DeleveraginginAmerica美国“去杠杆化”进程Debtcalm债务削减Consumersareborrowingagain,buttheeconomyhasbeenslowtorespond虽然消费者们再次把手伸向了“信用卡”,但经济增长的回应却很慢ECONOMISTStryingtoexplainthefeeblepaceofAmerica'srecoveryregularlyblamedeleveraging:themulti-yearprocessofpayingoffthedebtsaccumulatedbeforethecrisis.Yetforhouseholds,atanyrate,deleveraginghasstopped.Mortgagedebtbottomedoutinthemiddleoflastyearandisnowrisingagain.Studentandcarloansarerisingbriskly.Onlyhome-equityandconsumerloanscontinuetoshrivel.Inabsoluteterms,householddebtisrisingagain(seechart).Relativetohouseholdincome,itpeakedat135%in2007,fellto109%attheendof2012,andhasroughlystabilisedaroundthatlevel.那些想要解释美国经济复苏进程放缓的经济学家们,一如既往地表示该问题的罪魁祸首乃“去杠杆化”一个长年以来的过程,以偿还经济危机发生之前所积累的债务。然而对于普通民众来说,无论从何种角度来看,“去杠杆化”已成过去。抵押信贷规模在去年中期触底反弹,而今年则再次呈现出增长的态势。学生贷款和车辆贷款量迅速上升。而只有房屋抵押贷款和消费信贷仍保持“萎靡不振”。如果按绝对量来计算,美国家庭信贷负担再次处于上升阶段。相对于家庭收入水平而言,2007年上述绝对量的指标为现有的135%,而到了2012年末则跌至现有的109%,并随即粗略地稳定在该水平。Banks,afteryearsspentrebuildingcapitalandappeasingregulators,arerampinguplending.Totalbankcreditgrewata7.5%annualrateinthesecondquarter,thefastestsince2007,withgrowthinmostcategoriesofloans.“Therearelotsofpeopleoutthere,lotsofbanksouttherewithalotofliquidity,competingforloans,”thechieffinancialofficerofWellsFargo,oneofthecountry'sbiggestlenders,recentlytoldanalysts.CompetitiontolendtocarbuyershasbecomesofiercethattheOfficeoftheComptrolleroftheCurrency,aregulator,haswarnedofdeterioratingstandards,withloansroutinelyexceeding100%ofthecar'svalue.多年来,银行一直都在重新积累资本,都在对市场监管者进行安抚工作,而现在则开始扩大自己的信贷业务规模。在本年第二个季度里,银行总放贷量录得7.5%的提升,且大部分资金级别的贷款业务均得到了增长,而这是自2007年以来的单季最高增长速度。富国银行的CFO近日向分析师透露:“现在不仅有着大量需要贷款的人,同时也有大批具有充足流动性并且能够提供贷款的银行存在,后者要通过竞争来抢夺客户。”目前,汽车贷款市场的竞争已经十分激烈,作为监管者的美国货币监理署正警告着信贷机构,要他们留意日益下降的放贷审核标准,因为汽车贷款的规模已经一如既往地突破了车辆销售总额。Thatborrowingisontheriseagainshouldcomeasnosurprise.Twostudies,onebytwoeconomists,CarmenandVincentReinhart,andonebytheMcKinseyGlobalInstitute,athink-tankwithinaconsultancy,bothfoundthatpriorepisodesofpost-crisisdeleveraginglastedsixtosevenyearsonaverage—justlikethepresentone.信贷总量的再次攀升并不应该让人感到惊讶。一份由两位经济学家Carmen和VincentReinhart完成的报告,以及另一份由麦肯锡公司内部的智库麦肯锡全球研究所所完成的报告,两份资料都发现了在上一次的“后经济危机时期”当中,“去杠杆化”的债务削减总体来说持续了六到七年,正如此次经济危机所发生的一样。Intheory,deleveragingshouldendwhendebtsareatasustainablelevel,butthatisdifficulttomeasure.ArecentworkingpaperbythreeeconomistsattheEuropeanCentralBankpointsoutthatthedebtconsumerscanbearvarieswithinterestrates,houseprices,therateofhome-ownership,theshareofthepopulationaged35-54,thedepositfirst-timehouse-buyersarerequiredtomakeandtheforeclosurerate.Americandebtexceededthe“equilibrium”levelbysome25%ofhouseholdincomeatthestartoftherecovery.Sincethenanimprovementinmanyo...