NO FINANCIAL institution or government agency matters more to the Treasury market than does the Federal Reserve. The central bank’s responsibility for financial stability and monetary policy has made it a mammoth(巨大的) buyer of Treasuries in this century, snapping up(迅速购买) trillions of dollars’ worth after the global financial crisis in 2007-09 and again during the covid-19 pandemic. As a result, the Fed’s balance-sheet is far larger than it once was: it held less than $1trn in assets two decades ago, but now wallows(陷入) in around $6.7trn.
没有任何金融机构或政府机构比美联储对国债市场更重要。央行对金融稳定和货币政策的责任，使其在本世纪成为国债的巨额买家，在2007-09年全球金融危机后和新冠疫情期间抢购了数万亿美元的国债。结果，美联储的资产负债表远大于以往：20年前其资产不足1万亿美元，但现在却高达约6.7万亿美元。
Kevin Warsh, who became chairman of the Fed in May, considers this an unhealthy aberration(反常现象). He argues that the expansion of the Fed’s balance-sheet has mostly enriched people who were already wealthy (because when the Fed splashes money around(大量撒钱) in financial markets, the prices of the assets held by individuals go up). Perhaps more worrying, he says, the Fed’s repeated interventions muddy(使混淆) important market signals, and make it more difficult for investors to discern creditworthy borrowers from risky ones. He dreams of a Fed with a far smaller role in financial markets.
凯文·沃什于五月成为美联储主席，他认为这种局面是不健康的反常现象。他辩称，美联储资产负债表的扩张主要让已经富裕的人变得更富（因为当美联储在金融市场撒钱时，个人持有的资产价格就会上涨）。或许更令人担忧的是，他表示美联储的反复干预扰乱了重要的市场信号，使投资者更难区分信用良好的借款人和风险借款人。他梦想着美联储在金融市场中扮演小得多的角色。
In Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, Mr Warsh finds a partner with similar views. Mr Bessent argued last year that the Fed’s balance-sheet expansion had strayed into(越界进入) territory usually reserved for elected policymakers—showering favour on, say, the biggest firms that borrow in bond markets, while potentially making it harder for small firms to find credit to expand. Mr Bessent could pursue a strategy that would both limit the Fed’s role in markets and reduce America’s burgeoning(迅速增长的) interest bill.
在财政部长斯科特·贝森特身上，沃什找到了观点相似的合作伙伴。贝森特先生去年曾表示，美联储的资产负债表扩张已经越界进入了通常由民选政策制定者负责的领域——例如，对在债券市场上借款的最大公司给予大量优惠，同时可能使小公司更难获得信贷以扩张。贝森特可以推行一项战略，既可以限制美联储在市场中的角色，又可以减少美国不断膨胀的利息账单。
Fed up already
早已受够了
Mortgaging the future
抵押未来