资本主义的悲惨世界里谁为阿根廷的债务哭泣

2014-07-08 17:25:52来源：可可英语

　　Not far from the London offices of the Financial Times was the Marshalsea prison where debtors used to be sent. In the 18th century, more than half of London’s prisoners were incarcerated for the undischarged debt. The moral hazard Taliban of the day insisted that such harsh penalties were necessary. Then, in 1869, imprisonment for debt was abolished and bankruptcy introduced. Both economy and society survived.

　　距离英国《金融时报》伦敦办公室不远处就是马夏尔西监狱，过去欠债的人被送到那里。18世纪，伦敦所有囚犯中一半以上是因为债务未偿清而入狱的。那时的道德风险“塔利班”坚称，如此严厉的惩罚是必要的。最后，在1869年，因债入狱被废止，破产机制被引入。经济和社会都没有遭殃。

　　Things sometimes go wrong. Sometimes this is due to bad luck and sometimes to irresponsibility. But society needs a way to allow people to start over again. This is why we have bankruptcy. Indeed, we allow the most important private actors in our economies – companies – to enjoy limited liability. This lets shareholders walk away from their companies’ debts unscathed. That idea, too, was condemned as a licence to irresponsibility when introduced. Limited liability does bring problems, notably in highly-leveraged businesses (such as banking). The ease with which US corporations can walk away from their creditors is breathtaking. But this is better than unlimited liability.

　　事情有时会变糟糕。有时是因为背运，有时是因为不负责任。但社会需要给人一条从头开始的途径。这就是为什么我们有破产机制。的确，我们允许经济中最重要的私人部门参与者——公司——承担有限责任。这使股东们能轻松摆脱公司债务。这一制度刚实行时，也曾被谴责为纵容不负责任。有限责任确实带来了问题，尤其是在高杠杆的企业(比如银行)。美国公司摆脱债权人时的那种轻松自如令人吃惊。但这总比无限责任好。

　　A similar logic applies to countries. Sometimes their governments borrow more than they turn out to be able to afford. If they have borrowed in domestic currency, they can inflate their debt away. But if they have borrowed in foreign currency, that possibility disappears. Usually, it is countries with a history of fiscal irresponsibility that find themselves obliged to borrow in foreign currencies. The eurozone has put its members in the same position: for each government, the euro is close to being a foreign currency. When the costs of servicing such debts become too high, then restructuring – default – becomes necessary. As Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University showed in This Time is Different, this is an old story.

　　国家也适用同样的逻辑。有时政府借款过多，最终发现无力偿还。如果借入本币债务，政府可以通过通胀减轻债务负担。如果借入外币债务，这么做就不可能了。通常情况下，正是那些有着财政不负责纪录的国家，发现自己不得不借入外币债务。欧元区已将自己的成员国置于同样境地：对每个政府而言，欧元都近乎是一种外币。当偿债成本过高时，重组，也就是违约，就变得必要了。正如哈佛大学(Harvard University)的卡门•莱因哈特(Carmen Reinhart)和肯尼思•罗格夫(Kenneth Rogoff)在《这次不一样》(This Time is Different)中所展示的，这是经常发生的事。

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