將未來抵押的世界

Those who can’t lead, borrow. The American, Chinese and Indian governments boast of the strength of their economies, yet they are also borrowing intensely. Such a situation is not only contradictory, it will also prove harmful to their chances at global leadership in the future.

那些不能成為全球領導者的國家，借貸吧。美國、中國和印度政府吹噓自己經(jīng)濟實力強勁，但它們也在大舉借貸。這不僅與它們的說法自相矛盾，而且也會損害它們未來充當全球領導者的機會。

A strong economy means government should spend less and not need to borrow at all. In all three countries, policymakers appear oblivious to the consequences of failure on this score. Will the US or China lead in coming decades? When will India become a global challenger? The answers may be neither and never. Instead the world could see a slow slide into a long stagnation.

經(jīng)濟強勁意味著政府應該能減少支出，而且完全不需要借錢。在這三個國家中，決策者似乎都沒有注意到未能做到這一點的后果。美國或中國會在今后幾十年處于全球領導地位嗎?印度什么時候會成為全球挑戰(zhàn)者?答案或許是中美都不會成為全球領導者，印度也永遠不會成為全球挑戰(zhàn)者。實際上，世界可能會緩慢滑入長期停滯狀態(tài)。

Few people consider India a truly global actor but, within the next 20 years, it will have both the world’s largest population and largest labour force. It will be difficult in 2040 for the global economy to be healthy if the Indian economy is not. There is obviously a long way to go before then, and India is not going in the right direction. The government of Narendra Modi, prime minister, is obsessed with the title of “fastest-growing major economy” and insists India will reclaim that spot in 2018 or 2019.

很少有人認為印度是一個真正的全球性角色，但在今后20年里，它將擁有世界上最多的人口和最大規(guī)模的勞動力。到2040年時，如果印度經(jīng)濟不健康，全球經(jīng)濟就很難保持健康。顯然在那之前還有很長的路要走，而目前印度并沒有朝著正確的方向前進。印度總理納倫德拉•莫迪(Narendra Modi)領導的政府癡迷于“增長最快的主要經(jīng)濟體”稱號，并堅稱印度會在2018年或2019年重新獲得這一地位。

Yet central government borrowing will rise this year as a share of GDP, from an already excessive figure. The core of the higher deficit is a jump in the simple revenue shortfall, which overwhelms one-time accounting tricks used by politicians everywhere to dress up ugly budgets. In addition, Indian states borrow even more intensively than the national government.

然而，今年印度中央政府借款占GDP的比例將會在本已過高的基礎上再次上升。赤字增加的要點就是收入缺口大幅擴大，它的影響是各地政客用來粉飾糟糕預算的一次性會計伎倆所彌補不了的。此外，印度各州的借款力度比中央政府還大。

A country growing rapidly with a young workforce should not need to do this. More important, a poor country which seeks at least a full generation of such growth should not borrow against that future. India is showing neither the vision nor will to become an economic leader.

一個擁有年輕勞動力、快速增長的國家應該不需要這樣做。更重要的是，一個尋求在至少一代人時間里取得快速增長的窮國不應該拿未來作抵押借貸。印度沒有表現(xiàn)出成為經(jīng)濟領導者的愿景和意志。

Many would claim China already is such a leader. It qualifies in terms of size and no shortage of people tout its performance. They acknowledge that Chinese GDP growth, for instance, has slowed by half in the past 10 years, but point out this is natural as the size of GDP expands.

許多人會說，中國已經(jīng)是一個經(jīng)濟領導者。它在規(guī)模上符合，并且不乏人吹捧其表現(xiàn)。他們承認，比如中國GDP增速在過去10年中減緩一半，但他們指出，隨著GDP規(guī)模的擴大，這是很自然的事情。

What is not natural is China’s bad track record on debt: according to the Bank of International Settlements, every measure of debt — consumer, government and corporate — has risen as a share of GDP for the past decade. China went from a low-leverage country in 2007 to having a worse debt position than the US in 2017, despite the fact that the US itself has borrowed heavily.

