Chapter 609 Resource Trap
The era of colonial expansion was over, and the work of the Vienna government was back at home. The most serious problem in Austria now is the unbalanced domestic economic development and the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
Just looking at the per capita income of 64.6 Aegis, this figure is 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 annual income of big capitalists and aristocrats is tens of millions, and the actual annual income of most ordinary workers is less than 30 Aegis.
Franz is also a vested interest in this regard. As the existence of raising per capita income, now he has to worry about 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 Aegis.
This income is placed in any country and region in the world, and it is the middle class.
Vienna, as the financial capital, cultural capital, technology capital, and education capital of Austria, has so many resource bonuses, it seems not surprising to reach this level.
However, statistics tell Franz that this is only a superficial prosperity, and the problems inside are already very serious.
Vienna has a population of 1.06 million, of which 620,000 are working-age workers. Only less than 11.2% have an annual income of 328 Aegis, only 29.6% have an annual income of more than 100 Aegis, and 24.6% have an annual income of less than 30 Aegis. (only counting labor force)
This is still the capital, and there are only so many low-income people. If you change to other areas, it will be more serious.
According to statistics, 31.2% of the impoverished population in the country with an annual income of less than 20 SHIELDs is as high as 31.2%. This is not the data that a developed country should have, but this is the reality.
The disparity between the rich and the poor is only one aspect, and the imbalance of regional development is even more shocking. In the poorest small county, the per capita annual income is less than 8 Aegis.
This income is estimated to be enough to eat potatoes. This is still based on the premise that Austria is a grain-producing country. If it is in England, it can only make do with wild vegetables.
And this gap is still growing. The poorer the poorer, the richer the richer.
Old problems have not been solved, and new problems have emerged. 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 the agricultural output value increased by 56% within five years.
Then the development of the rural economy slowed down rapidly, especially after the outbreak of the agricultural crisis in 1873, the Austrian rural economy once experienced negative growth.
In the case of the country's rapid economic development, in 1875 the growth rate of Austria's rural economy was less than 1%, which can almost be said to be standing still.
With so many problems coming together, Franz's hair is almost gone. "Solution" is easy to say, the question is how to solve it?
Not only Austria's problems, no country in the 19th century was an exception, and no one was able to solve these problems.
Since Franz raised these questions, the Vienna government has been trying to figure out how to do it, but the reality is still so cruel.
Franz didn't even dare to order that the bureaucrats had to solve it, because once the order was issued, he was afraid that he would not see the real data.
Now is not the Internet era. In this era of backward communication, it is very easy to whitewash the peace. It is enough to change the data with a swipe of a pen.
Deception is the innate skill of the bureaucracy, and the tsarist government next door is an example of this. Since Alexander II's reforms, the Russian Empire has grown at an astonishing rate on paper.
Just looking at the data on paper, the industrial strength of the Russian Empire has surpassed that of Austria, and it is estimated that it will surpass the European continent in a few years. Perhaps in the lifetime of Alexander II, the Russian Empire will be able to surpass the world.
Compared with the bureaucracy of the tsarist government, the Austrian bureaucracy still has a conscience. Data falsification doesn't exist either, but it's definitely not that crazy.
This is Franz's credit. As a qualified emperor, rewards and punishments are clearly necessary, so a strict reporting and reward system has been formulated.
You can falsify data, but you must ensure that everyone cooperates. It is not enough to ensure the cooperation of the next government. You must ensure that the next government will cooperate.
Responsibility is lifelong, and all those who do not report will be jointly and severally liable. Cancel all honors and go to jail together for the rest of your life.
As a whistleblower, you are directly promoted to the third level, and you can also work in the investigation department to investigate data fraud.
As a sacrifice to this policy, the bureaucrats in the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina were the first to suffer. An official that Franz was very optimistic about was included in the cabinet's candidate list and was also planted in.
Thousands of public officials were imprisoned at one time, and all the bureaucratic groups in the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina were implicated, and almost the entire army was wiped out.
After being affected by this, everyone converged, and the data returned to normal at once.
In the officialdom, who doesn't have a few political enemies? If the local governments were monolithic, the Vienna government would not be able to sleep long ago!
The top is tightly grasped, and the bottom naturally does not dare to mess around. Isn't it just statistics, just report it honestly. Fraud is indeed easy to get political achievements, and more likely to go to prison.
Vienna Palace, economic conference
Franz slapped the table directly: "The domestic economy is developing rapidly, but the gap between the rich and the poor, the regional gap, and the urban-rural gap is getting worse, and now it's time to solve it.
If you drag it on, it will only be more difficult to deal with it in the future.
I don't ask for a 100% solution to the problem, but it must be ensured that the situation cannot continue to deteriorate. "
The requirements are so low that Franz knows that these problems cannot be solved at all with the current productivity.
Not solving the problem does not mean not solving the problem. Either way, doing it is better than not doing it, and even maintaining the current situation is a great victory.
Prime Minister Felix bite the bullet and replied: "Your Majesty, the regional economic development is unbalanced, and the biggest problem is the limitation of natural conditions.
