I participated in a text-based grand strategy game where I role-played as the leader of the German Empire and designed and led a comprehensive national economic reform in 1910.

My engagement in the text-based grand strategy game was the crucible where my abstract interests in economics, politics, and history were forged into a concrete passion for philosophy. It was the first time I moved from merely studying these subjects to actively applying their principles. By stepping into the role of a policymaker, I gained the macro-level perspective necessary to see past surface-level events and begin to understand the essence of society: that it is a complex, dynamic structure governed by incentives, power, and shared belief.

Here is the fourteen strategies I developed to lead the reform:

  1. Monetary Reform: A new paper currency, the Deutsche Mark, will be issued, backed by both gold and silver as collateral. The Deutsche Mark can be exchanged for government-issued Gold Commodity Securities and Silver Commodity Securities. Its exchange rate with gold is fixed at 1 Deutsche Mark to 0.358 grams of gold. The exchange rate with silver will be based on the prevailing gold-silver price ratio. The subsidiary currency of the Deutsche Mark will be the paper Pfennig, at an exchange rate of 1 Mark to 100 Pfennig.
  2. Currency Replacement: The initial issuance volume of the new Deutsche Mark will be determined based on the total amount of un-recalled Goldmarks and the exchange rate between the Deutsche Mark and the Goldmark. (This is to ensure that after the complete replacement, the government will have an additional 200 million Deutsche Marks in reserve for future monetary policy). The central bank will first recall all old currency from commercial banks through a mandatory exchange for the new currency. All banks will then be required to offer exchange services for the public to convert old Marks to new Marks. (All old Marks collected from the public by banks must be handed over to the central government for exchange into new Marks). Subsequently, the government will issue a decree requiring all citizens to exchange their Goldmarks for the new Deutsche Marks within three months. After this period, all Goldmarks will be declared void, unrecognized by the government, and unusable for payment. After the currency replacement is complete, it will be announced that due to the Goldmark’s significant international influence, the German government will recognize both the Goldmark and the Deutsche Mark for use in international trade. However, all Goldmarks entering Germany will be mandatorily exchanged for Deutsche Marks to achieve final replacement.
  3. Silver Acquisition Act: The government will begin a large-scale acquisition of silver on the world market (using the previously recalled paper Goldmarks) to ensure that the value of silver in the national treasury reaches one-half the value of gold. On one hand, silver itself is a crucial collateral to ensure currency credibility and must be stored in large quantities. On the other hand, a rise in silver prices could cause deflation in silver-standard countries (such as China), increasing their purchasing power and potentially opening up the Far East market for Germany.
  4. Housing Purchase Restriction Act: Henceforth, every adult German citizen (excluding real estate developers and hotels, limited to individuals) may hold a maximum of one residential property (those already owning multiple homes are barred from purchasing new ones) and an unlimited number of commercial properties. Concurrently, the German Real Estate Regulatory Bureau will be established to grant government approval for all new real estate construction (ensuring it serves a practical purpose and is not for speculative or fraudulent schemes), thereby ensuring the quality, quantity, and price of new housing on the market remain healthy.
  5. Debt Management Administration: The German Debt Management Administration will be established to specifically manage national and private debt issues. For now, based on national expenditures, a restructuring of the national debt can be considered, doubling the repayment period of German government bonds while simultaneously cutting the interest rate by one-third. Although bondholders will take longer to receive their principal, their total interest earnings will be increased.
  6. Foreign Investment General Administration: The German Foreign Investment General Administration will be established, headquartered in Berlin and operated entirely by the government. This administration will, on one hand, assist domestic enterprises in listing on foreign stock exchanges through negotiations with other governments. On the other hand, it will regulate foreign investment entering Germany. For instance, it will act as a witness for foreign investors and domestic recipients of investment, ensuring the legality and authenticity of the investment funds (most importantly, by spot-checking samples of the investment funds, melting them down to confirm their gold or silver content, or conducting anti-counterfeiting checks on recognized foreign banknotes to verify the investment’s value). It will also provide legal legitimacy to their contracts and assist foreign investors with the necessary step of converting their metal currency investments into Deutsche Marks at banks. Additionally, the administration can restrict or expand foreign investment in different sectors through various directives.
  7. Expansion of State-Owned Banking: The state-owned banking system will be further expanded with the successive establishment of the Four Great State-Owned Banks of Germany: the German Commercial Bank (specializing in financial services), the German Industrial Bank (specializing in industrial services), the German Agricultural Bank (specializing in agricultural services), and the German Construction Bank (specializing in infrastructure services). These state-owned banks will be highly integrated with the central bank and the government (the central bank will provide the majority of the initial capital to achieve controlling stakes, but the banks will be administratively responsible to the government). On the basis of fiscal independence (private investment is welcome, but management can only be appointed by the state), they will support the policies of the central bank and the government, such as providing investment and loans to various industries and even participating in securities trading.
