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StephanieKelton_2021-_政府赤字的大神话_
When things break, we have an opportunity. 当东西破损时,我们有机会。
We can pick up the pieces and put them back together the old way, or we can look for better ways to build. 我们可以拾起碎片把它们放回原样, 或者我们可以寻找更好的构建方法。
Covid broke everything. 新冠疫情打破了所有的事情。
It put a spotlight on the many deficits in our economy -- in employment , education, health care , housing -- and it showed how inequality made it all worse. 它将我们经济中的很多赤字 放到了聚光灯下—— 就业、教育、医疗、住房—— 它展示了不平等是如何让一切更糟糕。
Here in the US and around the world, governments did some extraordinary things. 在美国和世界其他地方, 政府做了一些非同寻常的事情。
They sent money to people directly to help them buy food and pay rent. 它们直接给人们发钱 让他们购买食物和支付房租。
They provided free Covid testing and expanded health care to cover more of the population. 它们提供免费的新冠测试 并将医疗服务覆盖更多的人群。
spotlight:n.聚光灯;反光灯;公众注意的中心;v.聚光照明;使公众注意; deficits:n.[财政]赤字,亏损(deficit的复数形式); economy:n.经济;节约;理财; employment:n.使用;职业;雇用; health care:n.卫生保健; extraordinary:adj.非凡的;特别的;离奇的;临时的;特派的; directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就; provided:conj.假如; v.提供; (provide的过去分词和过去式) expanded:adj.扩充的;展开的;vt.扩大(expand的过去式);
They gave money to businesses to help keep them afloat while much of the economy was temporarily shut down. 当大多数经济暂时停转时, 它们给企业资金让它们得以周转。
They offered debt relief to millions of people who borrowed money to go to college. 它们为数百万贷款上大学的人 提供债务减免。
They did all of this and more without raising taxes or having a prolonged battle over the usual question of how to pay for it. 它们做了这一切和更多事情, 没有加税,也未长期争论往常的问题, 要如何支付这些款项。
afloat:adj.在海上的;飘浮的;浸满水的;在传播的;adv.在海上;飘浮著;浸满水; temporarily:adv.临时地,临时; debt:n.债务;借款;罪过; relief:n.救济;减轻,解除;安慰;浮雕; prolonged:adj.长期的;持久的;v.延长(prolong的过去分词和过去式);
To me, this was exciting, and I'm an economist, so I don't say that a lot. 对我而言,这让人兴奋, 我是个经济学家,所以我很少这样说。
(Laughter) （笑声）
But as someone who's been trying to change the way we think about deficits and government spending, 但作为一个试图改变我们对政府支出 和赤字思考方式的人来说,
I saw this as an opportunity to show why government budgets don't work like household budgets. 我把这些视为一个机会 去展示为什么政府预算 不像家庭预算那样运作。
Why all of their red ink is really our black ink. 为什么它们的赤字 其实是我们的盈余。
And why our nation can afford to keep investing in the things we need even after spending trillions to fight the pandemic . 即便在花费了数万亿抗疫后, 为什么我们国家仍然能够保持投资 这些我们需要的东西？
budgets:n.[财政]预算(budget复数形式);v.为…做预算(budget的第三人称单数形式); household:n.家庭;一家人;同住一所(或一套)房子的人;adj.家庭的;家常的;王室的; afford:v.给予,提供;买得起; investing:v.投资;投入(时间、精力等);(invest的现在分词) trillions:n.[数]万亿;adj.万亿的;num.[数]万亿; pandemic:adj.(疾病等)全国流行的;普遍的;n.流行性疾病;
For a while , it looked like the US and other countries were starting to break the mold on the old way of thinking about deficits and taxes. 一时间,看起来美国和其他国家 在开始打破对赤字和税收的 固化老方式。
