Teaching Financial Institutions and Nations the Joys of Global Trade

Part 3 of A Return to Greatness

“So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”

The World’s Largest Business

Apple has regained its status as America’s largest multinational company with net sales of $365. 82 billion in 2021 and a net profit of $94.68 billion for the same year.?

According to HSBC and in comparison, global trade amounted to $19 trillion in 2021.?

FDR used the link between global trade and domestic economic vitality to revive the American economy from the Great Depression.?Global trade was used by the culturally based resources of the German landesbanks and the mittelstand to revive the post-war German economy. Whereas Russia surrounded Berlin and confiscated German machinery, the U.S.-led Berlin Airlift used EDI to furnish a beleaguered Berlin all it needed to survive.?

FDR’s skilled application of leadership, when the strength of the dollar impacted the price of American-made goods and American agricultural products, which rose during the Hoover Administration, saved our nation’s economy and that of Europe.?

The Smoot-Hawley Tariffs and other obstructions to global trade, which Hoover was compelled to implement by two isolationist American Congressmen:

Willis C. Hawley (left) and?Reed Smoot?in April 1929, shortly before the?Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act?passed the House

They contributed?massively to a cyclical round of competitive currency devaluations which along with the Dust Bowl, resulted in the Great Depression.

Today, the Dust Bowl is back, fueled by climate change.

and the USD (U.S. Dollar) is again strong:?

NYTimes

WSJ

Today, our climate is still changing, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has obstructed the shipment of wheat, barley and sunflower oil through the Black Sea and the constricted logistics have caused the price of daily bread in Africa to rise meteorically.?

Germany

Today, Germans export to an average of 6 countries, greatly assisted by Germany’s banking structure and organization.?

Chile

As a result of an entrepreneur educational and mentoring program called ProChile:

Chilean businesses export to an average of 13 countries. U.S. small businesses, when they do export - which is rare, sell to 2 countries, Canada and Mexico.?

Solutions: Education and Innovation?

“To reach a port we must set sail – Sail, not tie at anchor - Sail, not drift!” ~ FDR

“We choose to go to the moon. We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people.” - JFK

The most creatively disruptive concept regarding education and innovation today is not expressed in Facebook's "Move fast and break something,” in Apple's "Innovate or Die,” or in Usher’s “Evolve or Evaporate.” It is expressed in FDR's statement that "It is the most important duty of a statesman to educate." Education is the principal mission of all leadership.?It is also the principal means of achieving dynamic economic growth. Global trade is also a principal defense against violence and war.?Today, the process of education must be made joyful.

Educating in Correlation*

Correlation*

“Fair Winds and Following Seas”

Correlation*, the principal product of The Following Sea (https://the?followingsea.com/), the buyer and seller communicate the distinctive QR or Quick Response- Coded Manifests representing both what was ordered by the buyer’s P.O. and what was manufactured and shipped, as a result, with the seller’s invoice.?

The distinctive QR encoded manifests are sent to the trade settlement and payment lender upon wheels up of an aircraft or upon a vessel leaving the port of embarkation.

Settlement and Payment?

Settlement and Payment are, as usual, determined by the underlying terms of the sales agreement or contract and the seller and buyer create QR encoded manifests that become embedded as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in Blockchain.

Embedding the QR codes in NFT binds the QR code to a public contract, the underlying agreement for which visibility and authentication are provided. A match of P.O. and Invoices that are chosen to be discounted, are paid and settled by the lender. Payment and settlement occur in an automated fashion as all commercial and political risks are covered before the matching process.?

Geolocation and EDI are used to determine the actual location of the shipment, the truck, aircraft or vessel that the goods are laded aboard. This provides comfort to the buyer and to the financing entity which can track the whereabouts of moveable assets.?

Fintech and the Financial Industry

"Fear of change and the other usual suspects"

and "Libertarian" interests, have contrived to strangulate America's and the world's economic development.

The role of the financial industry in future will be to facilitate small business access to trade and global scaling by localizing, Democratizing and visualizing the local Trade Services Utility or TSU:

Matching the QR encoded manifest and the shipper’s invoices with the QR encoded POs of the buyer, after covering the political and commercial risks with credit insurance - allow automated payment and settlement - to take place:

?Once a match is established, it becomes the basis for the automated financial institution’s payment and settlement of the underlying transaction, by BPO.

The Following Sea's Correlation* provides an alternative to the superficial and violent historical pursuits of nations and autocrats, which too often result in human misery.

"Tell the old man that I don't have time for his bright ideas. I have a war to fight."?

*@William A. Laraque Correlation March 2022:??All Rights Reserved