  8. Banking Sector Reform: All banks will be required during a period of consolidation to establish a credit scoring agency. This agency will score all clients based on their past financial behaviors, such as borrowing and repayment history, to assess their ability to fulfill financial agreements. This will allow banks to avoid lending to low-credit individuals and thus prevent bad debts.
  9. New Banking Act: Furthermore, a new Banking Act will be promulgated, setting the minimum initial capital requirement for registering a bank in Germany at 1 million Deutsche Marks. (Small and micro private banks that do not meet this standard must either merge with larger banks or be acquired by the government, thereby streamlining the banking industry and reducing financial risk). At the same time, banks will be permitted to conduct most financial activities, such as real estate mortgages, bond trading, lending, and corporate investment. To ensure banks can recover on their own after a cash flow crisis, all banks will be required to deposit cash equivalent to 10% of their total assets with the central bank as a mandatory reserve, to be withdrawn in the event of a cash flow collapse. This 10% reserve requirement will be calculated based on monthly financial reports submitted by all banks to the central bank. Finally, the government will levy a 5% tax on the net profits of all banks. To determine this 5% tax, both the government and the central bank will require all banks to submit quarterly financial reports. If a bank falsifies financial reports to evade reserve requirements and taxes, all individuals involved in the forgery who directly profited will be sentenced to a minimum of 5 years in prison, with a maximum of life imprisonment. The bank will also undergo continuous rectification until the stolen funds are recovered and the remaining, non-implicated management finds suitable replacements for the key positions.
  10. Deposit Insurance System: A deposit insurance system will be established for the banking sector with the creation of the German Deposit Insurance Corporation (a state-owned enterprise open to private investment). It will provide mandatory, baseline deposit insurance services for all private banks nationwide. (This means banks can choose private insurance, but will be required to subscribe to the national insurance if they have none). In the event of economic problems preventing a bank from honoring customer withdrawals, the corporation will directly pay the deposits on behalf of the bank to help it weather the crisis. In return, banks will be required to pay regular insurance premiums (the premium will be calculated to be self-sustaining based on bank failure rates and the average size of assets at the time of failure).
  11. Expansion of Mandatory Insurance: The mandatory, baseline insurance system will be fully promoted. Private insurance companies will be allowed to operate within Germany’s original four major insurance areas (health, pension, accident, and maternity). As long as a customer voluntarily chooses, they can switch from state insurance to private insurance, or back again, at any time. In addition, an Investment Pension Insurance will be introduced, allowing each pensioner to voluntarily invest up to 20% of their pension funds in low-risk state-managed investments (such as government bonds and funds) to earn returns.
  12. Market Transparency and the Ludwig Index: To make the market more open and transparent, the Ludwig Index (a German version of the Dow Jones Index) will be established. It will be divided into multiple sectors and broadcast daily on all major national stock exchanges. For example, the Industrial Ludwig Index will be calculated by the government based on the average stock price of the top 30 industrial enterprises in the country. The Transportation Ludwig Index will be based on the average stock price of the top 30 transportation enterprises (primarily railway and automotive industries), and the Services Ludwig Index will be based on the average stock price of the top 30 service enterprises (such as catering and apparel). By tracking the average stock prices across various industries, everyone in our market can gain a general understanding of the development of each sector and thus make better investment decisions.
  13. Securities Market Regulation: The securities market will be consolidated. The Securities Data Transparency Act will be enacted, establishing the German Securities Administration Bureau and dispatching long-term supervisory teams to all national stock and futures exchanges. These teams will hand over files to their successors each month, then be stationed at an exchange for a one-month investigation (with the authority to request all data from the exchange upon approval from their superiors), before moving to a previously unvisited exchange. If, during an investigation, a supervisory team discovers collusion between traders and corporations—for example, publishing tampered securities data to give certain companies an advantage—they can, in conjunction with local police forces, arrest the individuals involved in the data forgery who directly profited. These criminals will be sentenced to a minimum of 5 years in prison, with a maximum of life imprisonment, and all money obtained from their illegal transactions will be fully refunded. If an exchange is found to be in direct collusion with a corporation, it will be shut down, trading will be halted, and it will undergo continuous rectification until the remaining, non-implicated management, with government assistance, quickly finds suitable replacements for the vacant positions.
