全球:假如美元不下跌,結(jié)果又將會(huì)如何?

字號(hào):

全球重新平衡的框架,把各種貨幣調(diào)整視為等同于世界相對(duì)價(jià)格結(jié)構(gòu)方面功能性的轉(zhuǎn)變。在這個(gè)意義上來(lái)講,弱勢(shì)美元正是一個(gè)失衡的、以美國(guó)為中心的世界所需要的東西。之所以如此,并非純粹是出于美元貶值自身的力量,而是因?yàn)檫@種貨幣糾正對(duì)實(shí)際利率調(diào)整以及各種全球性需求——也就是,刺激美國(guó)內(nèi)部需求和世界其他國(guó)家更強(qiáng)大的需求——的轉(zhuǎn)變是一個(gè)重要的信號(hào)機(jī)制。只有讓全球性需求的組成部分通過(guò)這樣一次調(diào)整,赤字國(guó)與盈余國(guó)之間龐大的往來(lái)帳戶(hù)失衡狀況才有望能夠得到縮小。
    (海外論壇。北京)美元終于再次粉墨登場(chǎng)——而且可能還要持續(xù)些許時(shí)日。只要美元是以有序和慎重的方式貶值,那么,我繼續(xù)認(rèn)為,對(duì)失衡的世界經(jīng)濟(jì)來(lái)說(shuō),這是一個(gè)好消息。它是我已稱(chēng)之為全球重新平衡調(diào)整過(guò)程的核心。
    全球重新平衡的框架,把各種貨幣調(diào)整視為等同于世界相對(duì)價(jià)格結(jié)構(gòu)方面功能性的轉(zhuǎn)變。在這個(gè)意義上來(lái)講,弱勢(shì)美元正是一個(gè)失衡的、以美國(guó)為中心的世界所需要的東西。之所以如此,并非純粹是出于美元貶值自身的力量,而是因?yàn)檫@種貨幣糾正對(duì)實(shí)際利率調(diào)整以及各種全球性需求——也就是,刺激美國(guó)內(nèi)部需求和世界其他國(guó)家更強(qiáng)大的需求——的轉(zhuǎn)變是一個(gè)重要的信號(hào)機(jī)制(參看本人11月19日的電訊:《為什么世界需要一個(gè)弱勢(shì)美元》)。只有讓全球性需求的組成部分通過(guò)這樣一次調(diào)整,赤字國(guó)與盈余國(guó)之間龐大的往來(lái)帳戶(hù)失衡狀況才有望能夠得到縮小。
    這個(gè)方案的一個(gè)重大風(fēng)險(xiǎn)是,現(xiàn)在大多數(shù)人都把賭注押在各種金融市場(chǎng)上。甚至連在今年早些時(shí)候還爭(zhēng)辯說(shuō)“……在給美國(guó)往來(lái)帳戶(hù)赤字提供資金方面沒(méi)有受到壓力的證據(jù)”的聯(lián)邦儲(chǔ)備委員會(huì)主席艾倫。格林斯潘,現(xiàn)在似乎也順從于一個(gè)弱勢(shì)的美元(參看格里斯潘2004年1月13日在柏林的《在德意志聯(lián)邦銀行的演講》和最近他于2004年11月19日在法蘭克福的《在歐洲金融大會(huì)上的講話》)。在對(duì)重要宏觀趨勢(shì)達(dá)成如此廣泛一致的情況下,這是訓(xùn)練對(duì)抗者大做文章的大好去處。因此,值得提出的問(wèn)題是,假如美元不下跌,結(jié)果又將會(huì)如何?
