至于当今的模式究竟是繁荣还是荒谬,引用肯尼迪的话颇为恰当:“货币不仅有助于商品和服务的交换,也可能阻碍商品和服务的交换,因为它被那些拥有超出所需财富的人握在手中。于是它形成了一个私人收费站,那些所拥有的钱不足所需的人,要向那些拥有超出所需钱财的人缴纳费用。这绝非‘公平的交易’。事实上,在大多数民主国家,我们目前的货币制度都可以被称为‘违宪’。”13

As for whether the prevailing model is prosperous or preposterous, it is apt to quote Kennedy: “Money does not only help the exchange of goods and services but can also hinder the exchange of goods and services by being kept in the hands of those who have more than they need. Thus it creates a private tollgate where those who have less than they need pay a fee to those who have more money than they need. This is by no means a “fair deal”. In fact, our present monetary systems could be termed “unconstitutional” in most democratic nations” 13.

政府通过多种手段来支付其开支，并推动大型企业的增长（这种增长很少惠及普通民众）。随之而来的经济萧条则由一套复杂的税收体系来弥补，这套体系几乎涵盖生活的方方面面：所得税、公用事业税和隐性税收、通货膨胀、救市纾困、补贴、养老金与福利削减，更不必说在发展中国家推动贸易自由化的种种努力。资本主义经济制度之所以充斥着危机、战争与革命，也就不足为奇了。

The government covers its expenditure and promotes growth of the corporations (which rarely trickles down to the common man) by several means. The resulting bust is covered by a complex set of taxes which covers almost every aspect of life: income taxes, utility taxes and stealth taxes, inflation, bail outs, subsidies, pension and welfare cuts and not to mention efforts to liberalise trade in developing countries. It is not surprising that the capitalist economic system is punctuated with crises, wars and revolutions.

繁荣并不总是紧随萧条而来。仅以西方和过去的几次危机为例,只能揭示部分事实。当前这种规模的危机,已足以让许多西方评论者探讨资本主义经济体系可能走向末日的情景。未来若再犯类似错误,后果必将更为严重;坐等这样的致命打击,显然是愚蠢的。西方的问题往往通过全球性投资转嫁出去,由其他国家承受其冲击。即便不举这些例子,1997年的亚洲金融危机也是一个明显的例证:萧条之后并未迎来随之而来的繁荣。印度尼西亚曾是一只“老虎经济体”(这是对20世纪90年代增长最快的经济体的称呼),如今却仍在1130亿美元的外债压力下步履蹒跚。马来西亚出手干预,阻止了萧条的蔓延,并已成长为一个相对成功的中等强国,然而却因此被指责为对资本主义和自由市场的威胁。14

Booms will not always follow busts. Taking the west and the past crises as an example, only reveals part of the story. A crisis of the current magnitude has sufficed for many western commentators to discuss apocalyptic scenarios for the capitalist economic system. A future mistake would certainly be more severe; awaiting such a fatal blow is patently foolish. Western problems are often exported via global ventures, where other countries absorb the brunt. Even without resorting to such examples, the 1997 Asian crisis stands as a clear example of a bust gone without a subsequent boom. Once a tiger economy (a term for the fastest growing economies in the 1990s) Indonesia continues to reel with $113bn of external debt. Malaysia intervened to prevent the bust and has emerged as a relatively successful middle power, only to be criticised as a threat to capitalism and the free market14.

美国的财政赤字高得惊人，超过其国内生产总值的三分之二（联邦债务超过10万亿美元；若计入未资金化的义务，则升至约60万亿美元）。外国持有的美国国债超过2.6万亿美元。由于美元长期走弱，外国投资者的购买意愿正在下降，现有债务主要由日本、中国以及石油出口国的央行持有。美国的产品出口市场日益萎缩，既面临外国竞争性进口产品的冲击，也面临海外激烈的竞争，对出口市场的依赖却不断加深。即便是科威特这样的弱国也在退出美元挂钩制度，转而选择一篮子国际货币。对最大银行的救助又将更多债务压入一个摇摇欲坠的体系。除了本身不稳定的金融体系之外，全球政治经济的任何变化都可能对国家的健康造成严重影响。资本主义制度似乎无法自我纠正，因为要做到这一点，它就必须破坏自身。

The US displays obscene deficits of over 2/3 of its GDP (over $10 trillion of Federal debt and when unfunded obligations are included this raises it to around $60 trillion). Foreign owners of US treasury securities exceed $2.6 trillion. There is declining willingness of foreign investors due to the long term falling dollar, and the existing debt is owned in particular by Japanese, Chinese, and oil exporting central banks. The US faces increased dependency on diminishing export markets for its products due to competitive foreign imports and fierce competition overseas. Even weak countries such as Kuwait are pulling out of the dollar peg and opting for a basket of international currencies. The bailouts of the largest banks are loading further debt into a system teetering on the edge. In addition to its inherently unstable financial system, any changes in the global political economy can have serious implications for the health of the state. The capitalist system appears to be non-correctable, as it would need to undermine itself to do it.