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Foreword前言WarrenMoslerisararebird:aself-taughteconomistwhoisnotacrank;asuccessfulinvestorwhoisnotablowhard;abusinesspersonwithatalentforteaching;afinancierwithatruecommitmenttothepublicgood.Wehaveco-authoredtestimonyandtheoccasionalarticle,andIattestfirmlythathiscontributionstothoseeffortsexceededmine.沃伦·莫斯勒是一种稀有的人：自学成才的经济学家，他不是怪人；他是一个成功的投资者，他不吹牛；他是一个具有教学天赋的商人；一个能把事实真相告诉公众的金融家。我们有共同撰写的证词和偶尔写的文章，并且我坚定地证明他在这方面成就超过了我。Manyeconomistsvaluecomplexityforitsownsake.Aglanceatanymoderneconomicsjournalconfirmsthis.Atrulyincomprehensibleargumentcanbringalotofprestige!Theproblem,though,isthatwhenanargumentappearsincomprehensible,thatoftenmeansthepersonmakingitdoesn’tunderstanditeither.(IwasjustatameetingofEuropeancentralbankersandinternationalmonetaryeconomistsinHelsinki,Finland.Afteronepaper,IaskedaverydistinguishedeconomistfromSwedenhowmanypeoplehethoughthadfollowedthemath.Hesaid,“Zero.”)Warren’sgiftistransparentlucidity.Hethinksthingsthroughassimplyashecan.(Andheputsalotofworkintothis-truesimplicityishard.)Hefavorsthefamiliarmetaphor,andthehomelyexample.Youcanexplainhisreasoningtomostchildren(atleasttomine),toanycollegestudentandtoanyplayerinthefinancialmarkets.Onlyeconomists,withtheirpowerfulloyaltytofixedideas,havetroublewithit.Politicians,ofcourse,oftendounderstand,butrarelyfeelfreetospeaktheirownminds.他尽可能简单的思考问题（他在这方面做了大量工作，真正的简单很难）。他喜欢熟悉的隐喻，朴实的示例。你可以把他的道理讲给大多数儿童（至少对我)，讲给任何大学的学生，以及任何在金融市场上的人；唯独经济学家，他们有强大而忠诚的固定观念，就会遇到麻烦；政客们，当然，常常是明白的，但很少有说出自己的想法的自由。DeadlyInnocentFraud#1:Thefederalgovernmentmustraisefundsthroughtaxationorborrowinginordertospend.Inotherwords,governmentspendingislimitedbyitsabilitytotaxorborrow.Fact:Federalgovernmentspendingisinnocaseoperationallyconstrainedbyrevenues,meaningthatthereisno“solvencyrisk.”Inotherwords,thefederalgovernmentcanalwaysmakeanyandallpaymentsinitsowncurrency,nomatterhowlargethedeficitis,orhowfewtaxesitcollects.致命的谎言1号：联邦政府必须通过税收或借款为其支出融资。换句话说，政府支出受到税收和借款能力的限制。事实真相：联邦政府支出无论如何不会在业务上受限于税收，它没有“偿付能力风险”。换言之，联邦政府总能用他自己的货币支付所有任何款项，不管赤字有多么大，也不管税收有多么少。Askanycongressman(asIhavemanytimes)orprivatecitizenhowitallworks,andheorshewilltellyouemphaticallythat:“…thegovernmenthastoeithertaxorborrowtogetthefundstospend,justlikeanyhouseholdhastosomehowgetthemoneyitneedstospend.”Andfromthiscomestheinevitablequestionabouthealthcare,defense,socialsecurity,andanyandallgovernmentspending:Howareyougoingtopayforit???!!!去问任何一个国会议员（我碰到过很多次），或者普通公民，这一切都是如何运作的？他或她会坚定地告诉你：“…政府要花钱，无非是通过税收或借款，就像任何家庭一样，通过某种方式拿到需要花的钱。”