But now here we are, just a handful of months after all of that bold action, and we're sliding back into our old habits of thought. 但现在我们到了这里, 在这些大胆动作的几个月后, 我们正在滑向旧有的思维习惯。
Can we build affordable housing and fix crumbling infrastructure ? 我们能建造经济适用房, 修复摇摇欲坠的基础设施吗？
For a while:adv.片刻;暂时;一会儿;一时; mold:n.模具;模型;霉菌;类型;v.用可塑材料塑成;浇铸;发霉; bold:adj.大胆的,英勇的;黑体的;厚颜无耻的;险峻的; affordable:adj.负担得起的; crumbling:v.(使)破碎,成碎屑;坍塌;损坏;崩裂;(crumble的现在分词) infrastructure:n.基础设施;公共建设;下部构造;
Can we expand Medicare to include dental , vision and hearing? 我们能将医保覆盖至 牙科、眼科和耳科吗？
Can we tackle our climate crisis ? 我们能应对我们的气候危机吗？
As Congress debates these questions, everyone is back to asking, how will you pay for it? 随着国会辩论这些问题,所有人回到思考, 我们如何支付这些？
It's the wrong question. 这是错误的问题。
In fact, the right questions don't involve money at all. 事实上,正确的问题跟钱没有一点关系。[02:57]
Medicare:n.(美,加)医疗保险(等于medicare); dental:n.牙医;[语]齿音;;adj.牙齿的;牙科的;齿音的; vision:n.视力;美景;幻象;想象力;v.想象;显现;梦见; tackle:v.处理; n.用具; crisis:n.危机;危险期;决定性时刻;adj.危机的;用于处理危机的; Congress:n.国会;代表大会;会议;社交; debates:n.[法]辩论;讨论(debate的复数);v.[法]辩论;讨论(debate的三单形式); involve:v.包含;需要;牵涉;牵连;影响;(使)参加;
Instead of worrying about where the financing will come from, we should be asking, are these things worth doing and do we have the real resources , the people, the equipment, the raw materials and the technology to do them? 与其担忧资金从哪里来, 我们应该问,这些事情值得做么, 以及我们有真正的资源, 人力资源,设备, 原材料和技术去实现么？
Well, they make society better off. 它们让社会变得更好。
And do we have the political will to act? 以及我们是否有采取行动的政治意愿？
I'm one of a handful of economists who contributed to the body of academic scholarship known as MMT or Modern Monetary Theory. 我是少数致力于 MMT或现代货币理论学术研究的 少数经济学家之一。
resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; contributed:v.捐献,捐赠(尤指款或物); (contribute的过去式和过去分词) academic:adj.学术的;理论的;学院的;n.大学生,大学教师;学者; scholarship:n.奖学金;学问;学识;学术成就; Monetary:adj.货币的;财政的;
MMT provides an accurate description of how a fiat currency like the US dollar or the British pound actually works. MMT对美元和英镑 这样的法定货币如何真正运作 提供了一个精确的描述。
It reminds us that we're no longer on a gold standard , so finding the money to pay for the things we need is never an issue for countries like the US or the UK. 它提醒我们,我们不再实行金本位, 所以找钱去支付我们需要的东西 对于像美国或英国这样的国家 从来不是问题。
accurate:adj.精确的; description:n.说明;形容;描写(文字);类型; fiat:n.命令; vt.批准; n.(Fiat)人名; n.菲亚特(意大利汽车品牌); currency:n.货币;通货; reminds:v.提醒;使想起;(remind的第三人称单数) gold standard:n.金本位制;黄金标准;典范; issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行;
If we're going to fix what's broken in our economy, we have to fix the way we think about the limits on government spending. 如果我们打算修复我们 经济中破损的事情, 我们需要纠正 对政府支出上限的思考方式。
Let me give you an example of the kind of broken gold standard thinking that still permeates our discourse . 让我给你们举一个 那种落伍的仍然渗透在我们的话语中的 金本位思想。
