2023年经济学人 丢失的五千亿美元(2)

 

 

    But use of the facility has jumped in recent years, owing to vast quantitative¹ easing (QE) during covid-19 and regulatory tweaks which left banks laden² with cash.

    但近年来，由于新冠肺炎期间的大规模量化宽松以及监管方面的微调--这让银行背上了大量现金--该工具的使用大幅增加。

    QE creates deposits: when the Fed buys a bond from an investment fund, a bank must intermediate the transaction.

    量化宽松创造了存款：当美联储从投资基金购买债券时，银行必须为交易提供中介。

    The fund’s bank account swells³; so does the bank’s reserve account at the Fed.

    基金的银行账户膨胀，银行在美联储的储备账户也在膨胀。

    From the start of QE in 2020 to its end two years later, deposits in commercial banks rose by $4.5trn, roughly equal to the growth in the Fed’s own balance-sheet.

    从2020年量化宽松开始到两年后结束，商业银行存款增加了4.5万亿美元，大致相当于美联储自身资产负债表的增长。

    For a while banks could cope with the inflows because the Fed decided⁴ at the start of covid to ease a regulation known as the “supplementary leverage⁵ ratio” (SLR).

    在一段时间内，银行可以应对资金流入，因为美联储在疫情开始时决定放松一项被称为“补充杠杆率”的规定。

    This stopped the growth in commercial banks’ balance-sheets from forcing them to raise more capital, allowing them to safely use the inflow of deposits to increase holdings of Treasury⁶ bonds and cash.

    这阻止了商业银行因资产负债表的增长而被迫筹集更多资本，使它们能够安全地利用流入的存款增持美国国债和现金。

    Banks duly took the opportunity, buying $1.5trn of Treasury and agency bonds.

    银行及时抓住了这个机会，购买了1.5万亿美元的美国国债和机构债券。

    Then in March 2021 the Fed let the exemption⁷ from the SLR lapse⁸.

    然后，在2021年3月，美联储让对补充杠杆率的减免失效。

    As a result, banks found themselves swimming in unwanted cash.

    结果，银行发现自己被过多的现金淹没。

    They shrank by cutting their borrowing from money-market funds, which instead chose to park their cash at the Fed.

    它们减少了从货币市场基金的借款，而货币市场基金则选择将现金存放在美联储。

    By 2022 the funds had $1.7trn deposited overnight in the Fed’s reverse-repo facility, compared with a few billion a year earlier.

    到2022年，基金隔夜存入美联储逆回购工具的资金达到1.7万亿美元，而一年前只有数十亿美元。

    After the fall of SVB, America’s small and midsized banks fear deposit outflows.

    硅谷银行倒闭后，美国的中小型银行担心存款外流。

    The problem is that monetary⁹ tightening¹⁰ has made them still more likely.

    问题是，货币紧缩使得存款外流更有可能出现。

    Gara Afonso and colleagues at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York find that use of money-market funds rises along with rates, since returns adjust faster than those from bank deposits.

    纽约联邦储备银行的加拉·阿方索和他的同事发现，货币市场基金的使用随着利率上升而上升，因为回报的调整速度快于银行存款的调整速度。

    Indeed, the Fed has raised the rate on overnight-reverse-repo transactions from 0.05% in February 2022 to 4.8%, making it much more alluring¹¹ than the going bank-deposit rate of 0.4%.

    的确，美联储已经将隔夜逆回购交易的利率从2022年2月的0.05%上调至4.8%，使其比目前0.4%的银行存款利率更具吸引力。

    The amount money-market funds parked at the Fed through the reverse-repo facility--and thus outside the banking¹² system--jumped by half a trillion dollars in the same period.

    同期，货币市场基金通过逆回购工具存放在美联储的资金--也就是存放在银行系统以外的资金--跃升了5000亿美元。

    For those lacking a banking licence, leaving money in the repo facility is a better bet than leaving it in a bank.

    对于那些没有银行执照的机构来说，把钱留在回购工具里比把钱放在银行里更好。

    Not only is the yield considerably¹³ higher, but there is simply no reason to worry about the Fed going bust¹⁴.

    不仅收益率高得多，而且根本没有理由担心美联储会破产。

    Money-market funds could in effect become “narrow banks”: institutions that back consumer deposits with central-bank reserves, rather than higher-return but riskier¹⁵ assets.

    货币市场基金实际上可能变成“狭义银行”：用央行储备支持消费者存款的机构，而不是高回报高风险的资产。

    A narrow bank cannot make loans to firms or write mortgages. Nor can it go bust.

    狭义银行不能向公司发放贷款，也不能发放抵押贷款。它也不会破产。

    The Fed has long been sceptical of such institutions, fretting¹⁶ that they would undermine banks.

    长期以来，美联储一直对此类机构持怀疑态度，担心它们会削弱银行。

    In 2019 officials denied TNB USA, a startup aiming to create a narrow bank, a licence.

    2019年，官员们拒绝了给TNB USA发放执照，这是一家想要创建狭义银行的初创公司。

    A similar concern has been raised about opening the Fed’s balance-sheet to money-market funds.

    对于向货币市场基金开放美联储的资产负债表，人们也提出了类似的担忧。

    When the reverse-repo facility was set up, Bill Dudley, then the president of the New York Fed, worried it could lead to the “disintermediation of the financial system”.

    当逆回购工具设立时，时任纽约联邦储备银行行长的比尔·达德利担心，逆回购工具可能导致“金融体系的非中介化”。

    During a financial crisis it could exacerbate¹⁷ instability with funds running out of riskier assets and onto the Fed’s balance-sheet.

    在金融危机期间，这可能会加剧不稳定，因为资金会从风险较高的资产逃入美联储的资产负债表。

    There is no sign yet of a dramatic rush.

    目前还没有戏剧性的资金狂奔迹象。

    For now, the banking system is dealing¹⁸ with a slow bleed.

    目前，银行系统正在应对缓慢的资金流失。

    But deposits are growing scarcer as the system is squeezed--and America’s small and midsized banks could pay the price.

    但随着金融体系受到挤压，存款在变得越来越稀缺--美国的中小型银行可能会为此付出代价。

1 quantitative   

adj.数量的，定量的

参考例句：

• He said it was only a quantitative difference.他说这仅仅是数量上的差别。
• We need to do some quantitative analysis of the drugs.我们对药物要进行定量分析。

2 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

3 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 exemption   

n.豁免，免税额，免除

参考例句：

• You may be able to apply for exemption from local taxes.你可能符合资格申请免除地方税。
• These goods are subject to exemption from tax.这些货物可以免税。

8 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

9 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

10 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

11 alluring   

adj.吸引人的，迷人的

参考例句：

• The life in a big city is alluring for the young people. 大都市的生活对年轻人颇具诱惑力。
• Lisette's large red mouth broke into a most alluring smile. 莉莎特的鲜红的大嘴露出了一副极为诱人的微笑。

12 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

13 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

14 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

15 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

16 fretting   

n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的

参考例句：

• Fretting about it won't help. 苦恼于事无补。
• The old lady is always fretting over something unimportant. 那位老妇人总是为一些小事焦虑不安。

17 exacerbate   

v.恶化，增剧，激怒，使加剧

参考例句：

• WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution.世界气象组织说，气候变暖可能会加剧空气污染。
• In fact efforts will merely exacerbate the current problem.实际上努力只会加剧当前的问题。

18 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。