金融世界第 21 讲: 国际货币基金组织

上一讲中我们介绍了两个重要的国际组织：International Monetary Fund－国际货币基金组织和 World Trade Organisation－世界贸易组织。

这两个在二次大战期间和之后相继成立的国际组织为稳定世界经济秩序发挥了重要的作用。但是澳广金融节目主持人巴里克拉克说，战后的国际经济也有它的黑暗面：

While the IMF and the GATT, created during and after World war II, were part of the explanation for trade expansion and income growth in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, there was a darker side to the post-war international economy. 尽管在二次大战期间和之后成立的国际货币基金组织及关贸总协定是二十世纪五十、六十及七十年代贸易扩展和收入增加的原因之一，战后的国际经济也有它更黑暗的一面。

Problems began to develop with the international financial system, caused, in large part, by the failure of countries experiencing fundamental balance of payments problems to devalue or revalue their currencies. 国际金融系统开始出现问题，大部分是由于那些国际收支平衡出现重大问题的国家没能将其货币贬值或或对币值作重新调整。

Also, the US dollars which had been in scarce supply in the 1940s became all too available in the 1960s, to the point at which the world was 'awash with dollars'. The dollar's value vis a vis other currencies was now being challenged. 另外，在四十年代供不应求的美元到了六十年代就变得供过于求，甚至到了美元在整个世界泛滥的地步。美元与其它货币的比值现在受到了挑战。

It was essentially this challenge to the core currency which led to the breakdown of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system in the period 1971 to 1973. 正是这种对核心货币的挑战导致了布雷顿森林固定汇率制在1971到1973年的垮台。

巴里克拉克在谈话中用了这样几个词：

1 devalue 贬值
2 revalue 调整币值
3 vis-a-vis 相比
4 awash with dollars 美元泛滥

澳大利亚昆士兰大学经济系教授托尼梅金接下来谈了国际货币基金组织功能上的变化：

The IMF basically had to reinvent itself with the breakdown of the Bretton Woods, for which it was established. In the 1970s and 80s it was seeking out a new rationale for its existence and , more recently, it's taken on a role more akin to the traditional role that it had, and that is to arrange funds for countries experiencing difficulties with the balance of payments and exchange rate. 随着使它诞生的布雷顿森林货币体制的崩溃，国际货币基金组织必需重新确立自己的地位。在一九七十和八十年代，它不断为自己的存在寻求新的依据。近些年它又扮演起更象它传统上曾扮演过的角色，也就是为在国际收支平衡和兑换率方面遇到困难的国家提供资金。

But the nature of its activities now has changed quite significantly from what it used to be. It used to be the case that the IMF had to arrange funds to economies that could not sustain exchange rates at the given fixed levels, now its role is to provide funds to countries that have experienced currency crises, and economies experiencing liquidity problems. 但是国际货币基金组织工作的性质与过去相比却有了巨大的变化。过去它需要为那些无法把货币比率维持在商定的固定水平的国家筹措资金。现在它需要为遭受货币危机或流动资产问题困扰的国家提供资金。

It plays the part of a fire rescue team, if you like. There's been a firestorm in the financial markets of an economy and the IMF is akin to the fire brigade, they're coming along and they diagnose the situation and apply remedies. 可以说国际货币基金组织扮演的是消防队的角色。某个国家的金融市场发生“火灾”，国基组织就如同消防队到现场对火情作出判断并加以抢救。

梅金教授在谈话中使用了这样几个英语词汇：

1 reinvent 彻底改造，重新确立
2 rationale 合理性，依据
3 akin 类似的
4 liquidity 流动资产，清偿债务能力

尽管国际货币基金组织不断遇到金融危机的国家伸出援手，在帮助这些国家渡过难关方面发挥积极的作用。但它采取的方式也受到一些经济学家的批评。美国密执安大学的克雷宁教授对国基组织在一九九十年代的亚洲金融危机中采取的行动就提出了看法。他说：

IMF advice has been all too uniform across countries. In other words, countries vary a great deal. Some of them really should have a Keynesian expansionary type policy, rather than contractionary type policy, while the IMF always places the same kind of requirements on all countries. By the way, I get the feeling that this is changing, in other words that the IMF management is changing its view about macro-policies and we will see greater variety in its recommendations now. 克雷宁教授说，国际货币基金组织对各国提出的建议总是一成不变。换句话说，各国的情况有很大的不同，一些国家实际上需要的是凯恩斯式的扩张性金融政策而不是收缩性的政策，但国基组织总是对所有国家都提出同样的要求。不过我感觉到这种情况正在发生变化，也就是说国基组织的管理层正在改变他们对宏观经济政策的观点，我们现在将会看到它提出更多不同的建议。