Back in 1983, the prime minister of Great Britain , Margaret Thatcher , said these words: "If the state wishes to spend more, it can do so only by borrowing your savings or by taxing you more, and it is no good thinking that someone else will pay. 回到1983年,英国首相玛格丽特·撒切尔, 说过这些话: “如果国家想花更多钱, 它只能从你的储蓄中借 或者对你收更多税, 认为别人会买单的想法 不是个好想法。
permeates:v.弥漫(permeate的第三人称单数); discourse:n.论述;谈话;演讲;vi.演说;谈论;讲述;vt.说出;演奏出; prime minister:n.首相;总理; Great Britain:n.大不列颠(包括英格兰、苏格兰和威尔士); Thatcher:n.盖屋匠; savings:n.节省物;节省;节约;储蓄金;存款;(saving的复数) good thinking:n.好主意;好思维;聪明极了;
That someone else is you. 别人就是你。
There is no such thing as public money. 世界上不存在公共资金这种东西。
There is only taxpayers ' money." 只有纳税人的钱。”
Maybe you've heard the contemporary version of Thatcher's dictum . 也许你听过撒切尔名言的当代版本。
'"There is no magic money tree." “世界上没有摇钱树。”
It's just another way of saying that everything must be paid for and that the taxpayer is ultimately on the hook for whatever the government spends. 这只是另一个说法说 每个人都得自己买单 并且最终是纳税人 要为政府支出买单。
taxpayers:n.纳税人(taxpayer的复数); contemporary:n.同时代的人;同时期的东西;adj.当代的;同时代的;属于同一时期的; dictum:n.格言;声明;法官的附带意见; ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究; hook:n.钩;挂钩;鱼钩;钓钩;v.挂住;箍住;钓(鱼);打曲线球;
It sounds worrying. 这听起来让人担忧。
As individuals , we know that when we borrow money to go to college, start a business or buy a home, we're personally saddled with that debt. 作为个体,我们知道当我们借钱 上大学,创业或买房子时, 我们要背负那些债务。
We have to find the money to pay it back. 我们需要找到钱还。
Taking on too much personal debt can lead to all sorts of problems. 承担太多的个人债务会引发各种问题。
Even small businesses and large corporations have to walk a fine line when it comes to debt. 不管小公司还是大公司 在债务问题上都必须小心行事。
individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数); personally:adv.个人;亲自;本人;就本人而言; saddled:v.给(马)备鞍;(saddle的过去分词和过去式) corporations:n.[贸易]公司,[经]企业(corporation的复数形式);
But the federal government is fundamentally different. 但联邦政府有根本的不同。
Unlike the rest of us, 不像我们其他人,
Congress never has to check the balance in its bank account to figure out whether it can afford to spend more. 国会从来不需要检查它的银行账户 去计算它是否能够支出更多。
As the issuer of the currency, the federal government can never run out of money. 作为货币的发行者, 联邦政府永远不会没钱。
federal:adj.联邦的;同盟的;联邦政府的;联邦制的;adv.联邦政府地; fundamentally:adv.从根本上;基础地;重要地 bank account:n.银行账户; issuer:n.发行人; run out of:用完;
It can afford to buy whatever is available and for sale in its own currency. 它能够购买和出售任何 以自己货币计价的东西。
Now that might mean spending on roads and bridges, a military arsenal or hospitals and schools. 如今,这可能意味着在道路和桥梁、 军事武器库或医院和学校上的支出。
Finding the votes to pass a spending bill can be hard, but finding the money is never a problem. 找到足够的票通过支付法案可能很难, 但找到钱 从来不是问题。
They just create it. 它们只需要创造它。
So here's how it works. 这是它运作的方式。
Whenever Congress and the president agree to spend more, the government's bank, the Federal Reserve , works with the rest of the financial system to get that money into our accounts. 不管何时国会和总统同意支出更多, 政府的银行,美联储, 和其他金融体系一起 把钱打入我们的账户。[06:38]