Only by adjusting measures to local conditions, formulate appropriate economic development policies. There are still a large part of the area, due to natural conditions, industry and agriculture are not suitable for development.
From the perspective of the overall situation, we must make trade-offs in these areas 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 become more serious.
The most effective way in the short term is to promote land consolidation and adopt a large-scale farm production model to replace the current small-scale farming economy in many areas.
However, this is the least desirable way. The social problems brought about by land mergers are far more serious than the widening gap between urban and rural areas.
In fact, neither of these two issues is the key. The most important thing is that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening and the number of poor people is increasing.
As long as the income problem of the people at the bottom is solved, it is acceptable whether it is the imbalance of regional development or the widening gap between urban and rural areas. "
This is a false proposition. How can we mediate the gap between the rich and the poor without addressing the uneven development of regions and the gap between urban and rural areas?
The three have always complemented each other, and the income is different from the others. This is regulated by the market, and the government cannot force it to control.
Franz is no longer an economic novice, and will not naively think that the government sets a higher minimum wage income, and everyone's income will go up.
This is impossible. The labor cost that each industry can bear is different. The market competitiveness of some traditional industries is cheap labor.
In addition to the nominal excuse of "environmental protection", when so many countries in later generations play de-industrialization, the labor cost in developed countries is too high.
In other words, the guild has become a profit-making tool for some people. In order to pursue a higher return on investment, capitalists have to move factories.
Austria has not developed to that stage. Many capitalists are still in the stage of making money while lying down, and most industries have good profits.
The main reason for the poor income of the bottom people is the relationship between supply and demand in the labor market. The so-called labor cost affects market competitiveness, which is actually very nonsense.
The current labor price and labor cost are actually very low. Except for labor-intensive industries, labor costs in many industries are less than one-tenth of the product price.
Compared with the British competitors, the labor cost in Austria is much cheaper, and the raw material cost is also much cheaper, but the international retail price of the product is almost the same.
This made Franz very dissatisfied. With so many favorable conditions, the capitalists did not compete with the British for the market. Obviously, the domestic market has already fed them, and everyone's enterprising spirit has been insufficient.
If it is not changed, it will give them a sense of crisis, and if it continues like this, it is estimated that Austria will also fall into the "resource trap".
This is the case with the capitalists of Britain and France in the original time and space. They can make money anyway, so why should they work hard?
One by one eating, drinking and having fun with money, no sense of crisis at all, and in the end watching the Americans and Germans surpass the past.
The core of this economic conference is to change the status quo of domestic capitalists who are reluctant to make progress.
Franz: "Resolving the gap between the rich and the poor is really the core issue. What is the government's plan?"
Prime Minister Felix: "If you want to raise everyone's income in the short term, the easiest way is to emigrate. There is a surplus of domestic labor, but the colonial labor has always been very scarce.
We have also emigrated over the years, but not enough. In the hinterland, we do very little propaganda work, and now that has to change.
The government plans to bring 10 million immigrants from the mainland to the colonies within five years. This time, the main areas of immigration are over-populated rural areas and poor and remote areas. "
It can be seen that, with a large number of immigrants entering the colonies, the supply and demand relationship in the domestic labor market will inevitably change, and the days when capitalists rely on cheap labor will be gone forever.
It's not that Franz is cruel, it's completely forced by reality.
The original time and space German Empire is the best example. Except for coal and iron, almost all resources are lacking, and the labor cost is higher than that of the French. There are not so many colonies to plunder, but they have developed.
The talent dividend of compulsory education is one aspect, but more is the crisis awareness of enterprises, which urges everyone to promote technological innovation.
Austria has carried out compulsory education for so many years, the quality of the population is not low, and it also has a richer market and resources. There is no reason why it cannot be done.
The second industrial revolution broke out in Austria. It is reasonable to say that it was promoted by Franz. The new technology should be faster than the same period in history. However, the reality is very slapped.
In 1875, Austria's newly registered patented technology accounted for one-third of the royal family's industry, and the proportion of this number is still increasing year by year.
After research, Franz found that the core problem was that the life of the company was too easy. You can make money lying down, and capitalists are simply not willing to promote technological innovation.
This is determined by interests, low labor, raw material prices, and a broad market, so that they do not need to work hard, can
enough to make money.
However, the research and development of new technologies is full of uncertainty. Investment and return may not be directly proportional, and everyone is not willing to take risks.
Without pressure, it can only create pressure. This year has not yet reached the era of capital internationalization, and Franz is not afraid of capitalists running away.
Engaging in international trade requires government endorsement, and every large multinational group has a government background behind it. Even so, these groups are often pitted by local snakes.
There are many classic cases of this, such as: British and French capital invested in Austrian railways and infrastructure construction, but Franz took advantage of the economic crisis to pit them.
Another example: British capital built a large railway in the United States, and in the end it was lost.
If there is a background to be pitted, it is within the scope of the rules. There is no background, let alone, no need to pay attention to the appearance.