HowtheEconomicMachineWorksATemplateforUnderstandingWhatisHappeningNowRayDalio一个理解经济机器如何运作以及相关反映的模型RayDalioTheeconomyislikeamachine.Atthemostfundamentallevelitisarelativelysimplemachine,yetitisnotwellunderstood.IwrotethispapertodescribehowIbelieveitworks.Mydescriptionisnotthesameasconventionaleconomists’descriptionssoyoushoulddecideforyourselfwhetherornotwhatI’msayingmakessense.Iwillstartwiththesimplethingsandbuildup,sopleasebearwithme.Youwillbeabletounderstandandassessmydescriptionifwepatientlygothroughit.经济就像一台机器。在最基础的层面上更是一台相对简单的机器,尽管它并不是那么好理解。我写这篇论文是用以论述我理解中的经济运作的方式。我的描述和传统经济学家有所不同,所以你可以自己决定是否要相信我的观点。我会从简单的事情开始讲,然后逐渐加码,所以请多加容忍。我相信如果你耐心的看完这篇论文,你能很好的理解和评估我的观点。HowtheEconomicMachineWorks:“ATransactions-BasedApproach”经济机器如何运转:“一种基于交易的行为”Aneconomyissimplythesumofthetransactionsthatmakeitup.Atransactionisasimplething.Becausetherearealotofthem,theeconomylooksmorecomplexthanitreallyis.Ifinsteadoflookingatitfromthetopdown,welookatitfromthetransactionup,itismucheasiertounderstand.一个经济体简单来说就是交易的总和,一笔交易也是一件简单的事情。因为交易的数量很多,所以经济看起来比较复杂。如果我们不自上往下看经济,而是从交易角度往上看,会更容易理解。Atransactionconsistsofthebuyergivingmoney(orcredit)toasellerandthesellergivingagood,aserviceorafinancialassettothebuyerinexchange.Amarketconsistsofallthebuyersandsellersmakingexchangesforthesamethings–e.g.,thewheatmarketconsistsofdifferentpeoplemakingdifferenttransactionsfordifferentreasonsovertime.Aneconomyconsistsofallofthetransactionsinallofitsmarkets.So,whileseeminglycomplex,aneconomyisreallyjustazillionsimplethingsworkingtogether,whichmakesitlookmorecomplexthanitreallyis.一笔交易是指买方提供货币(或信贷)给卖方,以交换得到商品,服务或金融资产的过程。一个市场是所有买方和买方对同一种东西的交易过程,如小麦市场是不同的人,在不同时间,因为不同的原因进行交易的总和。一个经济体是所有不同市场交易的总和。虽然看上去复杂,其实一个经济体仅仅是不计其数简单事物的交互协作,所以看上去好像很复杂。Foranymarket,orforanyeconomy,ifyouknowthetotalamountofmoney(orcredit)spentandthetotalquantitysold,youknoweverythingyouneedtoknowtounderstandit.Forexample,sincethepriceofanygood,serviceorfinancialassetequalsthetotalamountspentbybuyers(total$)dividedbythetotalquantitysoldbysellers(totalQ),inordertounderstandorforecastthepriceofanythingyoujustneedtoforecasttotal$andtotalQ.Whileinanymarkettherearelotsofbuyersandsellers,andthesebuyersandsellershavedifferentmotivations,themotivationsofthemostimportantbuyersareusuallyprettyunderstandableandaddingthemuptounderstandtheeconomyisn’tallthattoughifonebuildsfromthetransactionsup.WhatIamsayingisconveyedinthesimplediagrambelow.Thisperspectiveofsupplyanddemandisdifferentfromthetraditionalperspectiveinwhichbothsupplyanddemandaremeasuredinquantityandthepricerelationshipbetweenthemisdescribedintermsofelasticity.Thisdifferencehasimportantimplicationsforunderstandingmarkets.