"I'll keep it in mind." Marah no longer paid attention to the boy and flipped to the end of the folder. She only ever flipped the pages with one finger. Her focus was more on her tea than on the numbers. "Look, I agree with you. If we were to enter into your monetary union, it would have many positive effects on the trade of all the countries involved. The 35% increase in profits is certainly intentionally a bit high, but I think up to 20% is quite realistic in the long run. However, that is completely irrelevant." The folder slammed shut with a dull bang. "We don't need to work with the rest of the world. They'll still buy from us. True, we are an export country, but an export country of vital goods. The cycle is always the same. Our companies don't know what to do with their money and buy something abroad in exchange for S-marks. The coins rotate around the world for a while and nothing happens, but inevitably some crisis occurs again. The demand for food commodities increases on the world market. The biggest supplier are we. Prices at the ports go up, but domestic prices stay the same because I determine the price here. Our state companies only accept S-marks as a matter of principle. Normally, if a currency rises, the demand and or the price of the goods that have to be paid for with that currency decreases. No one likes to exchange 130 Fee for 1.00 S-Mark when a month ago they would have had to give 120. People prefer to wait for the Fee to rise again. Our currency is most dependent on the demand for food commodities, medicine, metal and weapons. If the demand for these goods rises, the price of these goods rises, the value of our currency rises, causing demand to fall again, the price falls, the currency falls, causing demand to rise again, and on and on. You know it. If the world is fine, the fluctuations are weak, but in a crisis it is different. If the demand for these goods rises, the price of these goods rises, the value of our currency rises, but the demand does not fall, the prices do not fall, the currency remains strong. If war threatens, medicine, metal and weapons are no longer optional. When famine threatens, food is no longer optional. Whenever the world burns, we make the most profit. Whenever the Free Currency goes down because it's useless once again, our registers ring even harder. But we don't want you to go under altogether, so we increase lending and exports when we've made enough. Our companies don't know where to put their money again and buy some shit abroad. We are making profits on the world's problems and at the same time we are unaffected by them. The question now is, why should I give that away? You should be able to explain that to me."
"It may be that you are making a little profit at the moment because your neighbours are fighting and have no choice but to buy their overpriced goods, but if you work with us we all make more profit. With a common currency, your exports would be better at all times, not just when others have problems."
"Yes, but also in exchange for more risk. Besides, that only applies to cheap goods. For medicine and ore, the margins are always high enough. For rare metals, there are not even other suppliers. For weapons and steel, there is little competition in terms of quality. Generally, we earn enough with our own currency. Besides, we established it already. Additionally, you should also note that if we were to use your currency, we would inflate your currency, which would only make it easier for us to export to countries that also use your currency. It is a curse to be too trustworthy. Let's be honest, you don't have any interest in anyone else making more money apart from yourself. You just don't like the fact that whenever the Free Currency goes down, you can't shop here anymore, so you want us all to be in the same boat. The scam has worked for many of our neighbours, but fortunately I decide here. What matters to me is not whether every citizen has everything they dream of. That is not my job. What is important to me is that every citizen has everything they need, because that is the responsibility I bear. The benefits you tell me are not benefits for the majority of my citizens. Accordingly, I am not interested. I have never restricted your banks and your currency domestically because Baele is a free country with a free market, but I will not force my citizens to use a currency that I cannot control."
"A free market is driven by supply and demand, not by the government."
"Oh, is that so? And where do I find this free market? In Jena, representatives of big companies meet secretly at night in a hotel. In the next room, investigators from the Cartel Office eavesdrop and meticulously write everything down. When the price increases arrive, proceedings are opened for illegal agreements. In the end, there is a minimal fine, but nothing else happens. After all, they are important employers who take care of the supply of the population. One does not want to harm them. The citizens are disappointed in their government and consider the Cartel Office as useless, and rightly so. Cartel offices are an enemy of the free market. Don't you think so? Here across the street is a cafe where the owners of the six largest supermarket chains in our country meet every week. Besides the fine baked goods, they also discuss at length their prices and how they can avoid stepping on each other's toes. Everybody knows that. The financial court knows that too. Nevertheless, no investigator from the Cartel Office is hiding under the tablecloth and when the price increases come, there are no proceedings because, as you know, we don't even have an independent Cartel Office. We save ourselves the trouble. If all six decide to offer courgettes for ten times as much nationwide from tomorrow onwards, they are welcome to try it out. Such agreements between companies are a normal business activity. In other countries they are forbidden. So which is the free market? Try better arguments if you want to convince me."
