring the pot, and he's creating a disaster."

"Yes, if a situation similar to Japan were to occur, without an industrial foundation, they would suffer far worse than Japan did."

Of course, it would be devastating, wiping out the results of decades of hard work by those greedy individuals. The whole of Asia was grieving, except for a few rare countries.

Without the Asian Development Bank, many countries would struggle to hold on. As for the IMF, it was merely a vulture waiting to pounce.

After the Asian financial crisis, the IMF's reputation plummeted. For those Asian countries, the conditions imposed by the IMF seemed far from harsh; they felt like a total destruction of their nations.

The United States was not favored in most countries, and that's the reason for it. You are already the global leader; is it so hard to leave some dignity?

What Soros did during this crisis was no different from robbery.

Seriously, isn't the IMF in cahoots with you? What was the original intention behind establishing the IMF?

Wasn't it supposed to ensure the safety of international exchange rates?

Their series of actions were merely kicking someone while they were down. After the Asian financial crisis, why were so many planning to take Soros down?

Let's be honest, that guy deserved to be taken down.

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.