不自然的，是中國在債務方面的不良記錄：根據(jù)國際清算銀行(BIS)的數(shù)據(jù)，在過去十年間，每一項債務指標——消費者、政府和企業(yè)所背負的債務——與GDP的比例都有所上升。中國在2007年還是一個低杠桿國家，但到了2017年，債務狀況比美國還要糟糕，盡管美國自己也大舉借貸。

The bulk of Chinese debt is corporate, not explicitly government. But the bulk of corporate debt has been incurred by state-owned enterprises and underwritten by central and local government, as these firms borrow almost entirely from state-owned banks. It is thus China’s central government which has authorised a decade-long explosion in debt accumulation, even while trying to convince the world it offers a superior model of development.

中國的大部分債務是企業(yè)債務，而不是明確的政府債務。但大部分企業(yè)債務是國有企業(yè)借的，并由中央和地方政府兜底，因為這些企業(yè)幾乎全部從國有銀行借款。因此，正是中國的中央政府授權了長達十年的債務規(guī)模爆炸式增長，盡管它試圖讓世界相信，它提供了一種優(yōu)越的發(fā)展模式。

Those who favour US global leadership can be reassured by China’s poor choices. But America’s own choices are disturbing. The US already faces enormous spending obligations in the form of entitlement programmes. Combined national government spending on healthcare hit $1tn in 2015 and social security spending is projected to hit an additional $1tn this year.

那些支持美國擔任全球領導者的人可能對中國糟糕的選擇感到慶幸。但是美國自己的選擇同樣令人不安。美國已經(jīng)因社會福利項目面臨巨大的支出義務。2015年，全國政府醫(yī)療保健支出合計達到1萬億美元，今年的社會保障支出預計也將達到1萬億美元。

The 2017 federal budget deficit was $650bn and expected to rise over time as the country ages. Now, enter the tax cut. Congress and the administration had reason to cut corporate tax rates, but they did so by $1.5tn and with no offsetting tax increase elsewhere. The recent spending bill adds $300bn to that.

2017年聯(lián)邦預算赤字為6500億美元，而且預計隨著美國步入老齡化還會不斷增加。再來看減稅。美國國會和政府有理由削減企業(yè)稅率，但他們要減少1.5萬億美元的稅收，而且沒有其他地方的稅收增長來抵消減稅的影響。最近的支出法案又讓美國多了3000億美元的支出。

The federal deficit could thus reach $1tn in 2018 and, if not this year, then next. This is not happening during a crisis like the one in 2008. While there are problems with labour force participation and inequality, unemployment is 4.1 per cent and the US economy added $7tn in wealth over the most recent 12 months. Yet national debt is set to soar.

2018年聯(lián)邦赤字可能達到1萬億美元，如果今年達不到，那就是下一年。就算是在2008年這樣的危機時期都沒有出現(xiàn)1萬億美元的赤字。雖然存在勞動力參與和不平等問題，失業(yè)率也達到了4.1%，但美國經(jīng)濟在最近12個月里增加了7萬億美元的財富。不過，美國國家債務即將飆升。

US federal borrowing has no justification. If China is telling the truth about its economy, it has no excuse for its corporate debt. If India wants a bright future, it cannot mortgage it now. No country has ever prospered from heavy government borrowing when times are good. Yet this is what the world’s economic leaders have to offer. They are walking into quicksand and could drag everyone else with them.

美國聯(lián)邦政府沒有理由借貸。如果中國沒有隱瞞自己的經(jīng)濟真相，那么它的企業(yè)債務就沒有理由。如果印度想要一個光明的未來，它現(xiàn)在就不能拿未來作抵押。從來沒有一個國家在形勢大好之時靠巨額政府借貸實現(xiàn)繁榮昌盛。然而，債務正是當今世界經(jīng)濟領導者所提供的。它們正在走進流沙之中，最終可能拖累所有人。

Derek Scissors is resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, focusing on the Chinese and Indian economies and their relations with the US. He is concurrently chief economist at China Beige Book.

本文作者是美國企業(yè)研究所(American Enterprise Institute)常駐學者，主要研究中國和印度經(jīng)濟以及它們與美國的關系。他同時還擔任《中國黃皮書》(China Beige Book)首席經(jīng)濟學家