2008年11月，《纽约时报》报道称，美国财政部已实际承诺（迄今为止）投入高达7.8万亿美元，用于各类救助方案，旨在挽救美国经济并使金融体系得以维持运转。

In November 2008 the NY Times reported that the US Treasury had effectively (and so far) committed a staggering 7.8 Trillion Dollars to assorted bailout schemes, designed to save the US economy and enable the system to continue.

$1.7万亿的贷款（企业以难以变现的证券作为抵押，向政府借款）。

$1.7 Trillion in loans (Companies are borrowing from the government, using hard-to-sell securities as collateral).

3.0万亿美元的投资（政府已购买股票和公司债券，并将购买抵押贷款）。

$3.0 Trillion in investments (The government has bought stock and corporate debt and will buy mortgages).

$3.1万亿美元的担保（政府为公司债券、货币市场基金以及部分存款账户中的资金提供担保）3.

$3.1 Trillion in guarantees (The government is guaranteeing corporate bonds, money market funds and money in some deposit accounts) 3.

除此之外，将两家主要的抵押贷款公司房利美（Fannie Mae）和房地美（Freddie Mac）收归国有，实际上使美国政府账上增加了5.3万亿美元的抵押贷款负债。

In addition to the above, the action of nationalising the two main mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac effectively adds another $5.3 Trillion in mortgage liabilities to the US government books.

关于金融体系内最终需要消化的损失规模，各方尚无共识。国际货币基金组织最初估计损失约为1万亿美元，现在则表示这一数字过低。努里埃尔·鲁比尼估计最终损失将超过2万亿美元，还有人谈到超过5万亿美元。即便是对5000亿至1万亿美元的衍生品"山峰"只进行小幅减记，也会使上述巨额数字显得微不足道。银行体系内承担的交易对手风险，远大于即使是全球最大的政府联手也能覆盖的范围。美国国内生产总值为14万亿美元，而美国已是债务最多的国家，政府赤字超过10万亿美元，其来年的预算赤字可能膨胀至1万亿美元以上，尤其是在新任总统巴拉克·奥巴马承诺推出刺激计划的情况下。人们对政府行动缺乏透明度的担忧也日益加深。彭博社于11月10日报道称："美联储拒绝披露获得近2万亿美元紧急贷款的机构名单，也不公布其作为抵押品接受的问题资产。尽管美联储曾向国会保证，会对7000亿美元的银行体系救助计划保持透明。两个月后，美联储在并不需要国会批准的另外几项救助计划中所提供的贷款远超这一数额，美国民众无从得知这些资金的去向，也不知道银行以何种证券作为回报进行抵押。"

There is little consensus on the ultimate scale of losses to be absorbed within the Financial system. The IMF originally estimated about $1 trillion in losses and now says that will be too low. Nouriel Roubini has estimated eventual losses of over $2 trillion and others talk of more than $5 trillion. Even a small percentage write down on the 500 to 1,000 trillion derivatives mountain could make these large figures look tiny. The counterparty risk carried within the banking system is far greater than that which can be covered by even the largest governments acting together. US GDP is $14 trillion, and the US is already the greatest debtor nation with a more than $10 trillion government deficit, and its budget deficit in the coming year may balloon to more than $1 trillion, particularly with the stimulus package that the new President Barack Obama is promising. There is also growing disquiet over the lack of transparency in the governments actions. Bloomberg reported on the 10th of November, “The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral. Despite assurances given to Congress over transparency in the $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later the Fed is lending far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn’t require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where the money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return4".

Armored Wolf Asset Managers的Ronald Solberg博士指出，美国政府实际上已经变成了一家银行，更糟糕的是，它在没有任何抵押的情况下发放贷款。美联储的资产负债表正在急剧膨胀：在截至10月8日的8周内，货币基础以前所未有的38%增长至1.142万亿美元，而且看不出有放缓的迹象。5

Dr Ronald Solberg of Armored Wolf Asset Managers highlighted that the US government has effectively become a bank and worst still is offering loans without any security. The Fed’s balance sheet is dramatically growing - in the 8 weeks to Oct 08 the monetary base grew an unprecedented 38% to $1.142 trillion and shows no signs of slowing down 5.

然而，注入银行资产负债表的储备金并未扩散到更广泛的经济之中。

However, reserves injected into the balance sheets of the banks have not been disseminated into the broader economy.

银行正在用这些现金修复并缩减其资产负债表，也就是冲销其坏账。

The banks are using the cash to repair and shrink their balance sheets – ie write off their bad debts.

目前人们严重怀疑救助计划能否奏效，以及信贷紧缩何时才能结束，因为银行正在去杠杆化并冲销其损失。

So there are serious questions over how effective the bailout schemes will be and how soon the credit crunch will be over as banks deleverage and write off their losses.

毫无疑问，各方都承诺会采取一切必要措施，使经济免于彻底崩溃，并防止美国主要金融机构的清算。但这笔资金从何而来，却不太确定。美国政府面临以下几种选择：大幅削减社会、医疗和福利项目的开支，大幅提高税收，增加海外借款，或者直接印钞。削减开支和提高税收这两种选择都行不通，也无法筹集所需的数万亿美元，因此，这笔钱要么来自外国贷款（包括购买美国国债），要么通过印钞来获取，而印钞实际上会使货币贬值并引发通货膨胀。外国政府是否会继续为美国提供资金，也值得怀疑，尤其是在美国消费者减少购买中国和日本商品的情况下。已经持有1.8万亿美元美国债券的中国政府，也不太可能想要进一步增持一种可能陷入崩溃的货币。

The commitment to do whatever is necessary to save the economy from absolute collapse and the winding up of the major financial institutions of the US is unquestioned. Where this money would come from is less certain. The US government is faced with the choice of: massively curtailing expenditure on social, health and welfare projects, raising taxes dramatically, increasing borrowing from overseas, or literally printing the money. As the first two options of cutting spending and raising taxes is not tenable and cannot raise the necessary trillions needed, the money will come from either foreign loans including the holding of US Treasury bills or via printing money which will effectively devalue the currency and cause a hike in inflation. It is questionable as to whether foreign governments will continue to fund the US particularly as the US consumer will slow down in its purchase of Chinese and Japanese goods. The Chinese government which already holds $1.8 Trillion in US bonds is also unlikely to want to further increase its holdings of a currency which could go into meltdown.

如果美国政府未能从外国来源追回这笔资金,那么除了大幅增加美元货币供应量之外别无选择,而这将造成通货膨胀或恶性通货膨胀。政府收购银行的不良债务,使政府本身成为风险更高的投资对象。政府也容易出现违约。随着西方经济迅速萎缩、税收下降而公共支出上升,这种风险比危机刚爆发时更大。因此,金融危机会引发经济危机,进而导致政治危机。

If the US government fails in extracting this money from foreign sources then there is no alternative but for a massive increase in the US money supply which will be inflationary or hyperinflationary. With Governments buying up bank’s bad debts Governments themselves become riskier propositions for investment. Governments are vulnerable to defaults. The risk of this is greater now then at the start of the crisis as Western economies rapidly contract with tax revenues falling and public spending on the rise. Thus a financial crisis precipitates an economic crisis leading to a political crisis.