評論
打印
America's debt ceiling
美國的債務上限
Could a zany proposal help avert a debt crisis?
一個滑稽的提議能幫助美國度過債務危機嗎？
“IT IS A mining rock of such resistance, that it is not easy to cut with the force of blows on a steel anvil.” So wrote Antonio de Ulloa, a Spanish traveller to America, about platinum in 1748.
“這是一塊耐力非常好的礦巖，用鋼砧的沖擊力也是不容易切割的”。前往美國的西班牙旅行者安東尼奧·德·烏洛亞在談到1748年的白金時如是寫道。
Such an image may resonate with those frustrated by regular showdowns over America’s debt ceiling.
這樣的形象可能會引起那些經常因美國債務上限問題較量而挫敗的人的共鳴。
Janet Yellen, the treasury secretary, has said the country risks running out of money by October 18th if the federal-debt limit is not raised, something that the Republicans had been unwilling to countenance doing.
財政部長珍妮特·耶倫表示，如果不提高聯邦債務上限，美國可能會在10月18日之前耗盡資金，而這是共和黨人一直不想看到的。
On October 6th, as The Economist was going to press, Mitch McConnell, the Republicans’ leader in the Senate, offered to stop obstructing a small rise in the debt ceiling, which would put off the issue until December (see United States section). But a deal is yet to be done.
10月6日，就在《經濟學人》即將出版之際，參議院共和黨領袖米奇·麥康奈爾提出停止阻撓小幅提高債務上限，這將把問題推遲到12月(見美國部分)。但協議尚未達成。
Platinum is at the centre of a more unorthodox campaign to avert a debt crisis.
為了避免債務危機，白金正處于一場非正統運動的中心。
In 1996 Congress directed the United States Mint to begin a commemorative coin programme.
1996年，國會指示美國鑄幣局開始一項紀念幣計劃。
This included minting gold $5 coins depicting George Washington, and silver $1 coins to mark the 125th anniversary of the creation of Yellowstone National Park.
這包括鑄造描繪喬治·華盛頓的5美元金幣，以及紀念黃石國家公園創建125周年的1美元銀幣。
But in 2010 Carlos Mucha, a lawyer, argued that he had found a loophole in the legislation.
但在2010年，律師卡洛斯·穆查辯稱，他在立法中發現了一個漏洞。
Whereas the Mint may not produce gold and silver coins in denominations of more than $50, no such limit applies to platinum coins.
雖然造幣廠不能生產面額超過50美元的金幣和銀幣，但白金幣卻沒有這樣的限制。
In 2011 a campaign began to encourage the Treasury Department to mint a “$1trn coin” as a way to sidestep a row over the debt ceiling.
2011年，一場運動開始鼓勵財政部鑄造一枚“1萬億美元硬幣”，從而避免在債務上限問題上發生爭執。
The campaigners argued that the coin would be “money” rather than “debt”, and that the Treasury could hand it over to the Federal Reserve in return for the right to draw down funds, in order to keep paying the bills while politicians haggled over the debt limit.
活動人士辯稱，這枚硬幣將是“錢”而不是“債務”，財政部可以將其交給美聯儲，以換取提取資金的權利，以便政客們就債務上限討價還價時還可以繼續支付賬單。
Social media have made the idea something of a meme this time round.
這一次，社交媒體上這一想法進行了一輪傳播。
The proposal has been promoted enthusiastically by a small core of supporters on Twitter using the hashtag #Mintthecoin.
這項提案在推特上得到了一小部分核心支持者的熱情宣傳，他們使用了Mintthecoin的標簽。
Nobel prizewinner Paul Krugman has lent his support to the campaign, despite conceding its “gimmickry”; two Democrats in the House of Representatives, Jerry Nadler and Rashida Tlaib, are in favour.
諾貝爾獎獲得者保羅·克魯格曼表示支持這場運動，盡管他承認這是一種“噱頭”；眾議院的兩名民主黨人杰里·納德勒和拉希達·特萊布也表示支持。
There is nothing to suggest that Ms Yellen or others in President Joe Biden’s administration back the idea. Barack Obama, who ruled it out during the debt-ceiling crisis in 2013, has alluded to it as “wacky”.
沒有跡象表明耶倫或美國總統喬·拜登政府中的其他人也支持這一想法。在2013年債務上限危機期間，巴拉克·奧巴馬也對此表示反對，并暗指這個想法是瘋狂的、古怪的。
But Senate Republicans were sufficiently worried to have tried to introduce legislation to close the loophole in February this year.
但參議院共和黨人非常擔心，他們曾試圖在今年2月提出立法來填補這個漏洞。
If the coin were minted, it would not have to contain $1trn-worth of platinum bullion (currently around 30,000 tonnes).
如果這枚硬幣是鑄造的，它就不必含有價值1萬億美元的白金金條(目前約為3萬噸)。
But the legal and constitutional obstacles to the scheme would be significant.
但該計劃面臨的法律和憲法障礙將是巨大的。
Neil Buchanan of Levin College of Law argues that the coin would still be subject to the debt ceiling, and believes that any attempt to mint it would face court challenges. The coin could also undermine the established norm of Fed independence.
萊文法學院的尼爾·布坎南認為，這種硬幣仍將受到債務上限的限制，并認為任何鑄造這種硬幣的嘗試都將面臨法庭的挑戰。這枚硬幣還可能破壞美聯儲獨立性的既定規范。
George Selgin of the Cato Institute, a think-tank, points out that, by dumping a huge non-interest-bearing coin on the Fed, the net effect of the plan would be to reduce the central bank’s net interest income and, potentially, to create a situation in which the Fed is more financially dependent on Congress.
智庫卡托研究所的喬治·塞爾金指出，向美聯儲拋售一枚巨大的無息硬幣，該計劃的實際效果將是減少中央銀行的凈利息收入，并可能造成美聯儲在財政上更加依賴國會的局面。
Yet past political brinkmanship has led to higher interest payments and, in 2011, a sovereign downgrade.
然而，過去的政治邊緣政策已經導致更高的利息支付，并在2011年導致主權評級下調。
A default could have much graver consequences because of the key role Treasuries play in the global financial system.
由于美國國債在全球金融體系中扮演著關鍵角色，違約可能帶來更為嚴重的后果。
This is why some observers think that, for all its flaws, the coin proposal is worth keeping on the table.
這就是為什么一些觀察人士認為，盡管硬幣提案存在種種缺陷，但它仍值得討論。
Mr Buchanan argues that, even if the scheme is illegal, it might be worth risking court challenges and adopting it, if the government needs to buy time.
布坎南認為，即使該計劃是非法的，如果政府需要爭取時間，仍然值得冒著被法庭挑戰的風險采用它。
That, he says, is the risk the Biden administration took when it recently extended a moratorium on rental evictions, first introduced last year.
他說，這就是拜登政府在最近延長去年首次出臺的暫停租房驅逐令時所承擔的風險。
Whether the government would ever take such an unusual step as minting the coin, though, is far from clear.
然而，政府是否會采取鑄造硬幣這種不同尋常的舉措，目前還遠不清楚。
But one of the lessons of the past few years in Washington may be that ideas that once seemed unconstitutional or downright bizarre can go on to become reality.
但華盛頓過去幾年的教訓之一可能是，曾經看起來違憲或完全離奇的想法可能會變成現實。
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