. I8 N+ K' T/ y% }: Zos.tvboxnow.com面對歐元區解體這個沒有人希望看到的噩夢景象,歐洲企業准備得如何?關於這一點,公開的研究非常少。不過,倫敦企業軟件供應商IT2 Treasury Solutions上月對75家企業的財務負責人做了一項匿名調查,這些企業位於英國、荷蘭、芬蘭、瑞士、挪威、瑞典、加拿大和阿聯酋。調查結果顯示,認為歐元區將在未來1年內解體的受訪者比例剛過53%。更能說明問題的是,78.5%的受訪者認為,隻要提前3個月獲知歐元區將要解體,自己所在的企業在財務和運營方面將能夠應付。 ! r# f1 f2 h/ ^/ e6 P$ O+ ?7 U1 aos.tvboxnow.com! B9 i* s8 t _0 ^ q" J* H
企業的財務負責人是抗擊危機的一線人員,他們負責保護企業資產、管理企業的匯率、利率及其它風險敞口。IT2的首席執行官凱文•格蘭特(Kevin Grant)表示,許多企業的財務負責人不僅意識到了歐元區解體的危險,還已經採取了防御性措施。 : ?; `8 H- L, o. P- n) Eos.tvboxnow.com8 b- @+ l. r6 w% U( Q* A7 f) R
“金融危機之后,許多企業已採取措施,管理源自商業義務的間接風險敞口和源自脆弱金融機構的風險敞口。”格蘭特說,“把雞蛋都放在一個籃子裡的大企業似乎不是太多……大多數跨國企業的財務負責人認為,自己有能力應付某個成員國退出歐元區帶來的系統性沖擊波。”公仔箱論壇. Y, `( U0 j6 l8 i* W$ r9 \0 ]
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許多公司董事會已吸取2008年的教訓。當時,美國雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)破產導致信貸市場凍結,把西方推向了衰退。3年過去了,大企業的資產負債表已變得更加強健,流動性也變得更加健康。在融資、外匯對沖、成本控制和長期投資戰略等方面,他們都大大地改進了風險管理。 # Y+ j1 R. g4 X! |* b7 j3 h3 cos.tvboxnow.com - W& O; n3 l- p, v# ]os.tvboxnow.com然而,在企業能夠多麼有效地為未知事件做准備方面,存在種種局限。伯恩斯坦研究公司(Bernstein Research)汽車業分析師馬克斯•沃伯頓(Max Warburton)表示,德國Dax-30籃籌股指數的成分股公司無疑都考慮了歐元區瓦解的風險。他說:“但在針對一名高管所稱的‘黑天鵝情形’做准備方面,大家的共識似乎是,企業基本上是無能為力的。”TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。7 D+ c1 S* h6 Z$ {+ p+ S2 X
8 w* l$ D% y6 i w& c R9 ^1 T9 `os.tvboxnow.com有一點倒像是有可能:傳統上大量使用外匯對沖產品的德國汽車制造商,近月來似乎減少了對沖,原因是收益率持續上升和不確定性加劇已導致對沖越來越昂貴。“聽起來,德國(制造商)正在持有收益率較低的德國國債,並把現金存放在他們信賴的德國銀行和跨國銀行,”沃伯頓總結道。 ! n. P- V, X! o. B* O/ Los.tvboxnow.com 6 m: p, b" [1 ~' |公仔箱論壇比起構成歐洲商業活動主體的中小企業,大眾(Volkswagen)這樣的工業巨擘更易於分散風險,著力強化企業要塞,以備災害來襲。代表數百家中小企業和一些跨國公司的愛爾蘭出口商協會(Irish Exporters Association)最近發布的調查結果顯示,94%的企業沒有為歐元內爆做准備。該協會經濟顧問菲利普•哈爾平(Philip Halpin)表示:“考慮到資產負債表可能受到的影響,出口企業迫切需要把歐元區解體的情景納入戰略規劃流程。”" W0 a' @$ A. Z; K7 r; Y5 @
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不過,多名歐洲高管表示,精確計算歐元區瓦解事件的維度是不可能的。“正像雷曼破產之后的情形一樣,我們構建了各種不同的情景,做了一些推演。但是,很難評估這種規模的事件意味著什麼,”荷蘭前經濟部長、涂料集團阿克蘇諾貝爾(Akzo Nobel)首席執行官魏思瀚(Hans Wijers)表示。 9 V1 W( N7 Q; L* u9 J' p, Y9 m) btvb now,tvbnow,bttvb . \! y2 r4 X5 ?tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb人們可能會不由得拒絕去設想最糟糕的情況,一心盼望政治領導人在12月9日會議上終於取得令人滿意的成果。然而,一位法國制造業高管的言論或許發人深省:“我為歐元區瓦解所作的打算,不會多於你為君主制倒台所作的打算。他們會砍掉你的頭。”TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。: J* ~# M4 j% P! q7 S% u
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, @" }4 d% s6 V1 `# @; Q9 U. \英國《金融時報》 托尼•巴伯作者: felicity2010 時間: 2011-12-6 08:40 AM
本帖最後由 felicity2010 於 2011-12-8 12:53 AM 編輯 7 g4 h) N- E ^+ G公仔箱論壇3 C" |3 N8 Q( P. m: }0 _, |' { E9 p9 Y7 J4 C5 O怎樣拯救歐元? Joseph E. Stiglitztvb now,tvbnow,bttvb$ q) {$ i% y8 k
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有時候事情看上去並不會變得很糟,但實際上卻並非如此。即就是歐元區一些看似“負責”的成員國也將面臨更高的利率。而大西洋兩岸的歐美經濟學家們現在討論的已經不是歐元能否生存下來的問題,而是如何確保歐元體系的崩潰只帶來最小的動蕩。 0 z% ^% ~! V& \( X/ F公仔箱論壇" W6 L) `) V& M& L4 M
儘管歐洲各國領導致力於挽救歐元,但在維繫歐元運作的必要措施方面,各國領導對此的認識缺陷卻逐漸暴露出來。歐元體系建立伊始,主流觀點認為維繫歐元體系的運作只需在財政方面進行約束,即,各成員國的財政赤字或公共債務應與各國國內生產總值相適應。經濟危機前,愛爾蘭和西班牙仍有預算結餘,並保持較低的債務值。然而,很快一切都化為烏有,兩國都陷入財政赤字,債台高築。所以,當今歐洲各國領導都指出控制各成員國的經常項目赤字才是當務之急。3 x2 f: w: N7 r, N4 k9 l5 X
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如果真是這樣,那麼隨著經濟危機的蔓延,美國這個常年保持經常項目赤字的國家卻成了全球投資者的避風港,就顯得不合常理了。而歐盟將如何分辨政府為創造有利投資環境以及增加外國直接投資而造成的“良性”經常性項目赤字和“不良”經常性項目赤字呢?要想避免“不良”經常性項目赤字,那麼對於私營部門的幹預則應該遠遠大於歐元區建立時頗受歡迎的新自由主義以及單一市場原則所倡導的程度。 - `- ?! s: c9 \/ I% n% d/ }" U$ [6 e
