By Jun Sheng

钧声

Half a century ago, former French president Charles de Gaulle had pointed out that the US enjoyed exorbitant privilege and deficit without tears created by its dollar, and used the worthless paper note to plunder the resources and factories of other nations. His insight into the US dollar hegemony still rings true today.

“美国享受着美元所创造的超级特权和不流眼泪的赤字，她用一钱不值的废纸去掠夺其他民族的资源和工厂。”法国前总统戴高乐半个多世纪前对美元霸权的洞见至今发人深省。

No other currency has infiltrated into the blood veins of the world economy so deeply as the US dollar after WWII. The currency is so dominant in the global settlement of trade and in the foreign exchange reserves of foreign central banks that the US can use a 100-dollar greenback note, minted at the cost of 14 cents only, to get other countries to provide it with goods and services equivalent to its face value. That’s the "seigniorage" charged by the US on the whole world. Sitting on the throne made of the hegemonistic US dollar, all the US needs to do is print money and issue bonds, and it can enjoy – endlessly – what Niall Ferguson, an American historian, called "the biggest free lunch in modern economic history". US dollar, the key reserve currency in the world, is increasingly becoming a tumor eating at its holders, and its parasitic nature has been revealed to the full by America's arbitrary manipulation.

二战后，没有哪种货币像美元那样深刻地渗进世界经济的血液中。凭借着在全球贸易结算和各国央行外汇储备中的地位，一张成本仅14美分的百元美钞，却能让其他国家实实在在地向美国提供价值相当于100美元的商品和服务，这便是美国向全世界收的“铸币税”。美国安居在美元霸权的宝座上，只需任意印钞、发行债券，便能循环享用美国历史学家尼亚尔•弗格森口中“现代经济史上最大的免费午餐”。美元，这一世界最主要的储备货币正日益成为持有者的附骨之疽，其寄生本色在美国的翻手为云覆手为雨中暴露无遗。

With the hegemonistic US dollar as a weapon, the overbearing and self-willed US likes playing fast and loose between currency inundation and tightening to consistently create "controllable turbulence" in the financial and economic sectors. From the mid-income trap of Latin American countries to the financial crisis in Asia and the international financial crisis in 2008, the shadow of the US dollar is at play behind each and every crisis, yet every time the culprit itself got away unscathed, leaving other countries bearing double blows with their wealth accumulated over long years all turning into ashes. No wonder John Connally, Secretary of the Treasury of the Richard Nixon administration, once said with much pride, "It's our currency, but it's your problem."

坐拥美元霸权、骄横顽固的美国，尤其热衷于在“开闸放水”和“关闸断流”间反复横跳，持续制造金融和经济领域“可控的动荡”。从拉美国家陷入中等收入陷阱，到亚洲金融危机，再到2008年国际金融危机，每一次重大危机的背后，都有美元不断拉长变形的影子。每一次，美国都安然抽身，而其他国家却遭受双重打击，多年积累的许多财富化为乌有。难怪尼克松时代的美国财长康纳利曾得意扬扬地说，“美元是我们的货币，却是你们的麻烦”。

After the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, America took the abuse of US dollar hegemony to a new level. It printed nearly half of the currencies printed in the past 200-plus years in just one year and a half, allowing the pressure of inflation, turmoil and economic bubble to spill over, which was followed by four increases in the interest rate this year. This kind of "roller-coaster" approach lent another blow to the already teetering international financial market and seriously obstructed the global economic recovery. Ironically, because of the dominance of the US dollar in the global financial system, it is other countries, especially emerging economies, that have to pay for Uncle Sam's irresponsible policies.