military:adj.军事的;军人的;适于战争的;n.军队;军人; arsenal:n.兵工厂;军械库; Reserve:n.储备,储存; vt.储备; vi.预订; financial:adj.金融的;财政的,财务的;
Everything's done electronically , so there's no physical printing of money involved . 所有的事情通过电子化完成, 这里不涉及到纸币的印刷。
If you got a 1,400-dollar check from the federal government earlier this year, or if your company received money to help cover payroll and other expenses , 如果你今年早些时候从联邦政府 收到一笔1400美元的支票, 或者你的公司收到一笔帮助 支付工资和其他费用的钱,
electronically:adv.电子地; physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词) payroll:n.工资单; expenses:n.费用;价钱;开销;开支;花费;(expense的复数)
then you received some of the newly minted digital dollars that were created to support our economy. 那么你接到了一笔为支持我们的经济 而新创造发行的数字货币。
No taxpayers were involved in that process . 在这个过程中不涉及到纳税人。
It was all done using nothing more than a computer keyboard. 不需要做任何事情,除了一个电脑按键。
So why are we hearing so much about the need to raise taxes to pay for infrastructure and make other investments in our economy? 那么我们为什么会听到 如此之多关于需要加税 去支付基础设施和其他经济投资的说法？
minted:adj.铸造的;新生产的;薄荷味的;富有的;v.铸币;(mint的过去分词和过去式) digital:adj.数字的;手指的;n.数字;键; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的; investments:n.[经]投资,投资的财产;投资学;(investment的复数)
In a word, deficits. 一言以蔽之, 赤字。
We've all been conditioned to worry about deficits, so lawmakers are looking for ways to spend more without adding to the deficit. 我们习惯于担心赤字, 所以立法者寻找无需增加赤字 就能支出更多的方法。
That's what this whole pay-for game is about. 这就是整个付费游戏的规则。
Unfortunately , deficits have gotten a bad rap . 不幸的是,赤字的名声不好。
They're almost always seen in a negative light. 它们总是被人以负面眼光看待。
And I would like to change that. 我想要改变这个。[08:10]
lawmakers:立法者(lawmaker的复数); Unfortunately:adv.不幸地; rap:n.说唱;说唱音乐;罪责;不公正的判决;v.击打;突然大声说出;严厉批评; negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝;
When we hear the word "deficit," 当我们听到“赤字”
we probably think of a deficiency or shortfall . 我们可能会想到窟窿或不足。
A deficit always sounds ominous . 赤字总是听起来不吉祥。
So when we hear that the federal government just ran a three-trillion-dollar budget deficit, it can sound worrying. 所以当我们听到联邦政府 刚刚出现了三万亿美元的预算赤字时, 这听起来很让人担忧。
And it can even anger people. 这甚至会激怒人们。
deficiency:n.缺陷,缺点;缺乏;不足的数额; shortfall:n.差额;缺少; ominous:adj.预兆的;不吉利的;
But there's another way to think about government deficits. 但有另一种思考政府赤字的方式。
Just as a six becomes a nine when we view it from a different angle, a government deficit becomes a financial surplus when we look at it from another perspective . 当我们从不同角度看时, 这就像6变成9, 当我们从另一个角度看时, 政府赤字就会变成财政结余。
A deficit hawk might look at this picture and see nothing but a sea of worrying red ink. 可能赤字鹰派看着这幅图, 除了令人担忧的赤字之外什么都看不到。
That's not how I look at it. 这是我看待它的方式。
Here's what I see. 这是我看到的。
I see what's happening on the other side of the government's ledger . 我看到政府总帐上另一面 正在发生的事情。[09:04]
