主题：每日环球：为什么非洲欢迎中国（11.4）

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Why Africa welcomes the Chinese

为什么非洲欢迎中国

There is a debate among geopolitical and economic commentators aboutthe merits of Chinese versus western involvement with Africa. Oneargument is that Chinese investmentisexploitative and undermines the development of democracy and humanrights on the continent. Others view the matter in terms ofcompetition, arguing that China is encroaching on the decades-longmonopoly of the west over Africa's natural resources.

Neither ofthese viewpoints addresses the core issues. First, major players inglobal investment and development are discussing Africa withoutengaging its people as equal partners. Second, Africans are not seen tobe proactive in setting their own priorities and terms of engagement.

Developmentaid, fashioned on this skewed relationship, has long been a key sourceof income for the continent. While helpful, aid has not deliveredsustainable development. It is clear that trade and investment bringgreater opportunity for wealth creation. Africa welcomes investment,from the east and west, north and south, and Rwandais no exception. We want investment that offers skills and jobs,encourages entrepreneurship, and provides the opportunity to improvemillions of lives.

This call for investment and trade rather thantraditional aid does not mean the latter's contribution to addressingpoverty is not recognised. However, the fundamental problem with thecurrent development aid practice is the danger countries face as theybecome perpetually reliant on handouts.

So what should those who give aid, and those who receive it, focus on? The primary purpose ofaid should ultimately be to work itself out, leaving a positive legacybehind. Aid should also be used to create opportunities for trade,enhance self-sufficiency and assist with the development of a robustprivate sector to attract investment. In many countries, for example,aid offers resources such as fertilisers for free. The intention isgood but this often prevents local businesses from being able toprovide these goods competitively. Given the choice, people wouldprefer to work and provide for themselves, rather than receive charity.Africans want self-determination and dignity.

原文链接

地缘政治和经济时评家们历来对中国和西方国家介入非洲事务的功过是非褒贬不一。有观点认为，中国对非洲的投资是在剥削和暗中破坏非洲大陆民主和人权的发展进程。还从竞争角度出发的观点认为，中国正在蚕食几十年来由西方国家所垄断的非洲自然资源。

这些观点都没有触及到核心问题。首先，全球投资和开发领域的主要大国们在讨论非洲时从来没有把非洲人视为平等的合作伙伴。其次，非洲人在发出自己的声音以及参与投资事务方面显得消极被动。

造就这种不对等关系的经济发展援助长期以来一直是非洲大陆的主要收入来源。然而这种援助只可解燃眉之急，却不能实现可持续发展。贸易和投资能为创造财富带来更多机会，这是不争的事实。非洲欢迎投资，从东非到西非，北非到南非都是如此，卢旺达也不例外。我们希望投资能为我们带来技术和工作，鼓励创办企业，并提供能改善数百万非洲人民生活的机会。

当然，非洲对投资和贸易的呼声并不能掩盖传统经济援助对解决贫困问题所作出的贡献。而现行援助方式的根本问题在于，其可能会使这些危难之中的国家成为扶不起的阿斗。

那些给予援助以及接受援助的国家需要关注哪些方面呢？援助的主要目的应是授人以渔。援助还应被用于创造贸易机会，提高经济独立，并帮助建立一个能吸引到投资的，健全的私营经济体系。比如说在很多国家，援助方为他们免费提供原料，如化肥。援助方的意向是好的，但这通常阻碍了通过竞争来提供这些商品的当地企业的发展。如果有选择的话，每个人都更愿意自己动手，丰衣足食，而不是靠人施舍过活。非洲人民想要的是自立和尊严。   

----------------------------我是黄金分割线--------------------------

The Chinese Disconnect

克鲁格曼对中国的愤怒

Senior monetary officials usually talk in code. So when Ben Bernanke,the Federal Reserve chairman, spoke recently about Asia, internationalimbalances and the financial crisis, he didn’t specifically criticizeChina’s outrageous currency policy.

But he didn’t have to: everyone got the subtext. China’s badbehavior is posing a growing threat to the rest of the world economy.The only question now is what the world — and, in particular, theUnited States — will do about it.