Mr Jens only answered with a snort.
Meanwhile, the boy had been staring holes in the air for a while. "Then why doesn't the courgette cost ten times as much?" he asked naively.
"Because then no one would buy them, boy. You can eat other vegetables, after all."
"But why isn't everything expensive? On the way here, we were down at a square before. There was a stall with apples and water. I wanted to buy a bottle, but there was no seller. The stall was empty. There was no price tag either. When I asked an old woman where I should pay, she looked at me as if she didn't understand. Everything at the stall was free. There was no advertising either. I could take as much as I wanted. No one was paying attention. Why was it all free? Is it always here like that?"
Before Marah could answer, Mr Jens seized the word. "Baele has a lot of public companies in all sectors. Simplified, you could say that one third of the economy is state-owned. The government dictates the prices. If they want to give fruit and water away, they do it." he explained, sounding as if he minded.
"Now, now, I don't think that's the right way to put it. We don't dictate anything. Everyone is allowed to set his price as he likes. Only if you intend to work with a state company they will demand that you guarantee a certain final price for their goods. That is a normal free-market practice. For example, one does not want one's own products to be sold at horrendous prices just because production was limited. The amount that retailers are allowed to mark up is not prescribed by law, but negotiated. The highest final prices that state companies are allowed to negotiate for their goods these are prescribed by law. In the case of local fruit and vegetables and water, the prescribed final price is zero. How this is remunerated is then negotiated individually, but there are no sham negotiations and there are no compulsory contracts. No one is forced to offer state goods if they cannot or do not want to. Yet they are available in all six major supermarket chains. This is simply a profit-oriented decision by these companies. Selling to the end consumer is the easiest part of the job. Anyone can open a shop overnight without much investment. Anyone can get a supply contract with a state company quite easily. If the six of them didn't sell state goods, there would not be only six of them at the table for long. Our state companies are thus doing what a Cartel Office could never do, namely protect consumers. Baele works out itself what a fair price is. The market follows because otherwise they won't sell anything."
"Whether you directly impose the prices by law or through a forced contract, at the end of the day the government dictates the prices, so it's no longer a free market."
"As I hinted, there is no free market, thankfully not."
"Excuse me." the boy spoke up again. "How can public companies compete with private companies?"
Upon hearing the question, Mr Jens turned his head to the side in annoyance. It was certainly not something he wanted to talk about. Marah, on the other hand, looked very pleased.
"Why shouldn't they be able to so?"
"Public companies are inefficient. Because of all the bureaucracy. Um... Because there are so many regulations from the state."
"For the most part, the state companies have to abide by the same regulations as any other company. Do you have something else?"
"Because people don't bother if you can't fire them."
"It's a bit different here. There's no protection against dismissal and open-ended contracts are the standard. If you can negotiate something else, then you are apparently very important. An open-ended contract is also really an open-ended contract. Anyone can be fired within the current day. There are no severance payments in any case."
"If someone comes to work, then I could already wait at the door and send them straight back home?"
"Yes. You could do that."
"Could I also fire someone before they can take their holiday or overtime?"
"If you dismiss someone, overtime must be paid in full and paid leave must be pro-rated by the hour."
"How much holiday is there here?"
"Legally guaranteed is 44 days paid leave. Public holidays are included."
"Could I fire someone if he takes sick leave?"
"There is no protection against dismissal."
The boy's eyes widened. As the son of an industrialist, it was probably music to his ears.
"If someone takes sick leave, I can just kick him out and I don't have to keep paying his wages?"
"Yes."
"If a woman is pregnant, can I fire her too?"
"You can dismiss anyone, whether they are pregnant, sick, have been with the company for 50 years or anything else."
"There's no protection against dismissal at all?" the boy asked, as if he couldn't believe it.
"Yes. As I said, there is no protection against dismissal. Protection against dismissal only exists in countries with a free market."
The last sentence was sarcastic.
The boy could not get out of his amazement.
"That's why there are so many companies here..."
"The taxes are low too."
At first glance, Baele seemed like a paradise for companies, and maybe it was.
