The U.S. Should Be Ashamed to Go to the G-20

Published in Huanqiu
(China) on 23 June 2010
by Huanqiu Editorial Board (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Eugene Tan. Edited by Jessica Boesl.
The time has now come for the U.S. to do something practical for the world economy. Lacking any tangible achievements, Americans should be ashamed to attend the G-20 summit taking place this weekend in Canada.

Over the past two years, the financial crisis that started in the U.S. has plunged the world into a ditch. This crisis clearly shows that the greatest danger in the global economy stems from those countries that believe their markets to be mature and stable. Until today, the rate of recovery in different countries has not been consistent. Still lagging behind are the developed countries of the Americas and Europe. Their alarming debt has already become like a sharp sword dangling dangerously above the head of the world economy.

What worries most people is the U.S. The problems that caused the financial crisis — i.e., excessive reliance on credit, excessive consumption, excessive financial speculation — have not yet been brought to an end. And half of the U.S.' economic debt is foreign debt.

As of June 1 of this year, the total debt of the U.S. federal government has passed the $13 trillion mark, which is approaching GDP. If this total dollar amount were to be spread out equally among every American, that would be over $40,000 per person, of which $3,000 is owed to a Chinese person. This number is still rapidly increasing.

How will the U.S. deal with this huge debt? By repudiating the debt or letting the U.S. dollar depreciate? Past lessons have shown that either choice will result in a huge loss for creditors worldwide. What makes creditors even more uneasy is the U.S.' method of shifting the burden of the crisis by printing excessive amounts of money and readily believing in trade protectionism.

Approximately $900 billion of U.S. national debt is in China’s hands, not to mention several hundred billion dollars of debt belonging to U.S. businesses. The safety of this huge American asset has already become a matter of great concern for the everyday Chinese person. Even the most common Chinese person now knows that the Americans, who owe us money, are not such good people.

Though the Chinese have not even had time to criticize the U.S., they have already been pressured by and received complaints from some members of the U.S. Congress regarding the RMB's exchange rate. These members of the U.S. Congress seem to believe that the louder their voices are, the more easily they can divert the world’s attention and concern away from the U.S. economy. They seem to have miscalculated. The world’s focus will not leave the U.S. because everyone understands where the root of this crisis lies.

The world hopes that at the G-20 summit the U.S. and other developed countries will propose some specific and effective methods to revive the world economy. The world also hopes that the U.S. can finally muster up the determination to strengthen supervision over the activities of the financial sector, and do something substantial about those Wall Street speculators.

As Chinese, we hope that the U.S. can propose a specific plan for ensuring the safety of China's U.S. dollar assets. This proposal needs to at least make the Chinese feel more at ease with regard to the American economic revival. If there is no formal reassurance, we will never dare to believe the promises that come out of the Americans' mouths. We are already sick of hearing Americans complaining, and we are looking forward to them doing something substantial.

The root of this financial crisis has not been fully eliminated. On a large scale, whether the world economy will hit rock bottom again will depend on whether Americans can truly change their extravagant consumer lifestyle of relying on loans and on whether they can put a stop to Wall Street's greedy nature. Regarding these questions, the world hopes to get an answer from the U.S. soon.


社评:不做点实事,美国应羞于去G20

现在到了美国该为世界经济做点实事的时候了。不带上点实绩,美国人应羞于出席将在本周末在加拿大举行的G20峰会。


  这两年,发端于美国的金融风暴把世界给坑苦了。这场危机表明,世界经济最大的风险恰恰来自于那些自以为市场很成熟、很稳固的国家。直至今天,各国复苏的步伐还很不一致,拖后腿的仍然是美欧等发达国家。它们惊人的债务已经成为高悬在世界经济头上的一把利剑。


  最让人担心的就是美国。导致金融危机的那些问题———过度依赖信贷、过度消费、过度金融投机等,并没有被根治,而且美国的经济债务中竟有一半是外债。


  截至今年6月1日,美国联邦政府负债总额已突破13万亿美元,接近美国GDP总额。每一个美国人头上要摊到4万多美元,其中约3000美元是欠中国人的,这个数字还在迅速增加。


  美国会怎样对待它所欠下的这笔巨款呢?赖账还是让美元贬值?以往的教训表明,任何一种选择都会给全球的债主们带来巨大损失。而美国试图靠滥发美元转嫁危机,动辄祭起贸易保护主义大旗的做法,更让债主们的心始终悬在半空中。


  中国手中握着9000亿美元的美国国债,还有数千亿美元的美国公司债券,这笔巨额美元资产的安全,已成为中国百姓最关心,也是最不放心的一个问题。就连很多再普通不过的中国老百姓现在都知道,欠我们钱的美国人有点儿不那么地道。


  在中国人还没来得及批评美国时,却迎来了美国某些议员在人民币汇率问题上一轮又一轮的抱怨和施压。这些美国议员似乎以为,他们喊的声音越大,就越是可以转移国际社会对美国经济的忧虑和担心。他们的算盘打错了。世界的目光不会离开美国,因为谁都明白,这场危机的根源在哪里。


  世界希望在G20峰会上,看到美国和它的发达国家的伙伴们,能带来提升经济复苏的具体有效的措施,也希望看到美国能痛下决心,准备对财政运营加强监管,对华尔街的那些投机商们动点真格的。


  作为中国人,我们更希望美国能带来保障中国美元资产安全的具体方案,至少应当在拉动经济复苏方面能让我们放心。如果没有制度的保障,我们不再敢相信美国人的口头承诺。我们已听烦了美国人的抱怨,我们期待看到美国人做的实事。


  引发这一次金融危机的根源并没有彻底消除。世界经济会不会旧病复发,二次探底,在很大程度上都要看美国人能不能彻底改掉大手大脚、借债度日的消费习惯,能不能给华尔街的贪婪本性套上笼头……这一切,世界也都希望早日从美国那儿得到答案。
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