At that, Lou, the owner of the general store, answered with a smile.
"If I can't afford it, I'll sell my house and live off of it. Everyone leaves the ball in their carriages. I can't have fun in a two-horse carriage anymore, so I need a six-horse carriage, right? Hahaha!"
He seemed to be obsessed with the ball.
How could the women who came to the ball know the wealth of the men they had never met before?
At least if they rode an expensive carriage, they could guess.
'Appearances are important. Especially for carriages, ordinary people can't even imagine owning one.'
"I see. But remember, this will be your last loan. Anything beyond that would be too much, so please think carefully."
Lou, who was not listening, was excited to change his carriage today.
'Great. I'll definitely have fun from today. Now I'm a man who rides a six-horse carriage.'
Thinking about going to the ball in a six-horse carriage.
Lou was so excited that he felt like dancing.
"A carriage is best when pulled by six horses. And these days, women have higher standards, so it's hard to attract them with a two-horse carriage. Isn't that right, Miss Secretary?"
When Lou asked Alice, who was with Rockefeller, she just smiled.
A while later.
After receiving the loan, Lou left excitedly.
Elise, who had been watching him with concern, asked Rockefeller, who was nearby.
"From what I can see, he seems to be trying to use an excessive carriage... Isn't it too much?"
Rockefeller responded.
"Of course, it's too much. Even a two-horse carriage would have been enough, but going up to a six-horse carriage is a bit too much. With that, he'll have a hard time living a normal life."
"Then why did you give him the loan?"
"At that."
Rockefeller looked at her and smiled deeply.
"Of course, I intended it that way. From the very beginning when I first introduced the carriage loan, I fully anticipated that something like this would happen. To be honest, I intentionally put out that product."
As Elise looked at him curiously, Rockefeller's words continued.
"Most people want houses and carriages that are beyond their means. This is true for the majority of people. There may be those who deny it, but unless they own a house and carriage without a loan, they are mistaken. And we subtly help their greed. With an excellent product called a loan."
Elise expressed her doubts.
"Is that really a good thing? It will surely be a burden for them, won't it?"
"Of course, it will be a burden. But that's their choice. We simply helped them with that matter, so they shouldn't blame us."
Rockefeller asked.
"Rather, don't you think they've become happier because of people like us?"
"Happiness?"
Elise recalled the man's departing figure.
His face was still beaming with excitement at the thought of riding a six-horse carriage instead of a four-horse one.
'He'll surely regret it later, but...'
"He did look happy when he left."
Rockefeller smiled with satisfaction.
"That's enough. After all, didn't they buy their immediate happiness by putting their future value as collateral? We just helped them with that. That's all it takes."
At that, Elise asked another question.
"If there are more people like that, won't you, Lord Rockefeller, make a lot of money? You don't really lend money recklessly, do you?"
"That's right. As long as I can collect the loan money, I can make a lot of money by filling their desires unknowingly. That's what I do."
Rockefeller continued.
"Right after I merged the two banks, the first thing I started was to expand the loan business. You know that the main source of income for banks is the loan business, right?"
"Yes, but I didn't expect you to do it this way. You've been lending money so aggressively..."
"Houses and carriages. They are essential for people. But they are expensive and not easily achievable. So, I started from there. People will definitely need loans to buy those two things anyway. And even if they can achieve that without our help, they can't easily suppress the inherent desire within them."
Alice was not unfamiliar with that desire.
"Is that desire something that doesn't match one's means? Is that what you're talking about?"
Rockefeller answered with a smile.
"Yes, people naturally love things that are beyond their means. Even if they can buy a house without our help, they will definitely want to live in a bigger, better, and more desirable area. But this is often difficult to achieve without a loan."
In conclusion, everyone takes out loans.
"I will lend them as much money as they can handle. Then, they will have to keep working to pay off their debts. It's inevitable because they wished for things beyond their means. It was their choice."
Elise suddenly thought.
Wouldn't someone who knows their exact worth be able to live more comfortably in this world?
"But if someone knows their worth, it's different, right? That person would have little or no debt, so they wouldn't have to work constantly, right?"
Rockefeller did not deny it.
"That's right. That person would be relatively free."
Rockefeller's words continued.
"But there are very few people like that in this world. Most people probably have debts. And they will work hard to pay off those debts for the rest of their lives. In the end, the reason they work like slaves all their lives is because they want things that are beyond their means."
Rockefeller emphasized by raising his index finger.
"Furthermore, we make money thanks to people who don't know their limits. The more they take out loans, the more profit returns to us," said Rockefeller.
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this reminds me of the 2008 financial crisis
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