+ 미정부 업무정지 사태 / 미 의사당은 여전히 어둡다

 

 

 

미정부 업무정지 사태 / 미 의사당은 여전히 어둡다

 

 

미 의사당은 여전히 어둡다...

Still dark on Capitol Hill...

 

 

Demystifying the US debt ceiling: 5 things you should know

 

Published time: October 09, 2013 17:02 Get short URL

Reuters / Jonathan Ernst

Crisis, Finance, Global economy,USA

미정부가 10월 17일에 소위 부채상한금액 16.7조 달러에 도달할 것이기에, 세계 최대경제국이 돈이 떨어질 것이란 두려운 전망이 세계의 머릿기사를 차지하고 있다. 그럼 미대통령과 국회의원들이 문제를 해결치 못하는 이유는 무엇인가? 그것에 관해 러시아투데이는 모스크바 금융전문가 크리스위퍼의 말을 통해 5가지 이유를 분석해낸다.

 

As the US government is about to hit its so-called debt ceiling of $16.7 trillion on Oct. 17, the frightening prospect of the world’s biggest economy running out of cash is dominating headlines around the globe

 

So, in an effort to shine some light on what exactly the debt ceiling means to all of us, Business RT spoke to leading Moscow financial expert Chris Weafer, a senior partner at Macro-Advisory.com.

 

1. 부채 상한금액이 무엇인지 정확하게 알고 있는가?

What exactly is the “debt ceiling?”

 

이는 1917년 이래로 제정된 미국정부가 법적으로 끌어들일 수 있는 법정부채금액 한도액을 뜻한다.

미국이 부채상한액에 도달할때 그 나라는 특별한 수단을 강구해서 의회와 협의하여 상한액을 올리는 작업을 했어야 한다.

 

The US debt ceiling has existed for almost a century, and describes the maximum amount of money the US can legally borrow. The country introduced the legislative limit on its debt back in 1917, and since them it has stipulated the affordable amount of national debt that can be issued by the US Treasury. As of Sept. 25, the US Treasury reported federal government debt at just shy of $16.7 trillion ($16,699,396,000,000.00, to be exact) in its daily statement, a figure which has been reported for 130 days straight. This is about $25 billion shy of the precise legal limit – $16,699,421,095,673.60. When the US approaches this debt limit, it can take some “extraordinary measures” to buy some time before Congress agrees to raise the ceiling. In its entire history, the US has so far never reached the point of default, where Treasury can’t pay its debt obligations.

 

 

2. 미국 부채를 지고 있는 당사자들은?

Who holds the US debt?

 

 

 

미국 부채의 3분지 2 금액은 미국내 채권자가 쥐고있다. 그중 미국 국민과 재정기관은 31.7%의 미 재무부 채권을 쥐고있다. 중국이나 일본을 포함한 외국이 쥐고 있는 금액이 나머지 34%에 이른다. 이들 나라는 미정부에 경고하길 채무불이행에 이르지 말라고 했다.

 

The US owes about two-thirds of its debt to US-based creditors, with almost 66 percent of the country’s debt held domestically. US individuals and financial institutions hold around 31.7 percent of US Treasuries, with the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, which holds some 12 percent of the debt. Foreign creditors, including China and Japan, own an estimated 34 percent of total US government debt. These two “big lender” countries have recently urged the US to take decisive steps to avoid a default.

 

3. 미국은 빌린 돈으로 무엇을 하고 있는가?

What does the US borrow the money for?

 

미국은 거대 지출국가인데, 이 나라의 국민이건 정부건 그들이 버는 것보다 더 많은 금액을 지출해왔다.

 

2012년도에 정부지출의 22%는 사회보장에 지출되었다. 그돈이 건강보험을 빈민에게 제공하려는 것인데 막대한 지출을 두고서 갈등이 벌어지고 있다.

 

세번째 최대지출인 19%는 국방부의 전비지출인데 이라크, 아프간 등지에 나간다. 이는 엄청난 지출부담인데 특히 국토안보부는 테러와의 전쟁을 한다는 명분으로 8천억달러의 지출을 해왔다.

 

In the US, often referred to as a “big-spending” country, both individuals and the government have habitually spent more than they earn, pushing the economy deeper into debt.“Just like any ordinary individual, the choice is either to cut back on spending or to borrow money to bridge the gap,” Weafer says.

 

In 2012, 22 percent of total government expenditures went to social security (means-tested payments to the poor and unemployed), while 21 percent was spent on health care, again mostly for poor Americans who cannot afford private health insurance. The third largest expenditure item is defense at 19 percent. In recent decades, the US defense bill has ballooned, mainly due to costly wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. The so-called “War on Terror” has also added greatly to the debt burden, while the Department of Homeland Security, created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US, has cost taxpayers more than a cumulative $800 billion.

 

The biggest contributory factor to the fast-growing debt mountain in recent years, however, has been the economic crisis that began in 2008. Apart from hundreds of billions of dollars paid out to rescue failing Wall Street banks that had made too many toxic loans, the US government has also paid out large amounts on vital social programs to aid the growing “army of the unemployed.” Coupled with the Bush-era tax cuts to the rich and big business, lower average incomes and greater unemployment have hit government tax revenues hard, sending federal government debt sky-high.

 

 

4. 미국은 달러화를 인쇄해서 부채를 갚을수가 없는가?

Why can’t they simply print more dollars and pay their debt?

 

세계 어떤 경제도 인쇄한 돈을 돌릴수없고 또 인쇄할수도 없다. 그것은 자국 통화를 가치없게 만들기 때문이다.

 

No economy in the world can simply turn on its printing presses and create as much cash as it wishes, as this would make its currency worthless. “If the amount of currency in issue is not sensibly related to the strength of the economy, then foreign trade partners will … devalue the currency quickly,” Weafer explains. “If you have one asset and income source which allows you to issue one dollar, and then you print one more dollar, everybody else will see what you have done and will value your one dollar at only fifty cents. Some countries have done that in the past, but in those cases people soon had to use suitcases just to carry enough currency to buy a loaf of bread.”

 

Under the Bretton Woods financial system, established in 1944, the amount of currency in circulation was linked to gold reserves. But in 1971, the US abandoned this system and started to include a number of other economic factors, based on a recognized ability to service debt and prevent inflation, and maintain orderly trade with the rest of the world.

 

 

5. 미국의 채무불이행은 세계 인류에게 어떤 크고 작은 영향을 끼치는가?

How would a US default affect people around the world, on a macro and personal level?

 

미국이 채무불이행하면 세계 금융은 말그대로 얼어붙는다, 라고 위퍼는 말한다. 은행들이 위험 대출을 회수할 것이기 때문에 미경제는 경기침체로 들어가며 세계 경제는 빠르게 영향을 받는다.

 

If the US defaulted, then the world’s financial system “would start to freeze up,” Weafer says. “Banks would pull back from risk and lending. The US economy would slide towards recession and the global economy would quickly be affected.” A prolonged US default would lead to job losses everywhere and much tougher borrowing conditions for companies and individuals, he adds.

“A short period of default would also have a bad effect in that it would hurt confidence in the world’s financial system,” he says. “Bankers and investors would assume that a short-term fix in the US would mean it would only be a matter of time before the same issue arises again in 2014. The resulting caution would make life that much tough

er for all of us.”

 

http://rt.com/business/debt-ceiling-default-usa-931/

요약번역출처: http://blog.daum.net/petercskim/7866423