surplus:n.剩余;[贸易]顺差;盈余;过剩;adj.剩余的;过剩的; perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的; hawk:v.兜售,沿街叫卖;捕捉;咳出;n.鹰;鹰派成员;掠夺他人的人; on the other side:另一面;在另一边; ledger:n.总帐,分户总帐;[会计]分类帐;帐簿;底帐;(手脚架上的)横木;
When the government spends more than it taxes away from us, it makes a financial contribution to some other part of the economy. 当政府支出高于从我们身上取得的税收时, 它在对经济的其他部分进行财政资助。
Their red ink is our black ink. 它们的赤字就是我们的盈余。
When you look at it this way, it becomes clear that every deficit is good for someone. 当你这样看时, 这就很清晰了, 每个赤字都对某些人有利。
The question is for whom and what are those deficits being used to accomplish ? 问题是对谁 以及这些赤字被用于实现什么？
contribution:n.捐款;捐资;定期缴款;贡献;促成作用;稿件; accomplish:v.完成;实现;达到;
It matters how the money is spent and who ends up with the resulting surplus. 关键是政府如何支出 以及谁是最终的受益者。
Tax cuts that deliver huge windfalls for those at the top without sparking investment and opportunity for the rest of the population don't make good use of deficits. 为最富有的人带来巨额意外之财的减税 不会为其他人 带来投资和机会, 没有用好赤字。
On the other hand , spending trillions to support the economy during the pandemic put the deficit to good use. 另外一种, 在疫情期间支出数万亿支持经济 是赤字的好用途。
We just had the shortest recession in US history. 我们刚刚经过了美国历史上 最短的经济衰退。
windfalls:n.意外的收获;侥幸所得(windfall的复数形式); sparking:n.发火花;点火;v.导致(spark的现在分词);发出火星;使大感兴趣; On the other hand:另一方面; recession:n.经济衰退;经济萎缩;退后;撤回;
To me, that was fiscally responsible . 对我而言,这是负责任的财政。
Being responsible shouldn't mean running the government's finances like a household. 负责任不代表像家庭那样 运作政府财政。
Instead of trying to keep the deficit in check, 与其控制赤字,
Congress should be focused on keeping inflation in check. 国会应该专注于控制通胀。
fiscally:adv.财政上; responsible:adj.负责的,可靠的;有责任的; inflation:n.膨胀;通货膨胀;夸张;自命不凡;
That's the real limit on spending and it's the thing to watch out for if you're thinking about spending trillions on things like infrastructure, health care and free college. 这是真正限制支出的东西, 这是真正需要注意的事情, 如果你正在考虑花费数万亿美元 到诸如基建、医保和免费大学上的话。
Instead of asking, "How will we pay for it?," 与其问,“我该怎么支付？”,
Congress should be asking, "How will we resource it?" 国会应该问,“我们怎么运用它？”
To answer that question, think of people, factories, equipment and raw materials like wood and iron. 要回答这个问题, 想想人力资源、工厂、设备 和诸如木头和钢铁这类的原材料。
watch out for:戒备;密切注意;留意;注意;
If we're going to build high-speed rail, fix crumbling infrastructure and green our economy, then we'll need concrete , steel and lumber . 如果你打算建造高速铁路, 修复摇摇欲坠的经济和绿化我们的经济, 那么我们需要混凝土,钢铁和木材。
We'll need construction workers, architects and engineers. 我们需要建筑工人、建筑师和工程师。
We'll need companies that can fill thousands of orders for solar panels , 我们需要能完成数千份太阳能电池板的公司、
EV charging stations and electric school buses. 电动车充电站和电动校园巴士。
concrete:n.混凝土;adj.混凝土制的;确实的,具体的;vt.用混凝土覆盖 lumber:vi.伐木; vt.砍伐木材; n.木材; construction:n.建设;建筑物;解释;造句; architects:n.建筑师;设计师;创造者;(architect的复数); panels:n.面板(panel的复数); v.嵌镶(panel的第三人称单数形式); electric:n.供电;adj.电的;用电的;电动的;发电的;