以西班牙為例,私營部門的資金主要來自私有銀行。而受這種非理性繁榮的影響,政府是否應被迫削減公共投資呢?而這是否又意味著政府必須決定這其中哪一種資金流是不良的(如,投資房產的資金),從而這種投資是否應繳納稅款或者被限制呢?我個人覺得這樣的政策會行之有效。但是對於歐盟自由市場的倡導者而言,這些政策只會招來極大的不滿。 9 k0 F8 c2 N1 C) H2 }' @公仔箱論壇 ! A/ O0 j! U- J8 j% C s' dtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb為了尋求一個明確簡單的答案。人們的注意力再一次集中到每次金融危機過後的討論之上。每一次金融危機結束,總有相應的解釋出現。而這些解釋總是在下一次金融危機到來時被推翻或者至少證明其不全面。二十世紀八十年代的拉美經濟危機是由於過度貸款造成的。而這個解釋卻不適用於1994年的墨西哥經濟危機,因為這一次危機的原因是由於儲蓄不足。% d) f, Y/ ~6 z% G, N4 @& {
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而緊接著到了東亞經濟危機。東亞擁很高的儲蓄率,但這一次問題出在“管理方式”之上。在享有世界上最透明管理方式的斯堪的納維亞國家幾年前遭受金融危機時,這個解釋則又成了無稽之談。公仔箱論壇- S6 N( E% e% n) I1 Q- c% C: e
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但值得注意的是,這些金融危機,包括2008年的金融危機,都有一個共通的線索,即,金融行業表現欠佳,未能准確評估信用度,在危機出現時,未能及時處理。 ( O% Z, Y/ s0 rTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。 # U8 `, T. J, j4 n3 jos.tvboxnow.com無論有沒有歐元,這些問題都會出現。但是對於政府來說,歐元的出現使得這些問題變得更加棘手。而現在的問題不僅只是:歐元的崩潰將使得各國喪失兩大調節方式(利率以及彙率),以及歐洲央行的權限主要集中於控制通貨膨脹;而且,現在各國政府還面臨失業,增長速度慢,以及金融市場不穩定的挑戰。失去了共同財政管理體系的統一市場只會為稅收競爭敞開大門。各國會通過降低稅收的方式來吸引投資並增加可以在歐盟區自由交易產品的產出。! E5 N+ _5 K, ]
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再者,自由勞動流動意味著個人可以選擇是否為自己的父母輩還債——愛爾蘭的年青人只需要離開自己的國家就不用在為政府愚蠢的銀行擔保買單。當然,移民可以使勞動力按照收益重新分配,本身當然無可厚非。但是,這種方式的移民實際是在削弱生產力。 - S; O. w d1 z & y' O: ^7 y4 _ j1 Vos.tvboxnow.com當然,移民正是美國調節機制的一部分。它使得美國能夠以使用單一貨幣的統一市場的形式來運作。更為重要的是:聯邦政府通過分配更多的額外稅收來緩解各州面臨的問題(如高失業率)時所扮演的角色,即所謂的“轉移聯盟”,讓很多德國人深惡痛絕。 ) ~" M3 s$ @- Z1 C1 T, t . d$ G" g: R! J) o; k$ @而美國同樣也願意在那些失去競爭力的州採取減少人口的方式來解決問題(一些人指出美國企業可以通過這種方法來從這些競爭力低的州購買議員的席位)。但是生產力相對落後的歐洲願意通過減少人口來解決問題嗎?或者,歐洲願意忍痛採取“內部”貶值的方式——這種方式在過去在黃金標准體系下曾經慘遭失敗,而在如今在歐元體系也下日趨崩潰? ! t$ r+ s B6 J/ _4 f& |tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb ! C; n8 A# s9 F& M) h: D即便一些歐洲北部國家所宣稱的通過採取一些有效的管理方法可以使歐元重獲生機方法是正確的。(我個人認為是錯誤的)他們也不過是在上演一齣自欺欺人的道德劇罷了。當然,採取奢侈財務政策的南部同盟,或者將自由市場等同為沒有限制,對於後果毫無顧忌的西班牙和愛爾蘭本身責無旁貸。但指責並不能解決今天面臨的問題:歐盟的巨額債務,無論是私有還是公有行業造成的,必須從起自身出發著手解決。 3 c& i! e& r g# C: E& w公仔箱論壇 5 M/ W8 ^, J( p. p$ F6 Ytvb now,tvbnow,bttvb往昔欠下的巨額債務並不能通過減少當下公共部門的預算來減少。這樣做只會適得其反,使經濟更為衰退。歐洲的領導人明白這一點。他們知道歐洲需要經濟增長。但是與其去解決問題,尋求經濟增長的方式,還不如喋喋不休地去指責前幾任政府的失職。對於說教者而言這是個讓人滿意的行為,但是這並不會解決歐洲的問題,當然也拯救不了歐元。 0 Y7 \1 n. l# G3 r: @+ j公仔箱論壇7 R% p0 }( T* Z% ~. n4 Q
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What Can Save the Euro? Joseph E.Stiglitztvb now,tvbnow,bttvb0 v( z" _* g, [" m
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Just when it seemed that things couldn’t get worse,it appears that they have. Even some of the ostensibly “responsible” members of the eurozone are facing higher interest rates. Economists on both sides of the Atlantic are now discussing not just whether the euro will survive, but how to ensure that its demise causes the least turmoil possible.9 q# X* D& w9 x9 D# @$ F6 j9 z6 E
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It is increasingly evident that Europe’s political leaders, for all their commitment to the euro’s survival, do not have a good grasp of what is required to make the single currency work. The prevailing view when the euro was established was that all that was required was fiscal discipline– no country’s fiscal deficit or public debt, relative to GDP, should be too large. But Ireland and Spain had budget surpluses and low debt before the crisis, which quickly turned into large deficits and high debt. So now European leaders say that it is the current-account deficits of the eurozone’s member countries that must be kept in check.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb" Q9 ]/ S# s6 u) D$ [$ d
