经济学人140:淘金热 一本关于我们囊中物的优秀指南

　　How money works

钱是如何运作的

Gold rush

淘金热

A good guide to the stuff in our pockets

一本关于我们囊中物的优秀指南

Money: The Unauthorised Biography. By Felix Martin.

金钱：非授权自传》。作者：Felix Martin。

ONE story in this surprisingly entertaining book on the nature of money is about the Irish banking 1 crisis. The country's bank system ground to a complete stop, with branches closed, the clearing system suspended and customers unable to withdraw or deposit money. As cash ran out, people had to find a way of paying their regular bills, or even just stumping 2 up for a pint 3 of stout 4 in a pub. What actually happened was that businesses started accepting IOUs or cheques for everything, even though there was no telling when the cash would be forthcoming. It helped that a lot of Irish life is lived locally: builders, greengrocers, mechanics and barmen all turned out to be dab 5 hands at personal credit profiling.

这本关于金钱性质的书出乎意料地有趣，其中一个故事与爱尔兰银行危机有关。爱尔兰的银行系统完全瘫痪，各分行全部关闭，清算系统被暂停，顾客无法存取款。在现金用完后，人们不得不想办法支付日常账单，就连在酒吧为一品脱烈性黑啤埋单也是如此。结果商家开始接受欠条或支票，虽然没人知道现金何时会来。还好爱尔兰人的生活起居很大程度上都可以在当地解决：建筑工、零售店主、机械师和酒保摇身变成了个人信用建档的行家 。

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In short, Ireland developed a new class of money. Its currency was not backed by any central bank, but based solely 6 on informal if surprisingly accurate credit scoring. And the currency was transferable: if certain people said the bond was good, then the bond was good.

总之，爱尔兰发展出一种新的钱种类。其货币不被任何央行支持，仅仅基于非正式却出奇准确的信用记录。并且这种货币是可流通的，如果某些人说债券有效，那么债券就有效。

This particular Irish banking crisis might seem vaguely 7 familiar, but only vaguely. It took place more than 40 years ago, when the Irish financial sector 8 came to a seven-month halt as a result of a national labour dispute. The point of the story is that it supports two of the author's main contentions—first that money is not currency and that sovereign support for currency is not particularly important, and second that financial crises are endemic. No sooner has the last one been put to bed than the next is waking up.

这个奇特的爱尔兰银行危机听起来可能隐约有些熟悉，但也只是隐约而已。那次危机发生在40多年前，当时爱尔兰金融业因全国劳动争议瘫痪了七个月。讲这个故事是因为它支持了作者的两点主张——第一，钱不是货币，并且主权对货币的支持并非特别重要；第二，金融危机是普遍的，刚刚解决一个危机，另一个危机又出现了。

For some people, money is merely something underwritten by the state and designed to enhance a basic barter 9 economy. Felix Martin, an economist 10 and fund manager, goes further. Early societies, such as the Babylonians and the ancient Egyptians, were static, with a fixed 11 hierarchy 12 of social obligations. They had no need of money or currency. Money was the instrument through which later societies unshackled themselves from preordained social orders and became individualistic.

对于一些人来说，金钱仅仅是国家担保的东西，用于增强基本的物物交换。经济学家、基金经理Felix Martin对金钱的理解更进了一步。早期社会，例如巴比伦和古埃及，是静止的，每个阶层承担的社会责任固定不变。这些社会不需要金钱或货币。金钱将之后的社会从上天安排的社会制度中解放出来，变为个人主义。

With money came speculation 13, bringing in turn those endemic financial crises. To ensure greater stability, Mr Martin would like to see the introduction of an ultra-simple version of “limited-purpose banking”. Money must be “shorn of its specious 14 promise” he says; let the state underwrite a tiny core of deposit-taking banks. Everything else—from interest-rate derivatives 15 to collateralised debt obligations should carry on unregulated and uninsured. If you lose your dough 16, tough. You knew the risks. It is a solution that will attract anyone seeking a clean, clear, fair way of managing financial markets. Until they lose their money, of course.

有金钱就有投机，有投机就有普遍的金融危机。为确保稳定性，Martin希望引入超简版的“限制用途银行”。他说，必须“去除”金钱“似是而非的承诺”；让国家为储蓄银行极少的核心业务担保。其他业务—从利率衍生工具到债务抵押债券—应继续不受监管，不受保护。如果你输了钱，糟糕。不过你本来就知道风险的。这个解决方法会吸引寻求以干净、清楚、公正的方式管理金融市场的人。当然在他们自己输钱以前。