Some background: The value ofChina’s currency, unlike, say, the value of the British pound, isn’tdetermined by supply and demand. Instead, Chinese authorities enforcedthat target by buying or selling their currency in the foreign exchangemarket — a policy made possible by restrictions on the ability ofprivate investors to move their money either into or out of the country.

There’s nothing necessarilywrong with such a policy, especially in a still poor country whosefinancial system might all too easily be destabilized by volatile flowsof hot money. In fact, the system served China well during the Asianfinancial crisis of the late 1990s. The crucial question, however, iswhether the target value of the yuan is reasonable.

Until around 2001, you could argue that it was: China’s overall tradeposition wasn’t too far out of balance. From then onward, however, thepolicy of keeping the yuan-dollar rate fixed came to look increasinglybizarre. First of all, the dollar slid in value, especially against theeuro, so that by keeping the yuan/dollar rate fixed, Chinese officialswere, in effect, devaluing their currency against everyone else’s.Meanwhile, productivity in China’s export industries soared; combinedwith the de facto devaluation, this made Chinese goods extremely cheapon world markets.

The result was a huge Chinese trade surplus. Ifsupply and demand had been allowed to prevail, the value of China’scurrency would have risen sharply. But Chinese authorities didn’t letit rise. They kept it down by selling vast quantities of the currency,acquiring in return an enormous hoard of foreign assets, mostly indollars, currently worth about $2.1 trillion.

Many economists,myself included, believe that China’s asset-buying spree helped inflatethe housing bubble, setting the stage for the global financial crisis.But China’s insistence on keeping the yuan/dollar rate fixed, even whenthe dollar declines, may be doing even more harm now.

原文链接

金融高官们讲话总喜欢遮遮掩掩，所以当美联储主席本·伯南克最近谈起亚洲，国际性的不平衡以及金融危机这些事情时，他并没有指名道姓地批评中国那令人难以容忍的货币政策。

不过他也没必要这么做：人人都明白他的言下之意。中国的坏习惯正对世界其它经济体造成越来越严重的威胁。现在的问题只是世界各国，尤其是美国还能对中国忍多久。

先介绍一些背景情况：人民币的价值并不像英镑那样是由市场供需所决定的，与此相反，中国政府的做法是以在外汇市场买卖人民币来强行达到目标价值，这项政策之所以能收效，是因为私人投资者不能将资金自由投入或撤离中国。

这种做法从本质上来说并没有错，尤其对于一个仍然贫穷，并且国内金融系统很容易在热钱的冲击之下产生动荡的国家更是如此。实际上，正是这个金融系统帮助中国在1990年代末的亚洲金融危机中躲过一劫。然而现在的关键问题是，人民币的目标价值是否合理。

大约在2001以前，你还可以理直气壮地认为这没有什么问题：中国的总体贸易收支并没有大幅偏离平衡位置。不过中国此后仍实行人民币对美元固定汇率政策则愈发显得不可理喻。首先，美元在贬值，尤其对欧元贬值得更厉害，这样一来，中国官方仍保持人民币对美元固定汇率，实际上人民币对其它所有货币都是在贬值。与此同时，中国出口企业的产能一直维持高位，再加上人民币贬值的既成事实，使得中国商品在全球市场上的售价低得不可思议。

结果造成中国出现巨额贸易顺差。如果此前中国允许人民币价值由市场供需决定的话，人民币将大幅升值。但中国政府并没有任其升值，他们大量抛售人民币，并换回巨额外国资产，其中大部分是美元资产，如今其价值约为2.1万亿美元。

包括我自己在内的很多经济学家都认为，中国毫无节制的资产购置行为助长了房产泡沫，并为全球金融危机埋下伏笔。然而，中国如今仍死抱着人民币对美元固定汇率制不放（即使当美元贬值时也是如此），其所造成的危害可能更甚于以往。      

今天选的这两篇文章挺有意思，一正一反，一褒一贬，至于孰是孰非---还请列位看官自行分辨。