Chapter 639 - 297: First, Let’s Pretend We Have a Chicken

"But to start this engine, we need fuel."

"And we need ten billion US dollars in fuel."

"The total government investment in Pennsylvania for an entire year is only a little over ten billion. While investment from the private sector is massive, it’s decentralized and outside of our control."

"We can’t rely on issuing bonds to fund investments every year. That’s mortgaging the future; it’s bound to collapse sooner or later."

Ron set down his pen, his gaze sharp.

"So, that brings us back to the most fundamental question."

"Where will the money come from? Where will the demand come from?"

Leo was about to speak.

But Ron held up a hand to stop him.

"Let me guess what you’re going to say."

Ron imitated Leo’s tone.

"You’ll probably try to force demand."

"You’ll say we can pass legislation through the state or the City Council, forcing all municipal projects to buy local steel and cement from Pennsylvania and create an artificial, internal economic loop."

Ron shook his head.

"But that’s not enough. The market in Pennsylvania is too small. It can’t support such a large industrial system on internal consumption alone."

"And besides, this kind of local protectionism would invite retaliation from other states and could even trigger a federal antitrust investigation."

Ron continued to dissect the possibilities he could imagine.

"Or, you’ll manufacture demand for upgrades."

"Using worker health or production safety as a pretext, you’d forcibly declare existing equipment substandard and compel factories to order new machines from companies within our Alliance."

"If there’s no natural market demand, you’d use regulations to create artificial attrition. You’d make it so machines have to be replaced for non-compliance long before they actually break down."

He added a third possibility.

"Or, you could create monopolistic demand."

"You’d use Pennsylvania’s abundant shale gas, electricity, and skilled labor as bargaining chips to lure in the tech giants looking to build data centers here."

"Tell Amazon and Google: ’You want our cheap power? Fine. But your data centers must purchase locally manufactured power distribution cabinets and cooling systems.’ Use access to Pennsylvania as leverage to secure orders for our local manufacturers."

Ron looked at Leo and spread his hands.

"These are all clever methods, but they share a common problem: they’re still limited to the small pond that is Pennsylvania. They’ll let you survive, but they won’t make you powerful."

"What we need is sustainable, genuine demand from external sources."

Ron looked at Leo, waiting for his answer.

This question was far more critical than all their previous discussions about power struggles.

If they couldn’t solve the demand problem, that whole elaborate system of control was nothing but a castle in the air.

Leo smiled.

He looked at Ron, and his eyes held not a hint of embarrassment from being cornered, but rather a look of admiration.

"Ron, you’re even sharper than I imagined."

Leo admitted.

"You’ve grasped the core."

"That’s right. Internal circulation is just a blood transfusion; it’s temporary. A healthy economy has to be able to generate its own blood. It has to make money from the outside."

Leo walked to the whiteboard. This time, he pointed beyond Pennsylvania, to the wider world.

"You’re right. We can’t rely solely on internal infrastructure projects."

"The most real and urgent needs within the United States right now are the modernization of infrastructure, the restructuring of the energy supply chain, and the build-out of digital infrastructure."

Leo’s voice became impassioned.

"Pennsylvania’s factories shouldn’t just be producing traditional steel rebar and cement. We need to pivot to manufacturing components for smart grids, small modular nuclear reactors, and automated warehouse robots."

"We need to leverage Pennsylvania’s position as a model for the Rust Belt’s transformation to capitalize on those massive subsidy bills from the Federal Government."

"The Inflation Reduction Act, the Chip Bill... there are hundreds of billions of dollars in funding there, just looking for projects to fund."

"We’re going to deeply entwine Pennsylvania’s manufacturing sector with America’s national strategy of re-industrialization."

"I want all of America—when they build data centers, upgrade their power grids, or manufacture electric cars—to make their first choice the high-end equipment produced in Pennsylvania, equipment that bears the quality certification of our Health and Production Committee."

Ron frowned. "This requires technology. Do we have it?"

"We do," Leo replied. "Don’t forget Carnegie Mellon University is right here in Pittsburgh. They have some of the best robotics and artificial intelligence labs in the world."

"I will merge the university’s R&D capabilities with the factories’ manufacturing capacity."

"But the domestic market alone isn’t enough."

"For a truly healthy operation, you must earn foreign currency."

"What does Pennsylvania have?"

"We have abundant shale gas resources."

"We shouldn’t just be exporting raw materials. That’s what colonies do."

"We need to export energy solutions."

"Export our Pennsylvania-made liquefied natural gas processing equipment and their supporting industrial power systems to Europe and Southeast Asia."

"We can even lobby Washington."

"Tie America’s foreign military and infrastructure aid to Pennsylvania’s production capacity."

"When the United States Government helps rebuild war-torn nations, they must use our steel. When the United States builds ports in Africa, they must use our cement and cranes."

Leo looked at everyone.

"This is my plan."

"In the short term, we’ll use Pennsylvania’s ten-billion-dollar internal infrastructure bill to complete our initial organization and capital accumulation."

"In the medium term, we’ll tie ourselves to America’s national security strategy and federal subsidies to complete our industrial upgrade."

"In the long term, we’ll use the global monopoly created by our technological advantage, along with our energy exports, to become self-sustaining and build a sustainable economic Empire."