"I'll keep it in mind." Marah no longer paid attention to the boy and flipped to the end of the folder. She only ever flipped the pages with one finger. Her focus was more on her tea than on the numbers. "Look, I agree with you. If we were to enter into your monetary union, it would have many positive effects on the trade of all the countries involved. The 35% increase in profits is certainly intentionally a bit high, but I think up to 20% is quite realistic in the long run. However, that is completely irrelevant." The folder slammed shut with a dull bang. "We don't need to work with the rest of the world. They'll still buy from us. True, we are an export country, but an export country of vital goods. The cycle is always the same. Our companies don't know what to do with their money and buy something abroad in exchange for S-marks. The coins rotate around the world for a while and nothing happens, but inevitably some crisis occurs again. The demand for food commodities increases on the world market. The biggest supplier are we. Prices at the ports go up, but domestic prices stay the same because I determine the price here. Our state companies only accept S-marks as a matter of principle. Normally, if a currency rises, the demand and or the price of the goods that have to be paid for with that currency decreases. No one likes to exchange 130 Fee for 1.00 S-Mark when a month ago they would have had to give 120. People prefer to wait for the Fee to rise again. Our currency is most dependent on the demand for food commodities, medicine, metal and weapons. If the demand for these goods rises, the price of these goods rises, the value of our currency rises, causing demand to fall again, the price falls, the currency falls, causing demand to rise again, and on and on. You know it. If the world is fine, the fluctuations are weak, but in a crisis it is different. If the demand for these goods rises, the price of these goods rises, the value of our currency rises, but the demand does not fall, the prices do not fall, the currency remains strong. If war threatens, medicine, metal and weapons are no longer optional. When famine threatens, food is no longer optional. Whenever the world burns, we make the most profit. Whenever the Free Currency goes down because it's useless once again, our registers ring even harder. But we don't want you to go under altogether, so we increase lending and exports when we've made enough. Our companies don't know where to put their money again and buy some shit abroad. We are making profits on the world's problems and at the same time we are unaffected by them. The question now is, why should I give that away? You should be able to explain that to me."
"It may be that you are making a little profit at the moment because your neighbours are fighting and have no choice but to buy their overpriced goods, but if you work with us we all make more profit. With a common currency, your exports would be better at all times, not just when others have problems."
"Yes, but also in exchange for more risk. Besides, that only applies to cheap goods. For medicine and ore, the margins are always high enough. For rare metals, there are not even other suppliers. For weapons and steel, there is little competition in terms of quality. Generally, we earn enough with our own currency. Besides, we established it already. Additionally, you should also note that if we were to use your currency, we would inflate your currency, which would only make it easier for us to export to countries that also use your currency. It is a curse to be too trustworthy. Let's be honest, you don't have any interest in anyone else making more money apart from yourself. You just don't like the fact that whenever the Free Currency goes down, you can't shop here anymore, so you want us all to be in the same boat. The scam has worked for many of our neighbours, but fortunately I decide here. What matters to me is not whether every citizen has everything they dream of. That is not my job. What is important to me is that every citizen has everything they need, because that is the responsibility I bear. The benefits you tell me are not benefits for the majority of my citizens. Accordingly, I am not interested. I have never restricted your banks and your currency domestically because Baele is a free country with a free market, but I will not force my citizens to use a currency that I cannot control."
"A free market is driven by supply and demand, not by the government."
"Oh, is that so? And where do I find this free market? In Jena, representatives of big companies meet secretly at night in a hotel. In the next room, investigators from the Cartel Office eavesdrop and meticulously write everything down. When the price increases arrive, proceedings are opened for illegal agreements. In the end, there is a minimal fine, but nothing else happens. After all, they are important employers who take care of the supply of the population. One does not want to harm them. The citizens are disappointed in their government and consider the Cartel Office as useless, and rightly so. Cartel offices are an enemy of the free market. Don't you think so? Here across the street is a cafe where the owners of the six largest supermarket chains in our country meet every week. Besides the fine baked goods, they also discuss at length their prices and how they can avoid stepping on each other's toes. Everybody knows that. The financial court knows that too. Nevertheless, no investigator from the Cartel Office is hiding under the tablecloth and when the price increases come, there are no proceedings because, as you know, we don't even have an independent Cartel Office. We save ourselves the trouble. If all six decide to offer courgettes for ten times as much nationwide from tomorrow onwards, they are welcome to try it out. Such agreements between companies are a normal business activity. In other countries they are forbidden. So which is the free market? Try better arguments if you want to convince me."