对于任何市场,或任何经济体,如果你知道其中花出去的货币(或信贷)总量以及销售总量,你就对这个市场或经济体了如指掌。比方说,任何商品、服务或金融资产的价格等于买方花费的总额(Total$)除以总销售量(TotalQ),所以你只需要预测总花费和销售量,你就可以预测价格。任何市场都有大量基于不同动机的买方和卖方,来自关键买方的动机通常较好理解和预测,所以把这些关键买方动机累计起来,理解经济运作的方式就不会变的那么难。我所描述的观点可以通过下面这个简单的图展现出来。下面这个供需图和传统观点有些不同,传统供需图是通过供给数量和价格关系弹性曲线来描述。这个差异对如何理解市场有重要含义。TheonlyotherimportantthingtoknowaboutthispartoftheTemplateisthatspending($)cancomeineitheroftwoforms–moneyandcredit.Forexample,whenyougotoastoretobuysomethingyoucanpaywitheitheracreditcardorcash.Ifyoupaywithacreditcardyouhavecreatedcredit,whichisapromisetodelivermoneyatalaterdate,1whereas,ifyoupaywithmoney,youhavenosuchliability.另外一个理解这个模型的重要事情是,支出来自于两种形式:货币和信贷。例如,当你去商店买东西,你既可以用信用卡付账,也可以用现金付账。如果你用信用卡付账,你就产生了一笔信贷,也就是在一个未来日期支付的承诺,但如果你付现金,就不会有这个问题。Inbrief,therearedifferenttypesofmarkets,differenttypesofbuyersandsellersanddifferentwaysofpayingthatmakeuptheeconomy.Forsimplicity,wewillputthemingroupsandsummarizehowthemachineworks.简单来说,不同类型的市场,不同类型的买家和卖家,以及不同的支付方式组成了一个经济体。简便起见,我们会把这些要素汇总起来,然后概述这台经济机器是如何运转的,最基本部分包括:Mostbasically:从根本上说:Allchangesineconomicactivityandallchangesinfinancialmarkets’pricesareduetochangesintheamountsof1)moneyor2)creditthatarespentonthem(total$),andtheamountsoftheseitemssold(totalQ).Changesintheamountofbuying(total$)typicallyhaveamuchbiggerimpactonchangesineconomicactivityandpricesthandochangesinthetotalamountofselling(totalQ).Thatisbecausethereisnothingthat’seasiertochangethanthesupplyofmoneyandcredit(total$).所有经济活动的变化和金融市场价格的变化,都是由支付的货币和信贷总和(Total$)变化,以及总销售量(TotalQ)变化决定的。相对于总销售额的变化,货币和信贷总额变化会更显著地引起经济的波动,因为货币和信贷总额是最容易被改变的东西。Forsimplicity,let’sclusterthebuyersinafewbigcategories.Buyingcancomefromeither1)theprivatesectoror2)thegovernmentsector.Theprivatesectorconsistsof“households”andbusinessesthatcanbeeitherdomesticorforeign.Thegovernmentsectormostimportantlyconsistsofa)theFederalGovernment2whichspendsitsmoneyongoodsandservicesandb)thecentralbank,whichistheonlyentitythatcancreatemoneyand,byandlarge,mostlyspendsitsmoneyonfinancialassets.简便起见,我们把买方归为两个大类:私营买家(私营部门),或政府买家(政府部门)。私营买家包括家庭买家,以及国内或国外的私营商业公司。最重要的政府买家,包括花钱在商品或服务上的联邦政府,以及主要花钱在金融资产上,唯一能够印发货币的中央银行。Becausemoneyandcredit,andthroughthemdemand,areeasiertocreate(orstopcreating)thantheproductionofgoodsandservicesandinvestmentassets,wehaveeconomicandpricecycles.因为作为需求的货币和信贷,比作为供给的商品、服务和金融资产更加容易调节,调节的过程产生了不同的经济和价格周期。TheCapitalistSystemAsmentioned,thepreviouslyoutlinedeconomicplayersbu