Much has been written about how the developed world must tackle its structural budget deficits. But the link that remains to be properly recognised is that the counterparts to those “unsustainable” public-sector budget deficits are equally “unsustainable” corporate-sector surpluses.
关于发达世界该如何解决其结构性预算赤字的问题已多有论述。但人们仍未正确认识的一种关系是，与那些“不可持续的”公共部门预算赤字相对应的是同样“不可持续的”企业部门盈余。
The conventional wisdom believes that the current sovereign debt crisis is the result of governments having been too profligate. But it is not that governments have been spending “too much” that is the problem; it is that corporates have been spending “too little”. Moreover, because this corporate saving is
传统观点认为，当前的主权债务危机是政府挥霍无度的结果。但问题不在于政府花得“太多”，而是企业花得“太少”。此外，由于政府借款主要对应的是企业储蓄，在企业再次开始支出之前，财政调整将不得不倚赖削减公共服务和提高个人税收。现在是时候停止讨论财政状况了，相反，我们应聚焦于这是否是因为对发达世界财政危机负有责任的企业行为发生了转变。
the main counterpart to the government’s borrowing, until companies start to spend again, the burden of fiscal adjustment will have to fall on cutbacks in public services and higher personal taxation. It is time to shift the debate away from talking about the fiscal position, and focus instead on whether it is a shift in corporate behaviour that is responsible for the fiscal mess in the developed world.
企业部门出现持续财务盈余是非常罕见的。回顾半个多世纪以来的英美两国，企业部门往往是净借款者，而非净储蓄者。