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本帖最后由 批一啊pia 于 2010-10-21 17:53 编辑
Has the U.S. Been Too Easy on China?
美国对中国是不是太心慈手软了?
来源 http://www.theatlanticwire.com/o ... -Easy-on-China-5443
原作者 Heather Horn
译者 migwin
美国对中国是不是太心慈手软了?最近有一些评论家把这一问题摆上了桌面。专家和政客们都在谴责中国在贸易和货币上毫不让步,他认为更好的贸易平衡可以促进美国经济。下文,就是一个争论的例子:美国对中国采取强硬措施是不是明智的,有效的和公正的?
●中国就是在玩弄美国!
保罗克鲁格在纽约时报上如此痛击中国。他说,我们应该如此回击中国强硬的态度:中国搞资源垄断,政府给企业津贴来帮助他们拿到关键的合同,对国外公司在华销售施压,当然最重要的是他们的汇率政策,而且不按游戏规则办事,这明明就是无赖的超级经济体!最后,他煽动,现在的问题是,我们要对这一切做些什么。
●中国是时候按规则出牌了!
来自俄亥俄州的民主党参议员布朗表示同意。长期以来,美国太依赖辞藻和道德劝说,事实证明,这不奏效。只有奥巴马政府采取强硬的措施迫使中国遵守贸易规则,才能扭转目前美国的受害局面。
●我们需要出重拳了!
哈佛商业评论的理查德霍尼克说,当时允许中国加入WTO的原因是显而易见的:WTO成员国的身份会逐步地让中国把全球经济看成一种双赢的东西,而不是有胜必有负的零和游戏。但是这种现象并没有发生。他认为,美国应该打击中国政府补贴企业这种行为。他指出,中国目前是世界第二大经济体。
●或许有折中的办法
我们不需要威胁他们,贿赂他们,哄骗他们或者搞什么货币战争。我们最需要的是在当前的经济局势下,采取适合我们的货币政策。中国方面自会处理,这样长远来看,我们都可以获利。
●与中国打贸易战对我们没多大帮助
梅森这样计算,满打满算,假使人民币升值20%,这也仅仅刺激了美国不足0.5%的GDP。他补充说,如果凯恩斯现在活着,他也会告诉美国的执政者不要理会中国,把注意力放在提升美国的内需上,通过基础设施建设,通过非传统的经济刺激来促进美国经济。
原文
Has the U.S. government been going too easy on China? Commentators have certainly taken to this refrain recently. Right now, as some argue a better trade balance could help the American economy, pundits and politicians alike are condemning China's intransigence on trade and currency. Here's a sample of the debate over whether stiffening the U.S. stance towards China is wise, helpful, and just.
* China's Playing Us for Fools on Multiple 'Fronts' Paul Krugman, recently big on China-bashing in The New York Times, says that when you put China's bullying attitude on its mineral monopoly with "the state subsidies that help firms gain key contracts, the pressure on foreign companies to move production to China and, above all, that exchange-rate policy--and what you have is a portrait of a rogue economic superpower, unwilling to play by the rules. And the question," he concludes, provocatively, "is what the rest of us are going to do about it."
* Time for China to Play Fair, agrees Democratic senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio, writing in the Times. Regarding trade agreements, "Washington has ... relied on rhetoric and moral suasion. It hasn't worked. Only rigorous enforcement of trade rules by the Obama administration can reverse the harm caused by the permanent normal trade relations agreement."
* We Do Need Some Hardball, concurs Richard Hornik at the Harvard Business Review. "The rationale for admitting China to the World Trade Organization in 2001 was straightforward: Membership would gradually ensure that China viewed the world economy as something other than a zero-sum game." That hasn't happened. For starters, he thinks the U.S. should fight the Chinese government's subsidies to Chinese companies by barring "Chinese bidders ... from all US government-funded contracts" until China agrees to "honor its commitment and sign the agreement on government procurement." In addition, he's not so sure China should still be getting its original WTO "waivers," which were "due to its status as a developing country, permitting it to give special treatment to domestic industries." China's economy currently "ranks second in the world," he points out.
* Maybe There's a Middle Road, suggests Think Progress's Matt Yglesias:
We don't need to threaten them, or bribe them, or cajole them, or go to "currency war" or anything. What we need to do is to adopt monetary policies that are appropriate for our economic situation. The Chinese will learn to deal with it, and in the longer term we'll all be better off.
* A Trade War with China Wouldn't Even Help Us That Much, protests J.W. Mason at New Deal 2.0. He calculates, with what he terms "wildly optimistic assumptions," that "a 20 percent appreciation of the Chinese currency only provides a boost to US demand of less than one half of one percent of GDP in total, spread out over several years." He adds, too, that "if Keynes were alive today, I suspect he would be telling American policymakers to forget about China and focus all their efforts on boosting US demand--by public investment in infrastructure, by unconventional monetary stimulus, by paying people to dig holes and fill them up again if need be."
* Other Assorted Vociferous Objections One of the most vocal dissenters is The Economist's Ryan Avent, who has repeatedly explained why he thinks the saber-rattling with regard to China is extremely unwise. Finance blogger Yves Smith has also taken some space to examine an argument from Peking University economics professor Yiping Huang--that American commentators are gunning for "a currency war the US cannot win."
* Also: China's Not Necessarily Being Deliberately 'Malign,' notes The Atlantic's James Fallows.
Anyone who has observed anything about China recognizes the gap between the power / influence it is gaining, and its understanding, experience, sophistication, and confidence about (a) the way that appears to the rest of the world, and (b) the responsibilities that inevitably come with greater power. Eg, see this article on Chinese authorities' frequent clumsiness in addressing world audiences, or this by Paul Krugman today.
Overall, I think these gestures by the Chinese government are "self-interested" as opposed to actively malign. |
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