If our economy has the productive capacity to quickly supply all of those things, then we can easily resource it. 如果我们的经济有快速供应 所有这些东西的能力, 那么我们可以轻松运用出去。
Or take health care or free college. 或者拿医保或免费大学来说。
Paying the bills to expand Medicare, to include dental, vision and hearing is easy. 支付扩大医保范围的费用, 去囊括牙科、眼科和耳科很容易。
The challenge is making sure we have enough dentists, optometrists and audiologists to treat everyone who needs care. 挑战在于需要确保 我们有足够的牙医、 验光师和听力学专家 去接待需要医护的每个人。
productive:adj.能生产的;生产的,生产性的;多产的;富有成效的; capacity:n.能力;容量;资格,地位;生产力; optometrists:n.验光配镜师;(optometrist的复数) treat:v.治疗;处理;招待;款待;n.款待;乐事;乐趣;
And if you want to resource free college, then you need the faculty , the classrooms and the dormitories to teach and house more students. 如果你想要花在免费大学上, 那么你需要教授 和接待更多学生的 学院、教室和宿舍。
In a full-employment economy, all of the resources you need are, well, fully employed . 在充分就业的经济中, 你需要所有这些资源 已经被充分配置。
There's no spare capacity anywhere in the system. 系统里没有多余的空间。
So if the government suddenly tried to make all of these investments at once, it would quickly discover that it doesn't have the people or the building materials to do the work. 所以如果政府试图突然 一下子做所有这些投资, 它很快就会发现没有人手 或建筑材料来做这些工作。
faculty:n.科,系;能力;全体教员; dormitories:n.学生宿舍,宿舍(dormitory复数); employed:v.雇用:应用:运用:使用(employ的过去分词和过去式) spare:v.节约,吝惜;饶恕;分出,分让;adj.多余的;瘦的;少量的;n.剩余;备用零件;
To get the resources it needs, it would have to compete with the private sector , bidding up wages and prices. 要获得需要的资源, 它需要和私营部门竞争, 竞价抬高工资和价格。
That would be inflationary and it would be fiscally irresponsible . 可能会带来通货膨胀 并且是不负责的财政。
We are a long way from full employment. 我们离充分就业还有很长路。
We have the resources we need to begin repairing our broken systems. 我们拥有修复我们破损系统的资源。
compete:v.竞争;对抗;参加比赛(或竞赛); private sector:n.(国家经济的)私营部分; wages:n.[劳经]工资; v.开展(运动等)(wage的第三人称单数形式); inflationary:adj.通货膨胀的;通货膨胀倾向的;通货膨胀引起的; irresponsible:adj.不负责任的;不可靠的;
But we have to believe it's possible. 但我们需要相信这是可行的。
We can't let words like debt and deficits hold us back. 我们不能让债务和赤字 这样的字眼绊住我们。
With a better understanding of public money, where it comes from and how it works we can take aim at the many real deficits that are bearing down on us. 有了对公共资金更好的认识, 它从何来以及如何运作, 我们可以瞄准许多正压在 我们头上的实际赤字。
In every crisis lies an opportunity. 每次的危机背后都是机会。
We can pick up the pieces and try to reassemble the fragile systems that were in place before the pandemic or we can build anew , shaping our bountiful resources into the kind of world we want to live in, one that cares for our people and our planet. 我们可以拾起碎片 去重新把这些破碎的系统 组装回疫情前脆弱的原状, 或者我们可以创造一个新的, 把我们丰富的资源塑造成 我们想要的生活的世界, 一个关怀我们的人们和地球的世界。
bearing:n.关系;影响;姿态;举止v.承受;忍受;承担责任;(bear的现在分词) reassemble:vi.重新集合;vt.重新装配;重新召集; fragile:adj.脆的;易碎的; anew:重新,再 bountiful:adj.丰富的;慷慨的;宽大的;
I truly hope we choose to be bold. 我真的希望我们选择大胆。
Thank you. 谢谢。