  14. Standardization and Expansion of Securities Trading: The German Securities Administration Bureau will establish the German Securities Trading Association in Berlin. This association will convene financial professionals from all major national stock and futures exchanges annually to jointly establish or amend standard trading agreements and other regulations for all financial products (stocks, bonds, insurance, futures, options, etc.), thereby unifying all securities trading standards and eliminating regional differences. The association can also begin to explore advanced securities calculation formulas, such as option pricing formulas. In addition, the government will fund the establishment of the German Securities Liaison Group to mandatorily build telegraph stations and telephone booths at all exchanges and lay underground telegraph and telephone cables. Subsequently, all exchanges and traders must use the telegraph and telephone services from the Group at cost and are forbidden from using other private services. All exchanges will also be required to share all public securities data with each other to make it possible to quickly obtain national data via telegraph and build a national securities market.

1910年德意志帝国金融改革
1.开始发行一种黄金和白银共同成为担保物的德意志马克,德意志马克为纸币,可以兑换国家发行的黄金商品证券和白银商品证券。其与黄金的汇率为1德意志马克等于0.358克黄金与白银的汇率则基于金银价格比。最后,德意志马克的辅币为纸币芬尼,汇率是1比100。
2.依据先前发行且未被回收的金马克总量和德意志马克与金马克的汇率,第一版德意志马克的发行量将被确定(确保在完成全部替换后政府在额外多印2亿德意志马克储备为未来的货币政策进行准备)。中央银行会先通过强制与全国所有银行进行新版货币兑换从而回收银行内的全部旧货币,并要求所有银行在接下来为民众开通旧版与新版马克兑换服务(银行在未来从民众换过来的旧版马克也都必须交由中央政府兑换成新版马克)。随后政府将发布法令要求全国民众在三个月内将手中的金马克兑换成新的德意志马克,否则三个月后所有的金马克都将成为不被政府承认的废纸和不能用于支付的黄金。在新旧货币替换完成后,宣布因为金马克依然存在着极大的国际影响力,德国政府将共同承认金马克与德意志马克在国际贸易上的使用,但所有进入德国国内的金马克都会被强制兑换为德意志马克来实现最终替换。
3.通过白银收购法,开始在全世界大规模收购白银(可以使用先前回收的纸币金马克)从而使得国库内的白银价值达到黄金价值的二分之一。一方面白银本身就是确保货币信用的担保物需要多多储存,另一方面银价上升可以使银本位国家(如中国)通缩并增强其购买力,或许可以为德国打开远东市场。
4.通过购房限制法,从今往后每个成年的德意志公民(不包含房地产开发商与酒店,仅限个人)最多持有一套居住住房(已拥有多套住房的则不得购置新房)与不受限制的商业用房,同时再建立德意志房地产调控局,从而对所有新建地产进行政府审批(不能拿来炒房或造假来布置骗局,得存在实际作用),来确保每年市场上的新房质量,数量和价格健康。
5.建立德意志债务管理局来专门管理德国国债与民间债务问题,目前根据国家开支可以看情况进行国债重组,将德国国债的偿还期限翻倍并同时将利息削减三分之一。虽然国债持有者需要更长的时间才能得到本金,但总利息也得到了提升。
