New Wordology

Whenever I get frustrated—which is quite often these days—I vent some steam (and feel somewhat better) simply by imagining a response that Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might give to some conservative pundit when they say, “Yes, but that’s going to increase deficit spending beyond anything imaginable!”

每当我感到沮丧时——现在这种情况很常见——我会通过想象伯尼·桑德斯、伊丽莎白·沃伦或亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯可能会对一些保守派专家说的回应来发泄一些愤怒（并且感觉会好一些），当他们说：“是的，但这将导致赤字支出超出任何想象！”

And where does the ‘net spending’ go?

“净支出”去哪儿了？

It goes into the pockets and bank accounts of the American people—the citizens whose goods and services are paid for with federal spending.

它进入美国人民的口袋和银行账户——美国人民的商品和服务是由联邦支出支付的。

To imagine those two dollars must be ‘paid back’ to somebody in the future is delusional.

想象这两美元将来必须“偿还”给某人是妄想。

Who would they be paid back to?

他们会得到回报给谁？

Now then, does all this mean that you or I—or General Motors—can ‘net spend’ the same as the federal government?

那么，这一切是否意味着你或我——或者通用汽车——可以像联邦政府一样“净支出”？

The answer, of course, is NO!

答案当然是否定的！

We cannot.

我们不能。

So why can the federal government ‘net spend’ while we, ourselves, can’t?

那么，为什么联邦政府可以“净支出”，而我们自己却不能呢？

The answer, again, is simple: We can’t ‘net spend’ because we’d quickly run out of dollars for spending.

答案同样很简单：我们无法“净支出”，因为我们很快就会耗尽用于支出的美元。

The federal government, on the other hand can’t run out of dollars because it is the one who creates dollars in the first place.

另一方面，联邦政府不能用完美元，因为它是首先创造美元的人。

Where else do you think fiat-dollars come from?

您认为法定美元还来自哪里？

Do you think we mine for them, dig them out of the ground, discover them in green-rich veins of rocky earth?

你认为我们会开采它们，将它们从地下挖出来，在富含绿色的岩石地球脉中发现它们吗？

NO!

不！

The federal government issues them.

联邦政府发布它们。

In most cases, they’re not even printed, they’re simply issued as numbers on an electronic balance sheet.

在大多数情况下，它们甚至不会被打印出来，只是作为电子资产负债表上的数字发布。

That’s how modern U.S. dollars come into existence.

这就是现代美元的产生方式。

After that, the federal government collects some of those dollars in taxes.

之后，联邦政府将收取部分税收。

And then it spends whatever Congress decrees it needs to spend.

然后它会花掉国会规定的任何需要花的钱。

If it happens to spend more than it collects, that’s ‘net spending.’

如果支出恰好多于收入，那就是“净支出”。

Now, there have to be rules about this, right?

现在，必须有这方面的规则，对吗？

There must be controls—checks and balances—over these operations.

必须对这些操作进行控制（制衡）。

We have to manage the whole process carefully, and monitor it continuously, so the federal government doesn’t issue more fiat-dollars than the real production of goods and services can absorb.

我们必须仔细管理整个过程，并持续监控，这样联邦政府发行的法定美元就不会超过商品和服务的实际生产所能吸收的数量。

If that happened, market prices could be destabilized, and inflation could get out of hand.

如果发生这种情况，市场价格可能会不稳定，通货膨胀可能会失控。

So, it’s not something to be taken lightly.

所以，这不是一件可以掉以轻心的事情。

At the same time, however, if a democratically elected Congress decides the federal government needs to spend dollars to accomplish an important public good or collective goal, is it logical to say, ‘No, we can’t do that because there aren’t enough dollars’?

然而，与此同时，如果民主选举的国会决定联邦政府需要花费美元来实现重要的公共利益或集体目标，那么说“不，我们不能这样做，因为没有足够的美元”是否合乎逻辑？

That is the most illogical thing you could propose.