( n1 z. t3 }$ ~! g/ P+ C: e, otvb now,tvbnow,bttvbIn that case, it seems curious that, as the crisis continues, the safe haven for global investors is the United States, which has had an enormous current-account deficit for years. So, how will the European Union distinguish between “good” current-account deficits – a government creates a favorable business climate, generating inflows of foreign direct investment – and “bad”current-account deficits? Preventing bad current-account deficits would require far greater intervention in the private sector than the neoliberal and single-market doctrines that were fashionable at the euro’s founding would imply. ) P( f/ ~: n9 ?$ ^公仔箱論壇5 h6 g, G3 E' c$ }. L5 L: i
In Spain,for example, money flowed into the private sector from private banks. Should such irrational exuberance force the government, willy-nilly, to curtail public investment? Does this mean that government must decide which capital flows –say into real-estate investment, for example – are bad, and so must be taxed or otherwise curbed? To me, this makes sense, but such policies should be anathema to the EU’s free-market advocates. 9 A9 i* Y* ^' s/ ctvb now,tvbnow,bttvb公仔箱論壇' R; b% j5 K, E+ M, g" G- A! [
The quest for a clear, simple answer recalls the discussions that have followed financial crises around the world. After each crisis, an explanation emerges, which the next crisis shows to be wrong, or at least inadequate. The 1980’s Latin American crisis was caused by excessive borrowing; but that could not explain Mexico’s1994 crisis, so it was attributed to under-saving. 2 C: K1 R+ n8 o7 I/ } X ! b; i$ g' [5 M- wTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Then came East Asia,which had high savings rates, so the new explanation was “governance.”But this, too, made little sense, given that the Scandinavian countries – which have the most transparent governance in the world – had suffered a crisis a few years earlier. % b" ]; F, Q0 u; b . ~7 S! f& M1 p# E公仔箱論壇There is, interestingly, a common thread running through all of these cases, as well as the 2008 crisis: financial sectors behaved badly and failed to assess creditworthiness and manage risk as they were supposed to do. ; p/ X2 g1 w Q; j y, K9 u. X' STVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。 ' v% r3 h! Z0 y; k. `tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThese problems will occur with or without the euro.But the euro has made it more difficult for governments to respond. And the problem is not just that the euro took away two key tools for adjustment – the interest rate and the exchange rate – and put nothing in their place, or that the European Central Bank’s mandate is to focus on inflation, whereas today’s challenges are unemployment, growth, and financial stability. Without a common fiscal authority, the single market opened the way to tax competition – a race to the bottom to attract investment and boost output that could be freely sold throughout the EU.公仔箱論壇& V9 s, }4 N/ s/ }
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Moreover, free labor mobility means that individuals can choose whether to pay their parents’ debts: young Irish can simply escape repaying the foolish bank-bailout obligations assumed by their government by leaving the country. Of course, migration is supposed to be good,as it reallocates labor to where its return is highest. But this kind of migration actually undermines productivity. ' k3 s) p7 h% R- W- U2 V2 @tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb , w' ]6 }5 t' k7 R9 V7 F6 l: NTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Migration is, of course, part of the adjustment mechanism that makes America work as a single market with a single currency. Even more important is the federal government’s role in helping states that face, say, high unemployment,by allocating additional tax revenue to them – the so-called “transfer union”so loathed by many Germans.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb& ?6 G! r, w z }6 g9 q