新冠肺炎疫情暴发后，美国再次将美元霸权滥用到极致。仅在一年半的时间里，美国就印了200多年来所有美元的近一半，通胀压力、动荡压力、“泡沫”压力在这种“大水漫灌”下不断外溢。而今年美国又连续四次大幅加息。这种过山车似的做法，让本已风雨飘摇的国际金融市场再遭打击，世界经济复苏进程严重受阻。讽刺的是，由于美元在全球金融体系中的主导地位，为美国不负责政策“埋单”的却是其他国家特别是新兴经济体。

What's more, the US has turned its currency into a geopolitical weapon by constantly wielding the stick of sanctions and creating financial terrorism. After the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the US government froze billions of dollars of the Afghan central bank's foreign exchange reserves, plunging its economy to the verge of collapse. After the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, it launched a series of maximum sanctions against Russia including financial blockade and export control, trying to throttle Moscow in finance, trade, science and technology, and many other aspects. Regarding the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline connecting Germany and Russia, Washington didn't think twice before threatening its European ally…

更有甚者，美国还将美元变成了一种大搞地缘政治的武器，频频祭出制裁大棒，大搞金融恐怖主义。塔利班掌权阿富汗后，美国政府将阿中央银行数十亿美元外汇储备冻结，导致阿富汗经济处于崩溃边缘；俄乌冲突爆发后，美国又对俄罗斯实施包括金融封锁、出口管制等在内的极限制裁措施，试图从金融、贸易、科技等多方面封杀俄罗斯；在连接德国与俄罗斯的“北溪-2”天然气管道项目等问题上，美国对欧洲盟友也照样威胁恫吓……

All these willful and reckless behaviors have put the world on high alert against Washington's abuse of the US dollar hegemony, and more countries call for delinking from the currency. Knowing this too well, Washington has never hesitated to attack any rivals of the dollar in order to keep enjoying the currency hegemony. In 1999, less than three months after the official issuance of the Euro, the Kosovo War broke out, giving the fledgling European currency a taste of what it was up to. In 2009, during the European debt crisis, the US poured fuel into flames and hurt the Euro so much that it hasn't come back to the pre-2008 level before the international financial crisis.

种种任性妄为的行径，使得世界各国愈发警惕美国对美元霸权的滥用，“去美元化”成为越来越多国家的现实需要。美国对此心知肚明，为了能够继续享受美元霸权私利，其对美元的竞争对手从不手软。1999年，欧元正式发行后不到3个月，科索沃战争随即爆发，美国借此给了欧元一个有力的“下马威”。2009年，欧债危机期间，美国又推波助澜，令欧元元气大伤，至今仍未能恢复到2008年国际金融危机前的水平。

Despite all its scheming and trick-playing, the hegemony of US dollar is coming to an end. Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that the share of US dollar in the international reserves of central banks worldwide dropped to 58.81% in the fourth quarter of 2021, a new low in 26 years. Even its iron-clad ally Israel is diversifying foreign exchange reserves and reducing the share of US dollar. George Soros, a financial tycoon, said US dollar will no longer be the main reserve currency and medium of transaction in a few years.

不过，即便美国费尽心机、“法宝”尽出，美元霸权的黄昏依然悄然降临。国际货币基金组织数据显示，2021年第四季度，美元在全球央行国际储备中的份额降至58.81%，创26年来新低。就连美国的铁杆盟友以色列也开始推进外汇储备多元化，着力降低美元比重。“金融巨鳄”索罗斯曾坦言，未来几年，美元将失去其作为全球主要储备货币和交易媒介的地位。

He whose capacities and virtues don't match his position will not end well. As the COVID-19 pandemic is still lingering and the world economy is having a hard time recovering, America's greedy pursuit of self-interests and wanton manipulation of US dollar hegemony have become the source of global instability and uncertainty. It is the true saboteur of international rules and world order. But the "balance of hegemony" is running thin and excessive sanctions are sure to backfire. The US should wake up from its doomsday craziness and live up to its responsibilities as a major country.

德不配位，必遭其殃。在新冠疫情阴霾未散、全球经济艰难复苏的当下，美国放纵贪婪私欲，肆意操弄美元霸权，已成为当今世界不稳定性和不确定性的源头，是当之无愧的国际规则和世界秩序的破坏者。“霸权余额”已剩不多，极端制裁必招反噬，美国应尽早从末日疯狂中清醒过来，切实担负起大国的责任。