[Chapter 714: No Fresh Ideas]
William White, was he just a worrywart?
Clearly not; just as the new boss had taken office, the Department of Justice began making its move.
This time, the market clearly didn't have faith in the Department of Justice. The strongest asset of Legendary World was undoubtedly its design capabilities. The most ridiculous part was that there were no real victims at all.
Antitrust issues were quite peculiar. The Justice Department first needed to determine whether something posed any harm to the public.
For instance, products like bottled water or milk were absolutely not allowed to monopolize the market.
As for energy and mining, things became more complicated. Without significant capital, it wasn't feasible to enter such industries, let alone avoid monopolization.
When it came to the IT sector, matters became even more fantastical. If you accused me of monopolization, fine. Who was harmed? Without a plaintiff, it was just idleness.
The Justice Department's approach this time felt more like a joke. Two American gaming companies had formed just days earlier, with a registered capital of under a hundred thousand dollars.
Alright, these were the small enterprises that needed protection. So, what were their losses?
Legendary World's review system was indeed absurd. Even though other game companies participated in this industry association-like organization, Legendary World held a veto power.
Of course, despite being in possession of such power, Legendary World rarely exercised it. After all, wasn't it better for everyone to get along and make money rather than stir up problems?
Over the years, even that group of Japanese people had given up on the idea of starting over. From the PS1 to the now PS3, with global sales exceeding 200 million units, not to mention the PSP, there was no need to even discuss how vast this gaming ecosystem was.
"Legendary World provided an open, healthy, and fair platform. If your game did not meet the alliance's requirements, sorry, you had to make some changes. If you always failed to meet the standards, maybe it was best to switch careers. The Justice Department's investigation this time was utterly unreasonable; it was nothing but a political farce. Now, on behalf of Mr. William White, I solemnly announce that the PS3 will be the last open gaming platform. After this, we will enter an internal cycle. Legendary World's next product will no longer be compatible with third-party software."
Wow, as soon as Tom finished this speech, he chose to bolt. He understood all too well the power of those words; was he intending to mix it up with the Elephants directly?
...
"Al, that bastard has lost his mind. What does he mean by that?"
"Bill, I think we have trouble. He may be completely aligning with the Elephants. This is a madman, utterly unreasonable."
"Wow, midterm elections?"
"Bill, you better brace yourself; this time, we will lose terribly."
"This can't be right, can it? Is it that serious?" Al Gore gazed incredulously at his partner, where exactly did you grow up?
You give William White a taste of his own medicine; this was really your adviser's idea? Was it because he wasn't dying quick enough for your liking?
Boss, that was a publicly traded company with a market value in the hundreds of billions. Did you think this was some kind of joke? One careless word here could send the stock market into a seismic upheaval.
Sigh, you should see what the others are saying -- it's all just a farce.
...
What puzzled Washington even more was that the first to jump up in opposition was that group of game manufacturers.
Damn, even though William White was working us, to be honest, he wasn't being unreasonable.
If he went solo, his profit would undoubtedly be much higher. With tens of millions of active users worldwide, what kind of gold mine was that? Did you guys, the Washington idiots, really understand the stakes involved?
"Ha ha, this fool really believes that he can beat me with his own skills."
"Dad, this is too funny. According to the Justice Department's report, the ones yelling the loudest were exactly the people they needed to protect."
"Ha ha, this kid has a knack. If he really did this, there wouldn't be any gaming consoles left in the U.S."
...
Bush Sr. wasn't wrong; William White was indeed prepared to tear the mask off. Damn, how many times had this happened? This time, he was ready to show them his prowess.
"Sir, is the Asian headquarters being placed in Osaka?"
"Yes, inform those Japanese consortiums that if issues arise, Legendary World will choose to privatize and delist. This Osaka headquarters will become the new headquarters of Legendary. Oh, and tell Fujita that the Viking Comics' Asian headquarters can be operational now. The current land shouldn't pose any obstacles, right?"
"Ha ha, their land prices have nearly halved. The scariest part is that even so, no one is interested."
"That's great; office buildings themselves don't create value. If real estate trading led to a world champion, that win isn't even worth having."
...
Wow, it seemed they were playing for keeps this time. After the information disclosure from both companies, the U.S. stock market experienced its first wave of panic selling in '93.
Faced with the sudden crash, the big shots on Wall Street could only mutter in disbelief.
Alright, even though the afternoon's decline lessened, the market's wait-and-see attitude was palpable. Now it was gaming consoles and comics; would other industries be leaving the U.S. too?
Given such a hostile investment environment, other investors might not pull out immediately, but they'd probably remain cautious.
Ha ha, first tax the wealthy, then target the top billionaire. Alright, you've truly impressed us. Could it be that you caught some antics from the Soviets?
Such thoughts were normal for people. The Elephants followed Keynesianism, which, boiled down, emphasized that the government needed to intervene in market activities.
During the Great Depression of '33, how did Roosevelt tackle it? Wasn't it by creating a lot of meaningless jobs?
Everyone was out of money and work; farmers couldn't sell their goods, only to dump them into the Mississippi River.
Because they had no money, they couldn't buy gasoline, and milk ended up being wasted, too.
So let's keep it simple; half of you dig holes, while the other half covers them. As for the funds, let Washington handle that.
The hole diggers and the coverers both had money. What they needed to buy first? Bread and milk.
Look, problems solved.
In brief, that was Keynesianism. It was the policy the Elephants had always pushed.
Don't think implementing this was easy. None of Roosevelt's proposals at that time were passed legally. He constantly pushed temporary bills, many of which were rejected. In the years leading up to World War II, Roosevelt operated this way persistently.
So why didn't these proposals pass?
The reason was simple; your policy was just a variation of what the Soviets were doing, practically photocopies of one another. It was absurd for it to be approved. Ironically, that little mustache's methods were also rooted in Keynesianism.
Now it seemed that the poor kid from Arkansas aimed to attempt another round of this in America.
Look at how this jerk in the media played games. It was easy to get led astray. This time, it wasn't just the Elephants jumping; the Donkey congressmen wouldn't stand for it. We're all well-off now; if this really went south, wouldn't we have no tears left to cry?
In a mere three days, someone who had just taken office and sparked a fire could possibly face impeachment.
Wait a minute, what we were discussing seemed to be only about monopolies, right? When did we change the channel? How did I miss that?
*****
https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.