, J2 @3 m, `* K! Q6 w# oTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。But the US is also willing to accept the depopulation of entire states that cannot compete. (Some point out that this means that America’s corporations can buy senators from such states at a lower price.) But are European countries with lagging productivity willing to accept depopulation?Alternatively, are they willing to face the pain of “internal” devaluation, a process that failed under the gold standard and is failing under the euro? ! O t& e# K/ L& @tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbos.tvboxnow.com* g3 r% |6 Q, c$ E- [1 [) q
Even if those from Europe’s northern countries are right in claiming that the euro would work if effective discipline could be imposed on others (I think they are wrong), they are deluding themselves with amorality play. It is fine to blame their southern compatriots for fiscal profligacy,or, in the case of Spain and Ireland,for letting free markets have free reign, without seeing where that would lead.But that doesn’t address today’s problem: huge debts, whether a result of private or public miscalculations, must be managed within the euro framework. ' K' F6 g1 }$ q1 l5 a+ S% N- l! k1 P: u
Public-sector cutbacks today do not solve the problem of yesterday’s profligacy; they simply push economies into deeper recessions. Europe’s leaders know this. They know that growth is needed. But, rather than deal with today’s problems and find a formula for growth, they prefer to deliver homilies about what some previous government should have done. This may be satisfying for the sermonizer, but it won’t solve Europe’s problems – and it won’t save the euro. ( F7 L2 K9 b8 c3 v }1 H8 Z
TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。) p. L8 J, o' s0 X' `9 j& p3 Q5 U
5 z) z- B0 ?9 P8 X0 ~公仔箱論壇Joseph E. Stiglitz is University Professor at Columbia University, a Nobel laureate in economics, and the author of Freefall:Free Markets and the Sinking of the Global Economy. 9 @* v" X$ r1 b; X8 Bos.tvboxnow.com作者: felicity2010 時間: 2011-12-6 08:46 AM
本帖最後由 felicity2010 於 2011-12-6 08:51 AM 編輯 公仔箱論壇% a& y7 C' E q. |; V% L( b
' g7 U0 l/ @5 V The Poetry of the Euro Harold James 4 o/ M8 p2 G3 W, ? j' wTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。3 x) D' y4 a1 C3 k7 o' H
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The purpose of creating a common currency has been largely and surprisingly forgotten in crisis-torn Europe.Instead, there seem to be more pressing concerns: gloomy speculation about the eurozone’s impending collapse and desperate attempts to find institutional fixes to its extensive governance problems.. ^3 r! ?$ r. }" H2 r% K
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But the euro was not just the outcome of an idiosyncratic quest to reduce the wear on pockets stuffed with odd national coins, or to facilitate intra-European trade. The bold European experiment reflected a new attitude about what money should do, as well as how it should be managed. In opting for a “pure” form of money, created by a central bank independent of national authority, Europeans self-consciously flew in the face of what had become the dominant monetary tradition. os.tvboxnow.com* X) B$ w& _$ c5 s
