Anyone hoping for a concerted effort to boost global growth will have been disappointed by the familiar combination of bland public conclusions and behind the scenes sniping at the G20 gathering in Shanghai. Policymakers committed to use all tools — monetary, fiscal and structural — to strengthen the recovery. But in reality, many are deferring difficult reforms and hoping that others will shoulder the burden of fiscal expansion. As for monetary policy, there is a clear concern that the latest weapon in central banks’ armoury — the adoption of negative interest rates — may amount to little more than a new way to wage an old-fashioned, beggar-thy-neighbour currency war.
每一個希望各國協同努力提振全球增長的人，都會對20國集團(G20)上海會議呈現出的令人熟悉的組合——即乏味的公開結論加暗地里的相互詆毀——感到失望。政策制定者們承諾使用貨幣、財政和結構性政策等一切工具來強化復蘇。但在現實中，許多國家卻拖延實施艱難的改革，寄望于由其他國家來肩負起財政擴張的重擔。至于貨幣政策，會議上存在一種明確的擔憂：央行武器庫里的最新武器——負利率政策——或許不過是換了一種新的方式來發起老一套的“以鄰為壑”的貨幣戰爭。