6.建立德意志外来投资总署,总部位于柏林,完全由政府运行。外来投资署一方面通过与其他国家的政府交涉从而帮助国内的企业在其他国家的证券交易所进行上市。另一方面外来投资署也负责监管来自外国进入德意志的投资,比如在确保外来投资款项的来源是合法且真实的情况下(最重要的就是对投资款项中抽查几个样本进行熔炼,确认其含金量或含银量,或者如果是被德国承认的纸币也需要进行防伪检验,来确保投资款价值正确),充当外来投资者与被投资者的见证人,为他们间的契约提供合法性,并最后帮助外来投资者在银行办理金属通货投资转德意志马克的这一必要措施。除此之外,外来投资署也可以通过不同的指令限制或扩大不同行业的外来投资。
7.进一步扩大国有银行体系,陆续建立德意志四大国有银行,分别为德意志商业银行(专门为金融行业服务的国有银行),德意志工业银行(专门为工业服务),德意志农业银行(专门为农业服务)以及德意志建设银行(专门为基建行业服务)。这些国有银行与中央银行与政府高度关联(央行在银行建立时提供了绝大部分资金从而实现控股,但这些银行在行政架构上对政府负责),在财政独立的基础上(欢迎私人投资但银行管理层只能由国家任命)辅助央行与政府的政策,比如为各行各业提供投资与贷款,甚至是参与证券交易。
8.进行银行业改革,要求所有银行在整顿期间建立一个信用评分机构,对所有客户之前的借款还款等各种金融行为进行打分,从而评估他们是否有能力履行所有金融协议,这样银行就可以避免将贷款借给低信用的人从而避免坏账。
9.除此之外,通过新的银行法,宣布在德国内注册银行的起始资金底线是100万德意志马克(没到达资金标准的小型微型私人银行要不与更大的银行合并,要不被政府收购,这样就可以可以实现银行业精简化,降低金融风险),同时允许银行执行绝大部分金融业务,如地产抵押,债券交易,借贷款业务,投资企业等。其次,为了保证银行在现金流失控后仍然可以自行重回正轨,所有银行都需要将价值自身总资产的10%的现金强制交由中央银行管理,作为准备金以备在银行现金流崩塌时取出。10%的准备金底线是需要通过所有银行每月递交给中央银行的财务报告来计算的。最后,政府将针对所有银行的净利润征收5%作为税收,为了确定5%的税收,政府和中央银行一样需要所有银行每季度递交财务报告。如果银行伪造财务报告从而不给予准备金和税收的话,所有参与伪造且直接获利的人员会被处以5年起步,上限至无期的监禁,同时银行会被持续整改,直到找回赃款和银行其余未涉嫌犯罪的管理层找到关键职位的替代者。
10.再为银行业制定存款保险制度,成立德意志存款保险公司(国企但欢迎私人投资),为全国的私人银行提供保底强制性存款保险服务(这意味着银行可以选择私人保险,但在没有保险的情况下就会强制缴纳国家保险),即在银行面临经济问题导致无法为客户取出存款时直接替银行支付存款从而帮助其渡过危机,作为回报,银行需要在平时缴纳保险费用(根据银行破产率与平均破产时规模来制定收支平衡的保险费)。
11.完全推广保底强制性保险,允许私人保险公司在德国原本的四大保险(医疗保险,养老保险,工伤保险和生育保险)进行运作,只要客户自愿,随时都能将国家保险切换为私人保险,或再次切换回来。同时再提出投资性养老保险,即每位养老金领取者可以自愿将最多20%的养老金交由国家进行低风险投资(如国债与基金)并获取收益。
12.为了使市场更加公开化透明化,设立路德维希指数(就是德版道琼斯指数),分多个板块,每日在全国各大证券交易所投送,比如工业路德维希指数就是由政府统计全国前30家工业企业的股票价格平均值,运输业路德维希指数就是由政府统计全国前30家运输业(铁路与汽车行业为主)企业的股票价格平均值,以及服务业路德维希指数就是由政府统计全国前30家服务业(餐饮业,服装业等)企业的股票价格平均值。通过统计各行各业的股票价格平均值,我国市场里的每一个人就都可以大致了解各行各业的发展情况,从而更好地进行投资。
13.整顿证券市场,颁布证券数据透明法,即通过建立德意志证券管理局并向全国的证券交易所和期货交易所派遣长期驻扎的监管团队,然后这些监管团队在每个月都会与前任团队交接档案,随后驻扎在一个交易所并进行为期一个月的调查(监管团队在经过上级批准后有权力索要证券交易所的全部数据),再换到下一个此前未去过的交易所,如果在调查中途监管团队发现了交易人员在与企业进行勾结,比如通过向公众公布被篡改过的证券数据来帮助一些企业获得优势,那么就可以联合地方警察力量逮捕参与数据伪造且直接获益的人员,这些罪犯会被处以5年起步,上限至无期的监禁并且他们所有非法交易获得的钱也都会被全部进行退还。如果产生了交易所直接与企业勾结的情况,那么该交易所会被封锁,停止交易并持续整改,直到交易所的其余未犯罪管理层在政府的协助下快速找到空缺职位的合理替代者为止。
14.全面推动证券交易标准化与扩大化,通过德意志证券管理局成立位于柏林的德国证券交易协会并每年召集全国各大证券与期货交易所的金融人员在共同商议的情况下为所有金融产品(股票,债券,保险,期货期权等)制定或修改标准交易协议和其他各种规定来统一所有证券交易标准从而消除不同地区间的差异,同时协会也可以开始探索各种前沿的证券计算公式,如期权价定价公式。除此之外,政府将出资成立德意志证券联络集团以强制在所有交易所搭建电报站和电话亭并铺设地下电报与电话线缆,随后这些交易所和买卖方必须以成本价从集团使用电报与电话服务而不得使用其他私人服务,也要求所有交易所之间相互共享全部公开的证券数据来实现通过电报快速获取全国数据以搭建全国证券市场的可能。

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