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In the twentieth century, the creation of money –paper money – was usually thought to be the domain of the state. Money could be issued because governments had the power to define the unit of account in which taxes should be paid. This tradition went back well before paper, or fiat,currencies. For many centuries, even while metallic money circulated, the task of defining units of account – livres tournois, marks, gulden, florins, or dollars – remained a task of the state (or of those with political power).os.tvboxnow.com/ I$ K4 M# ?# D0 ?( E0 s
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Abuse of this role, with governments addressing excessive debt by inflating it away, was deeply destructive of political order in the first half of the twentieth century. After World War II, the liberal politicians most committed to European federalism saw this point clearly. The economist, central-bank governor, finance minister, and president of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi, pleaded the case in the immediate aftermath of the war: “If the European federation takes away from the individual states the power of running public works through the printing press, and limits them to expenses that are financed solely by taxes and voluntary loans, it will by that act alone have accomplished a great work.” 6 q3 _7 m- x9 G. e0 V* S/ f8 A! d * H" S$ m9 _' {- v% VBut monetary abuse is no less dangerous in political systems with multi-layered authority, and in the past often led to the breakup of federal states. That is because inflation is not a benign cure for economic ills, in which beneficent and stimulatory effects are spread equally over the entire region under the inflationary monetary authority. Making inflation depends on the central bank’s decision to monetize specific debt instruments.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb6 x. }$ i% P9 t6 r
1 u. X% f/ z2 o6 Mtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbAfter all, the monetary authority never decides simply to convert every obligation into money. Instead, it decides that some industries, banks, or political authorities need to be sustained for the general good. Those industries, banks, and political authorities that are not so privileged are inevitably resentful, and view the central bank’s actions as an abuse of power. In federal systems, in particular, those businesses and political authorities far removed from the center are most likely to be excluded from the monetary stimulus and hence are inclined to be resentful.os.tvboxnow.com% T# K+ U5 j2 N9 a
+ Z& t" M& M3 ~' b7 I6 Z( mTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Hyperinflation in Germany in the 1920’s fanned separatism in Bavaria,the Rhineland,and Saxony, because these remote areas thought that Germany’s central bank and central government in Berlin were discriminating against them. The separatists were politically radical – on the left in Saxony,and on the far right in Bavaria and the Rhineland.os.tvboxnow.com# H9 ^, C w7 R5 Y! W$ f! R2 a# P
