美元霸权与欧洲金融安全

Dollar Hegemony and European Financial Security

美元霸权对于美国国家利益和国际地位至关重要,使美国能够享有"嚣张的特权"。欧元诞生后成为美元"唯一的竞争者",也成为美国警惕和遏制的对象。2008年金融危机后,美国为继续维系货币霸权,利用国际货币体系这一机制向欧元区转嫁风险,具体做法包括金融机构在市场做空欧元、评级机构打压欧洲债务国、舆论唱衰欧元前景、政府拒绝国际金融监管改革要求等。受此影响,欧洲金融安全受到严重冲击,银行业坏账大幅上升,欧元国际地位下滑,经济陷入"双底衰退",欧元区甚至一度面临解体风险。为保障金融安全,欧洲采取了多项措施:通过建立欧洲稳定机制、银行联盟等手段加快弥补单一货币区的机制缺陷;执行严格的紧缩政策,提升经济竞争力;欧洲央行政策弹性增加,更多承担"最后贷款人角色";严格规范评级市场,尤其警告美国评级霸权。通过对欧洲政策的分析可以看出,由于难以形成与美国抗衡的"国家意志"、整体战略资源有限、在安全问题上难以摆脱对美依赖等因素,欧元区维系金融安全的主要思路是"自我修复",针对美国的应对措施和能力有限。这意味着,美元霸权将继续是影响欧洲金融安全的外部因素。

Dollar hegemony is of paramount importance to the United States'national interests and its international status in that it enables the United States to enjoy the 'exorbitant privilege'.The birth of the Euro has made it 'the only competitor' of the U.S.Dollar,which subjects itself to vigilance and containment of the United States.After the 2008 financial crisis,the U.S.transferred its economic risks to the Euro zone via the international monetary system so as to maintain the Dollar hegemony.Measures taken by the U.S.include financial institutions'efforts to short the Euro in the global market,rating agencies'suppression of European debtor nations,and media's attempts to badmouth the Euro's future.As a result,Euro zone's financial security was seriously affected.Relevant countries had to confront the soaring nonperforming loans in the banking industry,the decline of the Euro's international status,the economic'double dip recession'and the possible disintegration of the monetary union.Europe adopted a series of measures to ensure its financial security that include fixing the Euro zone's single-currency mechanism deficiencies by establishing the European stability mechanism and banking Union,implementing strict austerity policies to enhance economic competitiveness,adopting more flexible policies with the European Central Bank more as 'the lender of last resort',regulating the rating market as a means to balance against the U.S.rating hegemony.Through the analysis of the European policies,we can see that the Euro zone's policies are more focused on 'self-repair' than direct confrontation with the United States.The reasons behind this line of thinking are obvious.It is hard for members of the monetary union to reach consensuses and form a 'state will' while contending against the United States.What's more,the Euro zone does not have enough overall strategic resources and still depends much on the United States for its military protection.This means that the Dollar hegemony will continue to be an important external factor that affects Europe's financial security in the future.