    依我之見(jiàn),簡(jiǎn)潔的答案是,種種貿(mào)易摩擦和保護(hù)主義。作為史無(wú)前例的全球性失衡很可能得以釋放的手段,我是通過(guò)強(qiáng)調(diào)在經(jīng)濟(jì)與政治之間權(quán)衡利弊的辦法得出這個(gè)結(jié)論的。如果在一個(gè)軸上沒(méi)有出現(xiàn)壓力的話,我認(rèn)為,那么重新平衡的推動(dòng)力就將轉(zhuǎn)移到另一個(gè)軸上。如果不調(diào)整世界的主要貨幣,我認(rèn)為,就會(huì)出現(xiàn)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。在這種情況下,全球性失衡只能是繼續(xù)加劇。在美國(guó),這意味著,在2004年第二季度達(dá)到創(chuàng)歷史記錄的、占國(guó)內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值5.7%的往來(lái)帳戶(hù)赤字,在明年將至少上升到6.5%.更有甚之,現(xiàn)在還有非??煽康?、在今后幾年往來(lái)帳戶(hù)赤字將進(jìn)一步急劇擴(kuò)大的推斷——到2008年約為8%(紐約大學(xué)和牛津大學(xué)的諾里爾。魯比尼(Nouriel Roubini)和布拉德。塞瑟爾(Brad Setser)),到2010年還將繼續(xù)上升到13%(國(guó)際經(jīng)濟(jì)研究所的凱瑟琳。曼(Catherine Mann))。在美國(guó)90%以上的往來(lái)帳戶(hù)赤字表現(xiàn)為創(chuàng)記錄的貿(mào)易差額情況下,假設(shè)也將把表面上長(zhǎng)期的往來(lái)帳戶(hù)問(wèn)題繼續(xù)惡化與不斷上升的貿(mào)易逆差的各種典型特點(diǎn)聯(lián)系在一起——也就是增強(qiáng)進(jìn)口滲透度和正在擠壓美國(guó)可貿(mào)易商品部門(mén)的就業(yè),這是完全順理成章的。我認(rèn)為,在美國(guó),這將是一個(gè)在政治上站不住腳的結(jié)果——一種既可以慫容反對(duì)貿(mào)易自由化又加劇保護(hù)主義破壞力的結(jié)果。
    原文:
    Global: What Happens if the Dollar Does Not Fall?(1)
    Stephen Roach (New York)
    The dollar is finally back in play again —— and possibly for some time to come. Provided the depreciation of the greenback occurs in an orderly and measured fashion, I continue to believe that this is good news for an unbalanced world economy. It is central to the adjustment process I have dubbed global rebalancing.
    The global rebalancing framework views currency realignments as the functional equivalent of a shift in the world‘s relative price structure. In that context, a weaker dollar is precisely what a lopsided, US-centric world needs. That’s not because of the sheer power of dollar depreciation itself. It‘s that such a currency correction is an important signaling mechanism for adjustments in real interest rates, as well as shifts in the mix of global demand —— namely, spurring weaker domestic demand in the US and stronger internal demand elsewhere in the world (see my 19 November dispatch, “Why the World Needs a Weaker Dollar”)。 Only through such a realignment in the composition of global demand can the unprecedented dispersion of current account imbalances between deficit and surplus nations be narrowed.
    A key risk to this scenario is that it has now become a consensus bet in financial markets. Even Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who argued earlier this year that there was “…little evidence of stress in funding US current account deficits” now seems resigned to a weaker dollar (see Greenspan‘s “Lecture Before the Bundesbank” in Berlin on January 13, 2004 and, more recently, his “Remarks at the European Banking Congress” in Frankfurt on November 19, 2004)。 With such broad agreement on an important macro trend, this is where the contrarian is trained to pounce. And so it pays to ask, what happens if the dollar doesn’t fall?
    The short answer, in my view, is trade frictions and protectionism. I reach that conclusion by underscoring the tradeoff between economics and politics as the means by which unprecedented global imbalances are likely to be vented. If pressures don‘t give on one axis, I believe the impetus for rebalancing will then shift to the other axis. The biggest risk, in my view, occurs if the world’s major currencies don‘t adjust. In that case, global imbalances will only continue to mount. In the US, that means that the current-account deficit, which stood at a record 5.7% of GDP in 2Q04, should rise to at least 6.5% in the next year. Moreover, there are several very credible extrapolations of a sharp further widening in the years beyond —— nearly 8% by 2008 (Nouriel Roubini and Brad Setser of NYU and Oxford) and 13% by 2010 (Catherine Mann of the International Institute of Economics)。 With over 90% of America’s current account deficit showing up in the form of a record trade gap, it is perfe