Two-Cent Message

Elizabeth Warren has succeeded, I think, in framing an argument as close as anyone is going to get (in the present election cycle) to the progressive position of MMT.

我认为，伊丽莎白·沃伦（Elizabeth Warren）成功地提出了一个尽可能接近现代货币理论进步立场的论点（在当前的选举周期中）。

Warren acknowledges that she’s proposing goals and undertakings that will “cost” a lot of money.

沃伦承认，她提出的目标和承诺将“花费”大量资金。

She further acknowledges that everyone asks: “How are you going to pay for it?” And she gives a very specific and simple answer: an “ultra-millionaire tax”—which she details as “two-cents on every dollar of income over $50 million.” She then goes on to list what those “two-cents” will accomplish: The cancellation of college debt; free two-year college education; universal pre-school day-care…etc.

她进一步承认，每个人都会问：“你打算如何支付费用？”她给出了一个非常具体和简单的答案：“超级百万富翁税”——她详细描述为“对收入超过 5000 万美元的每美元征收两美分”。然后她继续列出了这些“两美分”将实现的目标：取消大学债务；免费两年制大学教育；全民学前日托……等。

The two-cent message is a powerful framing, I believe, because it gives people “intellectual permission” to support a significant increase in federal spending to accomplish specifically targeted, widely held social goals.

我相信，两美分的信息是一个强有力的框架，因为它给予人们“智力许可”，支持大幅增加联邦支出，以实现有针对性的、广泛持有的社会目标。

By “intellectual permission” I mean this: Even if you remain skeptical and unbelieving of MMT’s message about modern fiat-currency, Warren’s two-cent formula is reasonable because (a) the government won’t be “borrowing” dollars for the spending—your biggest fear!—and (b) because the people being taxed for the spending can hardly claim any harm or hardship: one day they have $50 million in their bank account—way more than they need for even the most extravagant life-style—and the next day they have $49 million.

我所说的“智力许可”的意思是这样的：即使你仍然对 MMT 关于现代法定货币的信息持怀疑态度和不相信，沃伦的两美分公式也是合理的，因为（a）政府不会“借”美元用于支出——你最大的恐惧！——以及（b）因为为支出征税的人们很难声称受到任何伤害或困难：有一天，他们的银行账户里有 5000 万美元——远远超过了他们甚至最需要的人的需要。奢侈的生活方式——第二天他们就拥有了 4900 万美元。

Are they even going to notice?

他们会注意到吗？

While MMT will want to explain that federal spending for Warren’s proposed goals does NOT require a tax increase on anyone at all, I believe at this pivotal moment advocates would be better served to momentarily set those arguments aside and applaud those aspects of the two-cent message that are, fundamentally, compatible with MMT goals:

虽然现代货币理论想要解释说，用于沃伦提出的目标的联邦支出根本不需要对任何人增加税收，但我相信，在这个关键时刻，倡导者最好暂时搁置这些论点，并对两美分信息中从根本上与现代货币理论目标相一致的那些方面表示赞赏：

Here’s another reason to get behind the two-cent message: It may well be that MMT can never, by logic, reasoning, and relentless argument alone, succeed in altering the deeply ingrained and habitual mental models of the mainstream understanding of “money.” Another path to that end might be required, namely, for Americans first to actually experience, by whatever means necessary, the phenomenon of their federal government spending a large number of dollars to pay American citizens to accomplish a specific collective good—and seeing the benefit in that.

两美分信息背后的另一个原因是：现代货币理论很可能永远无法仅靠逻辑、推理和不懈的论证，成功地改变主流对“金钱”理解的根深蒂固和习惯性的心理模式。实现这一目标可能需要另一条道路，即美国人首先通过任何必要手段真正体验到联邦政府花费大量美元向美国公民支付费用以实现特定集体利益的现象，并看到其中的好处。

(It’s been a long time, I believe, since we’ve had that kind of experience.) The two-cent message might be a strategy for allowing it to happen.

（我相信，我们已经有很长一段时间没有这样的经历了。）两美分的信息可能是允许它发生的策略。

What’s critical, it should be emphasized, is not the spending the two-cent message makes possible, but the results.

应该强调的是，重要的不是两美分信息所带来的支出，而是结果。

This is why Warren’s list of goals is so important.

这就是为什么沃伦的目标清单如此重要。

First items on the agenda should be highly visible, on-goingly newsworthy, and beneficial to both lower and middle-class families.

议程上的首要项目应该是高度引人注目的、持续具有新闻价值的、并且对中下阶层家庭有利的。

(My vote, in this regard, is the arena of education and child-rearing: free pre-school day-care programs, forgiveness of college debt, and free college or technical training.)

（在这方面，我的投票是教育和育儿领域：免费的学前日托计划、免除大学债务以及免费的大学或技术培训。）

In the long run, if the targeted federal spending results in real benefits that large numbers of American voters can see and experience, the political dialog—assisted by the continued MMT push to redefine the mainstream understanding of money—can transition from being focused on “where will the dollars come from” to “what are we going to accomplish”?

从长远来看，如果有针对性的联邦支出能够带来大量美国选民能够看到和体验到的真正好处，那么政治对话——在现代货币理论的持续推动下，重新定义对货币的主流理解——可以从关注“美元从哪里来”转变为“我们要实现什么”？

The two-cent message, then, will transition as well: it will no longer be about paying for federal spending, but will be about creating a more equitable society.

那么，两美分的信息也将发生转变：它将不再是关于支付联邦支出，而是关于创建一个更加公平的社会。

So Warren’s message might be the best strategy MMT can hope to see in the 2020 elections—and seeing her elected the best of possible outcomes.

因此，沃伦的信息可能是 MMT 希望在 2020 年选举中看到的最佳策略，并看到她当选是最好的结果。