第1361期: What Is the US Debt Limit?

American President again asked Congress to lift the United States debt limit after a meeting Wednesday with the nation’s business leaders.

在周三与美国商界领袖会晤后再次要求国会取消美国的债务上限.

The White House Council of Economic Advisors warned before the meeting that the United States government will default on its obligations if Congress does not raise the debt limit by October 18.

白宫经济顾问委员会在会前警告称，如果国会在 10 月 18 日之前不提高债务限额，美国政府将违约。

A default is a failure to meet the legal obligations of a loan.

违约是指未能履行贷款的法律义务。

The council said millions of Americans might not receive their payments from Social Security and government healthcare. A default could also affect national defense and pandemic services.

该委员会表示，数百万美国人可能无法从社会保障和政府医疗保健中获得付款。违约还可能影响国防和流行病服务。

Since many countries depend on the U.S. monetary policy, it said a default “would likely cause credit markets worldwide to freeze up and stock markets to plunge. Employers around the world would likely have to begin laying off workers.”

由于许多国家依赖美国的货币政策，它表示违约“可能会导致全球信贷市场冻结和股市暴跌。世界各地的雇主可能不得不开始裁员。”

What is the debt limit?

什么是债务限额？

Like some of us, governments sometimes spend more money than they receive from taxes. So, they have to borrow money by issuing bonds, or debts, to be repaid later.

像我们中的一些人一样，政府有时花的钱多于税收。因此，他们必须通过发行债券或债务来借钱，以便日后偿还。

In the U.S., Congress has the power to set a debt limit. It is “the maximum amount of debt that the Department of the Treasury can issue to the public or to other federal agencies.”

在美国，国会有权设定债务限额。那就是“财政部可以向公众或其他联邦机构发行的最大债务金额”。

Since 1960, Congress has changed the debt limit 78 times under both Republican and Democratic administrations to pay for government operations.

自 1960 年以来，在共和党和民主党政府执政期间，国会已 78 次更改债务限额，以支付政府运营费用。

Raising the debt limit does not mean that Treasury has more money to spend. It only permits the U.S. government to “finance existing legal obligations.” When the limit is reached, the Treasury cannot issue more debt or borrow more money.

提高债务上限并不意味着财政部有更多的钱可以花。它只允许美国政府“为现有的法律义务提供资金”。当达到限额时，财政部不能发行更多的债务或借更多的钱。

What is the current situation?

目前情况如何？

In August 2019, the U.S. Congress passed a budget deal, with support from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, that raised spending and suspended the debt limit for two years.

2019 年 8 月，美国国会在共和党和民主党议员的支持下通过了一项预算协议，该协议增加了支出并将债务限额暂停了两年。

Under the agreement, the money borrowed during the suspension of the debt limit will be added to the previous limit of $22 trillion. An additional $6.5 trillion had been borrowed since the 2019 tax cuts and pandemic spending, raising the nation’s debt limit to $28.5 trillion.

根据协议，暂停债务限额期间借入的资金将在之前的限额22万亿美元的基础上增加。自 2019 年减税和大流行支出以来，又借入了 6.5 万亿美元，使该国的债务上限提高到 28.5 万亿美元。

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the federal government has a deficit of $2.7 trillion for the budget year ending in September 2021. The government also ran up deficits each year from 2016 to 2020.

国会预算办公室估计，联邦政府在 2021 年 9 月结束的预算年度的赤字为 2.7 万亿美元。从 2016 年到 2020 年，政府每年都出现赤字。

Technically, the U.S. has already reached its debt limit at the end of July as agreed to in the 2019 budget deal. Once the debt limit is reached, the U.S. cannot borrow more money to pay its bills. But Treasury could and has used “extraordinary measures” like delaying some payments to employees’ retirement funds to avoid a default.

从技术上讲，美国已经在 7 月底达到了 2019 年预算协议中商定的债务上限。一旦达到债务上限，美国就不能再借更多的钱来支付账单。但财政部可以并且已经使用“非常规措施”，例如推迟向员工的退休基金支付部分款项以避免违约。

Unless Congress acts to raise the debt limit, the Bipartisan Policy Center projects that the U.S. will most likely reach the limit between October 15 and November 4. The center added that a default would likely raise borrowing costs as investors will demand a higher rate of return on U.S. debts. Even a short-term default, it said, could also threaten the country’s current economic recovery.

除非国会采取行动提高债务上限，否则两党政策中心预计美国很可能在 10 月 15 日至 11 月 4 日之间达到上限。该中心补充说，由于投资者要求更高的回报率，违约可能会提高借贷成本关于美国债务。它说，即使是短期违约，也可能威胁到该国目前的经济复苏。

Why does the U.S. have a debt limit?

为什么美国有债务上限？

Before World War I, the U.S. Congress permitted borrowing only for special reasons, such as the building of the Panama Canal. In 1917, Congress passed a law that set a debt limit. It gave Treasury some flexibility in dealing with the national debt to pay for the war.

第一次世界大战之前，美国国会只允许出于特殊原因借款，例如巴拿马运河的建设。1917 年，国会通过了一项设定债务限额的法律。它使财政部在处理国债以支付战争费用方面具有一定的灵活性。

The U.S. is one of few countries around the world with a debt limit. Denmark is often noted as another developed country with a debt limit. But Denmark often sets its borrowing limit so high that a default is not really possible.

美国是世界上为数不多的有债务限额的国家之一。丹麦经常被认为是另一个有债务限额的发达国家。但丹麦经常将其借款限额设置得如此之高，以至于违约是不可能的。

For many years in the U.S., raising the debt limit was not an issue. The Republican Party has since only supported increase while it has controlled the White House. It has argued against raising the limit under Democratic administrations.

多年来，在美国，提高债务限额不是问题。此后，共和党只在控制白宫的情况下支持加薪。它反对在民主党政府下提高限额。

Earlier this year, Democratic Congressman Bill Foster of Illinois introduced a bill to end the debt limit. The bill, however, is not guaranteed to pass with the currently divided legislature.

今年早些时候，伊利诺伊州民主党众议员比尔福斯特提出了一项终止债务限额的法案。然而，该法案并不能保证在目前分裂的立法机构中获得通过。

Late on Wednesday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told Democrats he would permit an emergency debt limit extension into December to avoid a default. If the offer is accepted, the U.S. will have to deal with the debt limit again by the end of the year.

周三晚些时候，参议院共和党领袖米奇麦康奈尔告诉民主党人，他将允许紧急债务限额延长至 12 月，以避免违约。如果该提议被接受，美国将不得不在年底前再次处理债务限额问题。