2021年经济学人 美国债务天花板在哪里

America's debt ceiling

美国的债务上限

Could a zany proposal help avert¹ a debt crisis?

一个滑稽的提议能帮助美国度过债务危机吗？

“IT IS A mining rock of such resistance, that it is not easy to cut with the force of blows on a steel anvil².” So wrote Antonio de Ulloa, a Spanish traveller to America, about platinum³ in 1748.

“这是一块耐力非常好的矿岩，用钢砧的冲击力也是不容易切割的”。前往美国的西班牙旅行者安东尼奥·德·乌洛亚在谈到1748年的白金时如是写道。

Such an image may resonate with those frustrated⁴ by regular showdowns over America’s debt ceiling.

这样的形象可能会引起那些经常因美国债务上限问题较量而挫败的人的共鸣。

Janet Yellen, the treasury⁵ 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 unwilling⁶ to countenance⁷ doing.

财政部长珍妮特·耶伦表示，如果不提高联邦债务上限，美国可能会在10月18日之前耗尽资金，而这是共和党人一直不想看到的。

On October 6th, as The Economist⁸ was going to press, Mitch McConnell, the Republicans’ leader in the Senate, offered to stop obstructing⁹ 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《经济学人》即将出版之际，参议院共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔提出停止阻挠小幅提高债务上限，这将把问题推迟到12月(见美国部分)。但协议尚未达成。

Platinum is at the centre of a more unorthodox campaign to avert a debt crisis.

为了避免债务危机，白金正处于一场非正统运动的中心。

In 1996 Congress directed the United States Mint to begin a commemorative coin programme.

1996年，国会指示美国铸币局开始一项纪念币计划。

This included minting gold $5 coins depicting¹⁰ George Washington, and silver $1 coins to mark the 125th anniversary of the creation of Yellowstone National Park.

这包括铸造描绘乔治·华盛顿的5美元金币，以及纪念黄石国家公园创建125周年的1美元银币。

But in 2010 Carlos Mucha, a lawyer, argued that he had found a loophole in the legislation.

但在2010年，律师卡洛斯·穆查辩称，他在立法中发现了一个漏洞。

Whereas the Mint may not produce gold and silver coins in denominations¹¹ of more than $50, no such limit applies to platinum coins.

虽然造币厂不能生产面额超过50美元的金币和银币，但白金币却没有这样的限制。

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，一场运动开始鼓励财政部铸造一枚“1万亿美元硬币”，从而避免在债务上限问题上发生争执。

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 haggled¹² over the debt limit.

活动人士辩称，这枚硬币将是“钱”而不是“债务”，财政部可以将其交给美联储，以换取提取资金的权利，以便政客们就债务上限讨价还价时还可以继续支付账单。

Social media have made the idea something of a meme this time round.

这一次，社交媒体上这一想法进行了一轮传播。

The proposal has been promoted enthusiastically by a small core of supporters on Twitter using the hashtag #Mintthecoin.

这项提案在推特上得到了一小部分核心支持者的热情宣传，他们使用了Mintthecoin的标签。

Nobel prizewinner Paul Krugman has lent his support to the campaign, despite conceding its “gimmickry”; two Democrats¹³ in the House of Representatives, Jerry Nadler and Rashida Tlaib, are in favour.

诺贝尔奖获得者保罗·克鲁格曼表示支持这场运动，尽管他承认这是一种“噱头”；众议院的两名民主党人杰里·纳德勒和拉希达·特莱布也表示支持。

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 alluded¹⁴ to it as “wacky”.

没有迹象表明耶伦或美国总统乔·拜登政府中的其他人也支持这一想法。在2013年债务上限危机期间，巴拉克·奥巴马也对此表示反对，并暗指这个想法是疯狂的、古怪的。

But Senate Republicans were sufficiently¹⁵ worried to have tried to introduce legislation to close the loophole in February this year.

但参议院共和党人非常担心，他们曾试图在今年2月提出立法来填补这个漏洞。

If the coin were minted, it would not have to contain $1trn-worth of platinum bullion¹⁶ (currently around 30,000 tonnes).

如果这枚硬币是铸造的，它就不必含有价值1万亿美元的白金金条(目前约为3万吨)。

But the legal and constitutional obstacles to the scheme would be significant.

但该计划面临的法律和宪法障碍将是巨大的。

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.

莱文法学院的尼尔·布坎南认为，这种硬币仍将受到债务上限的限制，并认为任何铸造这种硬币的尝试都将面临法庭的挑战。这枚硬币还可能破坏美联储独立性的既定规范。

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.

智库卡托研究所的乔治·塞尔金指出，向美联储抛售一枚巨大的无息硬币，该计划的实际效果将是减少中央银行的净利息收入，并可能造成美联储在财政上更加依赖国会的局面。

Yet past political brinkmanship has led to higher interest payments and, in 2011, a sovereign downgrade.

然而，过去的政治边缘政策已经导致更高的利息支付，并在2011年导致主权评级下调。

A default could have much graver consequences because of the key role Treasuries¹⁷ play in the global financial system.

由于美国国债在全球金融体系中扮演着关键角色，违约可能带来更为严重的后果。

This is why some observers think that, for all its flaws, the coin proposal is worth keeping on the table.

这就是为什么一些观察人士认为，尽管硬币提案存在种种缺陷，但它仍值得讨论。

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.

布坎南认为，即使该计划是非法的，如果政府需要争取时间，仍然值得冒着被法庭挑战的风险采用它。

That, he says, is the risk the Biden administration took when it recently extended a moratorium¹⁸ on rental¹⁹ evictions, first introduced last year.

他说，这就是拜登政府在最近延长去年首次出台的暂停租房驱逐令时所承担的风险。

Whether the government would ever take such an unusual step as minting the coin, though, is far from clear.

然而，政府是否会采取铸造硬币这种不同寻常的举措，目前还远不清楚。

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.

但华盛顿过去几年的教训之一可能是，曾经看起来违宪或完全离奇的想法可能会变成现实。

1 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

2 anvil   

n.铁钻

参考例句：

• The blacksmith shaped a horseshoe on his anvil.铁匠在他的铁砧上打出一个马蹄形。
• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly.订书机上的铁砧安装错位。

3 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

4 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

6 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

7 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

9 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

10 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

11 denominations   

n.宗派( denomination的名词复数 )；教派；面额；名称

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• The service was attended by Christians of all denominations. 这次礼拜仪式各教派的基督徒都参加了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 haggled   

v.讨价还价( haggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cook and the grocer haggled over the price of eggs. 厨师和杂货商为蛋价计较个没完。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After they had haggled for some time, the two men decided to close the bargain. 那两个人经过一番讨价还价以后，决定成交。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

15 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

16 bullion   

n.金条，银条

参考例句：

• In the London bullion market yesterday,the price of gold was steady.昨天伦敦金银市场黄金价格稳定。
• Police have launched a man-hunt for the bullion robbers.警方已大举搜捕抢劫金条的罪犯。

17 treasuries   

n.（政府的）财政部( treasury的名词复数 )；国库，金库

参考例句：

• Yields on Treasuries, Bunds and gilts can remain at historically low levels. 美国国债、德国国债和英国国债的收益率仍然可以维持在历史低位。 来自互联网
• Treasuries and gold rose in response but the dollar fell sharply. 接着，国债和黄金的价格上涨，而美元价格则猛跌。 来自互联网

18 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

19 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。