这是你能提出的最不合逻辑的事情。

There can always be enough U.S. fiat-dollars.

总是有足够的法定美元。

If American commerce decides to grow, and U.S. banks decide to expand credit to accommodate the new businesses and new employment and new consumer purchases, does the Federal Reserve say, “Sorry, there aren’t enough dollars to do that”?

如果美国商业决定增长，美国银行决定扩大信贷以适应新业务、新就业和新消费者购买，美联储是否会说，“抱歉，没有足够的美元来做到这一点”？

No. The question doesn’t come up.

不，这个问题没有出现。

No one is screaming about creating money to finance private commerce.

没有人大声疾呼要创造资金来资助私人商业。

So why are we screaming about creating money to finance public commerce—the public good?

那么，为什么我们大声呼吁创造资金来资助公共商业——公共利益呢？

In each case, American businesses and citizens get paid dollars to produce goods and services.

在每种情况下，美国企业和公民都获得美元来生产商品和服务。

So why is one case—private commerce—great and wonderful, while the other case—spending for the public good—a disaster?

那么，为什么一个案例——私人商业——伟大而美妙，而另一个案例——公共利益支出——却是一场灾难？

The only question that’s pertinent is whether there are enough REAL resources—labor, technology, energy, materials—available for the dollars to buy to accomplish both the goals of private commerce and the goals of the public good.

唯一相关的问题是是否有足够的真实资源——劳动力、技术、能源、材料——可以用美元购买来实现私人商业的目标和公共利益的目标。

If the answer is “Yes,” the dollars can be issued and spent without pushing up inflation.

如果答案是“是”，美元就可以发行和使用，而不会推高通货膨胀。

So, please, don’t talk to me about ‘deficit spending.’ I’m tired of hearing it, and it just takes our attention off the real things we need to get done.

所以，请不要跟我谈论“赤字支出”。我已经厌倦了听到它，它只会让我们的注意力从我们需要完成的实际事情上转移。

Now let me interrupt before you even ask your next question, because I know what it’s going to be!

现在，在你问下一个问题之前，让我打断一下，因为我知道会是什么！

What about all the treasury bonds the government issues and the interest it must pay on those bonds?

政府发行的所有国债以及必须为这些债券支付的利息又如何呢？

My answer is: don’t worry about it.

我的回答是：不用担心。

Treasury bonds are simply a tool to manage the future cost of money in the financial system.

国债只是管理金融体系未来资金成本的工具。

The Treasury and the Fed coordinate to do this.

财政部和美联储协调做到这一点。

It’s tied to interest rates, which are tied to bank profits, which are tied to the planning of private commerce.

它与利率挂钩，利率与银行利润挂钩，而银行利润又与私人商业规划挂钩。

Treasury bonds do not constrain the creation of money, they facilitate it.

国债并不限制货币的创造，而是促进货币的创造。

Someone has told you that the government is going to go broke, that financial markets are going to stop wanting treasury bonds, that someone is going to show up on our grandchildren’s future doorstep and demand twenty trillion dollars in back pay.

有人告诉你，政府将破产，金融市场将不再需要国债，有人将出现在我们子孙未来的家门口，要求拖欠二十万亿美元的工资。

Well, so long as the U.S. government stays in business, it’s not going to happen.

好吧，只要美国政府继续执政，这种情况就不会发生。

And if the U.S. government goes out of business, it’ll be the last thing our grandchildren will be worried about.

如果美国政府倒闭，这将是我们的子孙最不需要担心的事情。

So, please, let’s stop talking about all this scary going-broke stuff, and start focusing instead on what we need to undertake and accomplish so our grandchildren will even have a livable world to exist in!”

所以，请让我们停止谈论所有这些可怕的破产的事情，而开始关注我们需要承担和完成的事情，这样我们的子孙甚至可以拥有一个宜居的世界！”