来源:市场资讯
(来源:紫金天风期货研究所)
开头先叠甲,马克思说人的本质是一切社会关系的总和。一个人的判断和表达,是被他所处的位置和面对的关系网络塑造的。经济学想表达的也是在给定约束下找帕累托最优,约束条件一变,最优解就跟着变。Warsh从Fed理事到胡佛学者再到获提名的 Fed 主席候选人,位置在变,具体政策选择未必和他此前说的话完全一致。
当然,一个人分析问题的框架和优先级不会从零开始。他如何理解美元信用、如何理解财政与货币的边界,这些底层的认知惯性是有连续性的。所以本文是对他过去十几年公开文本的梳理,试图从中解答这些问题。
一、Warsh论美元的重要性
Warsh 谈美元不讲汇率强弱,讲的是制度信用。2010年6月,面对欧债危机蔓延,他在Fed演讲中说了一段话,体现了对美元体系的重视:"The United States is not Greece. We have the largest, most robust economy in the world. We have the deepest, most liquid financial markets. And the dollar is the world's reserve currency, bestowing key advantages upon us. But, none of this is our birthright. It must be earned, and re-earned."(美国不是希腊。我们有全球最大最强的经济体,有全球最深最活的金融市场,美元的世界储备货币地位更让我们占尽先机。但这一切都不是天上掉下来的,不是我们生来就该拥有的。它需要我们去挣,而且要不断地去挣,一次又一次地证明我们配得上它。)
十二年后,2022年他在AEI《American Renewal》文章中把美元的重要性说得更充分。他写道,"The value, prevalence, and durability of the US dollar—and the concomitant financial and economic architecture—are crucial to American economic stability and our standing in the world."(美元的价值、普及度和持久性——以及相伴的金融经济架构——对美国的经济稳定和世界地位至关重要。)美元降低政府融资成本,给企业带来比较优势,被称作"exorbitant privilege"。他更指出美元是一种全球公共品,网络效应自我强化:"The more people use the dollar, the more valuable it becomes. And the harder it is to dislodge."(使用美元的人越多,美元就越有价值,也就越难被取代。)
同一篇文章中他花大量篇幅讨论的是财政赤字、高通胀和QE常态化正在如何消耗这些优势。他的判断是:"The US dollar has the advantage of incumbency. The advantage, however, is not necessarily permanent."(美元有在位优势。但这种优势不一定是永久的。)历史提醒,"A currency reigns supreme until it doesn't."(一种货币占据统治地位,直到它不再如此。)可以看出沃什对美元的重视与对其美元信用被透支的警惕。
二、Fed替财政隐藏了借债的真实成本
这条线他从2010年讲到2025年,措辞越来越直接。2010年2月他问:"Will low sovereign funding costs and accommodative financial markets make policymakers lax in developing a credible, fiscal exit regime?"(低主权融资成本和宽松的金融市场,会不会让政策制定者对制定可信的财政退出机制变得松懈?)
同年11月他具体化了这个担心:"The Fed's expanded participation in the long-term Treasury market also runs the more subtle risk of obfuscating price signals about total U.S. indebtedness... The fiscal authorities need as clear an early warning system as possible, not a handy excuse to delay."(美联储在长期国债市场的扩张存在一个更微妙的风险:模糊了关于美国总债务的价格信号……财政当局需要尽可能清晰的预警系统,而不是一个方便拖延的借口。)
2025年7月访谈让这条线变得更尖锐。他解释了为什么 Fed 难辞其咎:"Congress deserves its own criticism for reckless, irresponsible spending made more... made acceptable because the Federal Reserve were buying those bonds in large part. And signaling to the world, when the Fed buys the bonds, what are we telling the world's investors? The water's warm, come on in, you should do it, too."(国会理应因鲁莽、不负责任的支出受到批评,而美联储大规模购买这些债券让这种行为变得可以接受……当美联储买债时,我们向世界投资者传递了什么信号?水温正好,进来吧,你也应该这么做。)
他提出了财政与货币的相互传染:"The connection between fiscal spending, that is what Congress does, and monetary printing, that's what the Central Bank does. When one of them is irresponsible, the other one tends to be irresponsible too."(财政支出由国会负责,货币印钞由央行负责,两者之间存在关联。当其中一个不负责任时,另一个往往也会如此。)米尔顿·弗里德曼说的"long and variable lags"意味着,合谋的恶果不会立刻显现,但一定会到来。"there's no free lunches here."
三、增长的答案:供给学派视角
Warsh认为Fed靠印钞压低利率不是化解债务的正确方式,经济增长才是。2025年7月Hoover访谈的最后一段,主持人 Peter Robinson问他美国是否还能修复自己。Warsh 的回答是,美国正处于一轮生产率爆发的边缘:"The country is on the verge of a productivity boom, in my view, that's gonna make the 1980s look like we can do it all over again."(以我的判断,美国正处于一轮生产率繁荣的前夜,它会让1980年代那轮繁荣显得不过是再来一次。)
他认为"If we could grow 1 percentage point more per year than the Congressional Budget Office forecast... that would yield another four and a half trillion dollars of revenue into the federal government's coffers."(如果我们每年能比国会预算办公室预测的增速多增长1个百分点,那将为联邦政府带来额外4.5万亿美元的收入。)
其信心则主要来自于两个事情,一是他相信特朗普时期的减税和放松监管正在释放投资,"more than $5.4 trillion of private capital investment in the U.S. this year"。二是AI被他视为"a significant disinflationary force"——生产率提升会自然压低单位成本,同时扩大税基。"A 1-percentage-point increase in annual productivity growth would double standards of living within a single generation"(每年生产率多增长1个百分点,一代人之内生活水平就会翻倍。)
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