Mr Jens only answered with a snort.
Meanwhile, the boy had been staring holes in the air for a while. "Then why doesn't the courgette cost ten times as much?" he asked naively.
"Because then no one would buy them, boy. You can eat other vegetables, after all."
"But why isn't everything expensive? On the way here, we were down at a square before. There was a stall with apples and water. I wanted to buy a bottle, but there was no seller. The stall was empty. There was no price tag either. When I asked an old woman where I should pay, she looked at me as if she didn't understand. Everything at the stall was free. There was no advertising either. I could take as much as I wanted. No one was paying attention. Why was it all free? Is it always here like that?"
Before Marah could answer, Mr Jens seized the word. "Baele has a lot of public companies in all sectors. Simplified, you could say that one third of the economy is state-owned. The government dictates the prices. If they want to give fruit and water away, they do it." he explained, sounding as if he minded.
"Now, now, I don't think that's the right way to put it. We don't dictate anything. Everyone is allowed to set his price as he likes. Only if you intend to work with a state company they will demand that you guarantee a certain final price for their goods. That is a normal free-market practice. For example, one does not want one's own products to be sold at horrendous prices just because production was limited. The amount that retailers are allowed to mark up is not prescribed by law, but negotiated. The highest final prices that state companies are allowed to negotiate for their goods these are prescribed by law. In the case of local fruit and vegetables and water, the prescribed final price is zero. How this is remunerated is then negotiated individually, but there are no sham negotiations and there are no compulsory contracts. No one is forced to offer state goods if they cannot or do not want to. Yet they are available in all six major supermarket chains. This is simply a profit-oriented decision by these companies. Selling to the end consumer is the easiest part of the job. Anyone can open a shop overnight without much investment. Anyone can get a supply contract with a state company quite easily. If the six of them didn't sell state goods, there would not be only six of them at the table for long. Our state companies are thus doing what a Cartel Office could never do, namely protect consumers. Baele works out itself what a fair price is. The market follows because otherwise they won't sell anything."
"Whether you directly impose the prices by law or through a forced contract, at the end of the day the government dictates the prices, so it's no longer a free market."
"As I hinted, there is no free market, thankfully not."
"Excuse me." the boy spoke up again. "How can public companies compete with private companies?"
Upon hearing the question, Mr Jens turned his head to the side in annoyance. It was certainly not something he wanted to talk about. Marah, on the other hand, looked very pleased.
"Why shouldn't they be able to so?"
"Public companies are inefficient. Because of all the bureaucracy. Um... Because there are so many regulations from the state."
"For the most part, the state companies have to abide by the same regulations as any other company. Do you have something else?"
"Because people don't bother if you can't fire them."
"It's a bit different here. There's no protection against dismissal and open-ended contracts are the standard. If you can negotiate something else, then you are apparently very important. An open-ended contract is also really an open-ended contract. Anyone can be fired within the current day. There are no severance payments in any case."
"If someone comes to work, then I could already wait at the door and send them straight back home?"
"Yes. You could do that."
"Could I also fire someone before they can take their holiday or overtime?"
"If you dismiss someone, overtime must be paid in full and paid leave must be pro-rated by the hour."
"How much holiday is there here?"
"Legally guaranteed is 44 days paid leave. Public holidays are included."
"Could I fire someone if he takes sick leave?"
"There is no protection against dismissal."
The boy's eyes widened. As the son of an industrialist, it was probably music to his ears.
"If someone takes sick leave, I can just kick him out and I don't have to keep paying his wages?"
"Yes."
"If a woman is pregnant, can I fire her too?"
"You can dismiss anyone, whether they are pregnant, sick, have been with the company for 50 years or anything else."
"There's no protection against dismissal at all?" the boy asked, as if he couldn't believe it.
"Yes. As I said, there is no protection against dismissal. Protection against dismissal only exists in countries with a free market."
The last sentence was sarcastic.
The boy could not get out of his amazement.
"That's why there are so many companies here..."
"The taxes are low too."
At first glance, Baele seemed like a paradise for companies, and maybe it was.
