50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 584 Italian-American Governor
Upon arriving in Albany, Sun Zhiwei discovered that the city was indeed very small, with the longest distance from east to west being no more than 10 kilometers. To put that in perspective, Manhattan Island is 20 kilometers long.

However, this small city should not be underestimated. It became the capital of New York State in 1797 and is now a transportation hub, inland waterway shipping center, and rail freight center in the northern United States.

Several of these companies are among the world's top 500 companies, such as American Express, Merrill Lynch, Verizon Communications, and Goldman Sachs.

However, the only landmark building here can be called the New York State Capitol.

Maurice Miles led Sun Zhiwei to the door of an antique-style office on the top floor of the building. After being announced by the secretary, they were finally received by the governor about ten minutes later.

This is already quite fast. Otherwise, Sun Zhiwei doesn't have much interaction with the governor, and it wouldn't have been so easy for him to meet the governor based solely on Maurice Myers' recommendation.

The current governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, is an Italian-American politician and a Democrat. He is a liberal politician who just took office last year.

It is extremely rare for someone of Italian descent to become governor, because Italians were once considered "half-black" in the United States.

Compared to the Mayflower and other immigrant ships from Europe, the first steamship full of Italians to sail into New York Harbor arrived 200 years later.

It wasn't until after 1870 that the real wave of immigration from Italy to the United States began.

These immigrants mostly came from southern Italy and Sicily; they lacked education and were predominantly poor farmers.

For a long time, Italian Americans formed separate, closed communities. They were darker-skinned and smaller in stature, and were excluded from the white population.

The "Black S" party, which was transplanted from Sicily, has also given all Italians a stereotype that they are born to engage in black activities.

During World War II, the U.S. government, out of suspicion that Italian Americans colluded with Axis powers, publicly declared Italian Americans to be "hostile foreigners."

Italian Americans, who suffer from severe discrimination, have a difficult time in the United States, and it is even more difficult for them to rise in politics.

That's why it's said that Mario Cuomo's election as governor was a miracle, but now is not a good time for him to take over as governor.

At that time, the entire United States was experiencing an economic recession and cash shortages, and violent crime was rampant in New York State.

He managed to stabilize the internal situation after taking office for a year, but he still hasn't made any significant economic achievements.

To make matters worse, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages interstate transportation, is about to suffer a historic setback.

It is highly likely to go bankrupt due to insufficient funds, which would be a major blunder during his term.

A few days earlier, Mr. Maurice Myers, one of the committee members, recommended Mr. James to him, who was said to offer constructive advice.

He initially didn't believe Maurice Myers' recommendation at all, because even his team of advisors had no solution to the problem of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

However, being habitually cautious, he still had someone investigate Mr. James, who was about to buy Guardia Airport.

The results of the investigation took him by surprise; Mr. James Roberts' experiences in recent years were nothing short of miraculous.

His life before coming to New York was unremarkable, or even a complete mess.

But ever since he arrived in New York, it was as if some gene had been awakened, and everything began to change. In just a few years, he went from being penniless to making it onto the Forbes 400 list of America's richest people. It was only then that Mario Cuomo finally began to have some expectations of this Mr. James, hoping that the other party could give him some effective advice on economic matters.

After all, someone who can start from scratch and become one of the richest people in the United States in just a few years must be able to make money.

After Maurice Myers led Sun Zhiwei into the governor's office, the two saw Governor Mario Cuomo come out from behind his desk to greet them.

Miles was quite sensible; his task for the day was to introduce Sun Zhiwei to the governor, and after completing that task, he left voluntarily.

“Mr. James, I’ve heard so much about you. Your experiences over the years are truly legendary.” Governor Cuomo extended his hand to shake hands with Sun Zhiwei.

"You flatter me. You are a model of a politician from the people." It's not something an ordinary person can do for the son of an Italian grocery store owner to become governor.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, a secretary brought over coffee, and they sat down on the sofa next to each other.

Before getting down to business, the two introduced themselves to each other, and only after confirming that the other knew them well did they begin to talk about the oil crisis.

“I heard from Miles that you have a comprehensive solution to the Bureau’s problems. Could you elaborate?”

"Yes, I do have an idea."

"But before that, I'd like to ask, are you aware of the difference between 'big government' and 'small government'?"

“Of course, I understand the basic concepts.” Mario Comor is a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a doctorate from Fordham University.

"If you can understand, that makes things easier. The current governance framework of the state government is a collaborative model involving the government, businesses, and the third sector." If the other party can understand, then he can briefly get to the point.

"In this model, it is inevitable that regulatory decisions and operational execution will be mixed together."

"This is especially evident in the third sector. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a prime example."

“Under this model, unclear functions, redundant personnel, and low efficiency are inevitable, and it is also easier to promote corruption.”

"The state government only got rid of some trouble, but did not gain any further benefits."

"My advice boils down to one thing: separate decision-making from execution. Build a planning and oversight system with a small team, and leave the actual execution and operations to the market."

"Its ultimate goal is to build a government management model of 'small government, big society'."

At this point, Sun Zhiwei paused to drink coffee, giving Cuomo more time to think.

His argument was not just made up, but rather a public management theory that gradually matured in the "Public Choice School".

In this era, the public choice school had already established a certain theoretical foundation and formed a public choice society.

However, it is still an immature theory. Although politicians in some countries around the world have tried to implement this management theory, it is still not the mainstream of society.

(End of this chapter)