Any day now there is going to be a uniquely American political crisis when Congress must raise the limit on how much the federal government may borrow. If it fails to do so, the Treasury department loses the legal authority to issue new bonds.
眼下，一场独特的美国政治危机随时可能爆发，因为国会(Congress)必须提高联邦政府的债务限额。如果此议案未获通过，美国财政部(Treasury)将丧失发行新债券的合法权力。
One peculiarity of the debt limit is that it applies to the gross federal debt, much of which is held by the government itself. That is principally because revenue from the social security tax is greater than is needed to pay current social security benefits. By law, the excess revenue is invested in special Treasury securities.
美国债务限额的一个独特之处在于，它适用于联邦债务总额，而其中大部分由政府自身持有。这主要是因为来自社会保障税收的收入，超过了当前支付社保福利所需的数额。根据美国法律，超额收入将用于购买特别国债。
As of October 19, the gross debt equalled $11,952,611,405,769.02. ($11,953bn). The figure is updated daily on the website of the Treasury's Bureau of the Public Debt. Of this, $4,400bn was held in government accounts and $7,500bn by the public. The public includes the Federal Reserve even though it is a government agency. That is because the Treasury is prohibited by law from selling securities directly to the Fed, which buys them on the open market.
截至10月19日，联邦债务总额为 11,952,611,405,769.02美元（约11.953万亿美元)。此数据在美国财政部下辖的公债局(Bureau of the Public Debt)网站上每日更新。其中， 4.4万亿美元是由政府账户持有，7.5万亿美元由公众持有。公众部分包括美联储(Federal Reserve)，尽管它是一家政府机构。因为依据法律，财政部不能直接向美联储出售债券，后者是通过公开市场买进国债。
The current debt limit is $12,104bn, a figure set in February as part of the stimulus package. Normally, a $150bn cushion would be enough to last for half a year or more. But with a budget deficit estimated at $1,400bn in fiscal year 2010, which began on Oct 1, it is only going to last a few more weeks.
目前的国债限额为12.104万亿美元，这一数字是今年2月份确定的，是美国经济刺激计划的一个组成部分。通常，1500亿美元的缓冲资金足以维持半年或更长时间。但鉴于2010财年（10月1日开始）的预算赤字估计为1.4万亿美元，这仅够维持几周的时间。
Some years ago, the House of Representatives established a sort of automatic mechanism for raising the debt limit and has voted to raise it to $13,000bn. But the Senate has not yet done so. If it simply endorses the House measure the legislation would go straight to the president for his signature; if not, a conference would have to be held, and both the House and Senate would have to vote again.
几年前，美 国众议院(House of Representatives)建立了一种自动提高债务限额的机制，并投票决定将限额提高至1.3万亿美元。但参议院(Senate)尚未采取这种做 法。如果参议院完全赞同众议院的措施，那么相关立法将只须等待总统签字生效；若非如此，就必须召开一次会议，参众两院都必须再次投票。
Since the debt limit is “must pass” legislation, it often becomes a vehicle for extraneous measures that would be vetoed by the president if presented to him as a stand-alone bill. More importantly, it is always an opportunity for the party not in power to stir up debate aboutdebt.
正因债务限额立法“必须通过”，所以它往往成为无关议案搭便车的工具。这些议案如果单独提交给总统，有可能遭到否决。更重要的是，在野党往往会抓住这个机会发起有关债务问题的辩论。
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure,” then- Senator Barack Obama thundered on March 16, 2006. “Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here'. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today on to the backs of our children and grandchildren.”
“今天，我们在这里辩论提高美国 债务限额的问题，这反映出一种领导的失败。”2006年3月16日，时任参议员的巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)怒斥道，“增加美国的债务，会从国内外两个方面削弱我们。领导力意味着‘最终责任所在’。相反，政府如今正在推诿错误抉择的责任，把它推给了 我们的子孙后代。”
Mr Obama voted against raising the debt limit that day and will, no doubt, be reminded of this fact by Republicans in coming weeks. But everyone knows the debt limit will be increased after Republicans extract their pound of flesh by making the administration – and financial markets – sweat a bit.
当时奥巴马对提高国债限额投了反对票，毋庸置疑，未来数周共和党人将会重提此事。但所有人都知道，在共和党人给现任政府(和金融市场)找一点麻烦、以此作为报复之后，国债限额还是会被调高。
It is possible that the debt limit may be breached temporarily if Congress does not act in a timely manner. The Treasury can temporarily delay buying new bonds by using social security's excess cash but Republicans will scream that the social security trust fund is being raided. However, in 2002 a Republican administration engaged in a similar manoeuvre.
如果国会不及时行动，国债限额有可能被暂时突破。美国财政部可以动用社保中多余的现金，以暂缓购买新发行的国债，但共和党人又会叫嚷这种做法侵吞了社保信托基金。不过，2002年的时候，一届共和党政府也进行过类似的操作。
There may once have been value in forcing Congress to occasionally focus on the debt and think about its implications before raising the debt limit. But in 1974, it enacted a budget law that forces it to deal with the budget as a whole on a yearly basis, rather than limiting its attention to individual appropriations bills. Since then the limit has been superfluous.
迫使国会偶尔关注债务问题，并且在提高债务限额之前思考其影响，这种做法或许曾经有过价值。但在1974年，美国国会通过了一部预算法案，要求以年为单位、作为一个整体研究预算，不再把注意力集中在单独的拨款法案上。从那以后，国债限额就一直过高。
Defenders of the debt limit argue that it imposes a constraint on borrowing and, hence, the growth of government. But there is zero evidence of this. Brian Roseboro, assistant secretary of the Treasury under President George W. Bush, has said that the idea that the debt limit restrains spending is the worst myth he knows: “The plain truth is that the debt limit does not affect the deficits or surpluses; the critical revenue and spending decisions are made during the congressional budget process.”
国债限额的拥护者辩称，这种做法能够约束政府借贷，并由此控制政府的扩张，但 我们找不到这方面的证据。曾担任布什(George W. Bush)政府财政部长助理的布莱恩•罗斯伯勒(Brian Roseboro )说过，（设定）国债限额会限制支出，是他所听到过的最荒诞的说法：“事实上，国债限额不会影响赤字或者盈余；重大的收入及支出决定，都是在国会预算过程 中作出的。”
Unfortunately, all the political theatre over the limit often has a cost. Mr Roseboro points to cases when delays in borrowing cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in higher interest costs. It also led to higher interest rates, forcing private borrowers to suffer. It is long overdue for Congress to abolish the debt limit, as was recommended in 2003 by Alan Greenspan, the Fed chairman, who said it was either redundant or inconsistent with the goals Congress sets in its budget.
不幸的是，所有超出限度的政治闹剧都会付出代价。罗斯伯勒指出，借贷方面的迟滞将使纳税人因利息成本上升而蒙受数千万 美元的损失。它还会导致利率上升，使得私人借方蒙受损失。国会早就应该取消国债限额，正如美联储前任主席艾伦•格林斯潘(Alan Greenspan)在2003年提出的那样，国会早就该放弃设定国债限额的做法，它要么与国会制定的预算目标相抵触，那么就有些多余。
The writer's latest book is The New American Economy: The Failure of Reaganomics and a New Way Forward
本文作者的最新著作为《新美国经济：里根经济学的失败与新的前进之路》(The New American Economy: The Failure of Reaganomics and a New Way Forward)