由此不可避免地引出了关于医疗保健、国防、社会保障和全部政府支出的问题：你打算如何付钱？？？！！！Thisisthekillerquestion,theonenoonegetsright,andgettingtheanswertothisquestionrightisthecoreofthepublicpurposebehindwritingthisbook.Inthenextfewmomentsofreading,itwillallberevealedtoyouwithnotheoryandnophilosophy-justafewhardcoldfacts.Ianswerthisquestionbyfirstlookingatexactlyhowgovernmenttaxes,followedbyhowgovernmentspends.HowdoestheFederalGovernmentTax?这是致命的问题，一个没人清楚的问题，正确回答这个问题是我写这本书的公共目的核心。接下来，它会向你透露几个冷冰冰的事实，不用理论，不用哲学。我来回答这个问题，首先讨论政府的税收,然后讨论政府如何支出。联邦政府如何收税？Let’sstartbylookingatwhathappensifyoupayyourtaxesbywritingacheck.WhentheU.S.governmentgetsyourcheck,andit’sdepositedand“clears,”allthegovernmentdoesischangethenumberinyourcheckingaccount“downward”astheysubtracttheamountofyourcheckfromyourbankbalance.Doesthegovernmentactuallygetanythingrealtogivetosomeoneelse?No,it’snotlikethere’sagoldcointospend.Youcanactuallyseethishappenwithonlinebanking-watchthebalanceinyourbankaccountonyourcomputerscreen.Supposethebalanceinyouraccountis$5,000andyouwriteachecktothegovernmentfor$2,000.Whenthatchecksclears(getsprocessed),whathappens?The5turnsintoa3andyournewbalanceisnowdownto$3,000.Allbeforeyourveryeyes!Thegovernmentdidn’tactually“get”anythingtogivetosomeoneelse.NogoldcoindroppedintoabucketattheFed.Theyjustchangednumbersinbankaccounts-nothing“went”anywhere.让我们首先来看看如果你签署支票，缴纳税款以后会发生什么。美国政府拿到你的支票后，会被储蓄和清算，政府做的全部事情是“向下”更改您的支票帐户中的数字，作为从你的银行余额中扣除你支票上的数量。政府把什么真实的东西给别人了吗？没有，这与花费一枚金币不同。实际上，你可以在网上银行看到这件事——从计算机屏幕上看看你的银行账户的余额。假设您的帐户中的余额为5000美元，你给政府开了一张2000美元的支票。当支票清算时（有个过程），会发生什么事情？那个5变成了3，你的新余额现在下降到3000美元。所有事情就在你眼前！政府实际上没给其他的人任何东西。没有金币掉进在美联储的桶里，他们只是改变了银行账户中的数字——没有什么“去”任何地方。AndwhathappensifyouweretogotoyourlocalIRSofficetopayyourtaxeswithactualcash?First,youwouldhandoveryourpileofcurrencytothepersonondutyaspayment.Next,he’dcountit,giveyouareceiptand,hopefully,athankyouforhelpingtopayforsocialsecurity,interestonthenationaldebt,andtheIraqwar.Then,afteryou,thetaxpayer,lefttheroom,he’dtakethathard-earnedcashyoujustforkedoverandthrowitinashredder.那么，如果你拿现金到当地的美国国税局办事处缴税，会发生什么？首先，你会把一堆钞票交给值班的人作为付款。接下来，他会点数，再给你一张收据，并感谢您帮助支付社会保障、国家债务和伊拉克战争的利息。然后，你这个纳税人就离开了这个房间，然后他就拿起这些你辛辛苦苦挣来的钱，扔进碎纸机。Yes,itgetsthrownitaway.Destroyed!Why?There’snofurtheruseforit.JustlikeatickettotheSuperBowl.Afteryouenterthestadiumandhandtheattendantaticketthatwasworthmaybe$1000,hetearsitupanddiscardsit.Infact,youcanactuallybuyshreddedmoneyinWashington,D.C.Soifthegovernmentthrowsawayyourcashaftercollectingit,howdoesthatcashpayforanything,likeSocialSecurityandtherestofthegovernment’sspending?Itdoesn’t.是的，拿到它并扔掉它。摧毁了！