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There are also more recent cases of the same effect. In late-1980’s Yugoslavia, as the socialist regime disintegrated, the monetary authorities in Belgrade were inevitably closest to Serbian politicians such as Slobodan Milošević and to Serbian business interests. As a result, the Croats and Slovenes wanted out of the federation. In the Soviet Union,inflation appeared as an instrument of Moscow bureaucrats, and there, too, more remote areas sought to break away. 3 C0 \% d+ M3 l# _0 g 6 [. u! G5 ]) HThe makers of modern Europe saw that unstable and politically abused money would be a European nightmare,and lead to destructive national animosities and antagonisms. They were supported by the twentieth century’s two most influential economists, Friedrich von Hayek and John Maynard Keynes.5 W. t- |8 Y7 ~$ ], V5 h
/ U+ c9 W) D& m+ U8 h q0 sHayek was the most consistent critic of state-produced money. His proposal, competitive currencies produced by “free banking” in which numerous private authorities would issue their own money, was more radical than the solution adopted by Europeans in the 1990’s. But the Hayekian element of a money-issuing authority that was extensively protected against political pressures, and consequently against political opprobrium, was a key part of the European Union’s Maastricht Treaty. Keynes, too, in planning for the postwar order, proposed a synthetic global currency that would guarantee stability and prevent deflation.; K$ o5 g3 X' o1 }$ l$ w T( p- \
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The vision of central-bank independence as a necessary part of the constitution of a sound and stable political order was not simply a European construct in the 1990’s. It was also reflected in legislative changes affecting other central banks, and in central bankers’ growing prestige.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。& {' c- m/ o4 P' ?( p
6 [' Y5 b+ h9 C, w6 bThat view is now seriously challenged. In the aftermath of the worst financial crisis since WWII, central banks are once again being called on to monetize securities issued by some debtors, but not others.That task of selecting between debtors is highly political, and poisons the idea of monetary stability. # Z; B' Z/ C3 nTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb) O$ z* R R! n! J/ X4 M: \
Jean-Claude Trichet, until recently the president of the European Central Bank, liked to claim that money was like poetry, before adding that both give a sense of stability. That unusual but accurate formulation is reminiscent of General August Neidhardt von Gneisenau’s famous reply to the Prussian King, who dismissed as “nothing more than poetry” von Gneisenau’s patriotic concerns in the early nineteenth century. “Religion,prayer, love of one’s ruler, love of the fatherland, what are these but poetry?” von Gneisenau asked. “Upon poetry is founded the security of the throne.”os.tvboxnow.com4 Y7 L- M6 h" u- D
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Stable money, too, is the foundation of political order. We should not allow ourselves to be so overwhelmed by today’s crisis that we forget that. ) V/ a. ]5 Q$ ~. j% R. K( a- Mos.tvboxnow.com/ E+ l! V% K7 w" j4 s% \- h
- t# R% X" a8 j! Qos.tvboxnow.comHarold James is Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University and Professor of History at the European University Institute, Florence. He is the author of The Creation and Destruction of Value: The Globalization Cycle.作者: aa00 時間: 2011-12-6 11:27 AM