For most other industries, shortage of inventory is not a problem. At present, American inventory levels are close to a record high. In the telecoms and computer businesses, in particular, firms have had excess stock for some time. Cisco Systems, the most spectacular example of overstocking, had to write down its inventory by $2.25 billion at the end of last year. Indeed, any bunching of semiconductor deliveries at west-coast ports might not be all that unwelcome.
Over the past ten years or so, companies have come to depend more and more on just-in-time (JIT) delivery of industrial inputs. Inventory arrives on the factory floor only as and when it is needed. Any perception of an increase in risk tilts the balance away from JIT and in favour of JIC, the “just-in-case” strategy of holding inventory against the risk of an unexpected disturbance in the supply chain. This balance has been tilted further by sharp falls in interest rates, which have cut the cost of holding inventory by more or less half, and thus reduced the need for JIT systems.
The big gainers from all this have been the freight companies and air-cargo businesses, such as Federal Express and UPS. And they are likely to continue to thrive once the short-term shock is over. Freight is less sensitive to terrorism than passenger travel. Even if American freight carriers were to copy El Al, Israel's airline, and hold goods for a day for security checks, it would not greatly erode the advantages of air freight over other means of transport. The Economist Sep. 20, 2001
Meanwhile, executives confined to their offices are taking to audio- and videoconferencing. Demand was up by 50% at some suppliers, and shares in Polycom, the biggest company in the business, shot up by 33% when American stockmarkets reopened on September 17th. But videoconferencing is not a new technology. Executives have cold-shouldered it in the past because they did not want to give up the pleasures of travel and the value of face-to-face meetings.
They are more likely to resort to land-based transport for journeys of up to 500 miles, and to make sure that “key-man” insurance policies are in place for the rest. Since the attack, Executive Jet, a company that offers part-ownership of private jets, has been deluged with calls . Companies seem likely to make more use of corporate jets in future, so that their top people are not exposed to the risk of travelling with unknown fellow passengers. Other security practices introduced into multinationals' offices abroad—for example, electronic tagging of people and packages—are now likely to be exported to America.
Vince Tobkin, a San Francisco-based director of Bain & Co, a consultancy, says that the attack will also make companies think more carefully about duplication. Morgan Stanley was able to open for business this week because it had a duplicate back-up data centre located outside Manhattan. Many high-tech firms learnt a similar lesson when the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan wiped out some crucial suppliers to the semiconductor industry. They now have “dual sourcing”, two plants that can supply them with components in case one should go down. Mr Tobkin says also that many more companies will want to make sure that they have duplicated ways of connecting to the Internet.
これで完結 Much of this is tinkering at the edges, or nudging along something that was taking place anyway. Nobody yet thinks that the terrorist attacks will have any deep and lasting effect on how America does business. An inevitable increase in freight costs is not going to wipe out the benefits of manufacturing in low-cost countries abroad. The semiconductor industry is not about to retrench to California. Even air travel will revive one day.
What might happen, however, is that the globalisation of American multinationals will be conducted more at arm's length. McDonald's is everywhere, but mostly in the hands of local franchisees. Attacking McDonald's in faraway places is an attack on America in name only. Likewise, more manufacturing is being outsourced by multinationals to specialist equipment makers. Whether they are in Indonesia or Bangladesh, they are (and look like) local companies. Only R&D, marketing and other high-value-added
They will not look especially potent, bobbing alongside the assembled might of the United States’ navy. But the destroyer, supply boat and two escort ships that Japan’s defense agency is itching to dispatch to the Indian Ocean are already making big waves at home. For the first time since the second world war, Japanese forces could end up serving in a war zone. New laws will be needed, and perhaps a new interpretation of Japan’s constitution, which renounces war.
With most of the industrial world on the brink of recession, or experiencing a sharp slowdown, the outlook for the world economy is worse than it has been for decades. Last month’s terrorist attacks on America have made recovery more difficult and uncertain, and posed great challenges for economic policymakers
But that backdrop was largely in place before September 11th: the world economy was in deep trouble well before the terrorists struck. Economic forecasters everywhere were busily revising their estimates of global growth downwards; for some countries, the downward revisions were radical and underlined the speed with which the economic outlook had changed. America, the world’s largest economy and for so long the engine of global growth, was on the brink of recession, according to many economists. Even those who thought recession could be avoided accepted it would be a close call.
Japan, the world’s second-largest economy, is experiencing its fourth recession in a decade, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). And European leaders, who at the start of the year were almost smugly confident that they would remain largely immune from an American-led global slowdown, have been taken aback by the turnaround in their economic fortunes. A European recession is still likely to be avoided, but the pace of growth in the euro area has slowed dramatically.
For many parts of the developing world, the outlook is at least as bleak. Many countries in South East Asia are already in recession. Singapore, for example, has been badly hit by the collapse of American demand for its high-tech exports. Taiwan is experiencing its worst downturn since the 1970s. On October 4th, the Philippines government released figures showing the biggest export decline in 21 years. Mexico’s economy has been blighted by the American downturn. Emerging market economies from Turkey to Argentina have found it increasingly difficult to deliver on their commitments to the IMF—partly because of political failures, and partly because of the deteriorating economic environment.
What has most alarmed economists is the coincidence of the downturn in so many parts of the world. The last American recession, in 1991, came at a time when Japan and Europe were growing at a respectable pace. The Asian crisis of 1997-98, which saw deep recession in many parts of the region, came against a backdrop of healthy growth, especially in America. The current slowdown, though unequal in its scale, is global in its reach. There has not been a comparably wide downturn since the 1970s.
There is no doubt that, in the short term at least, the events of September 11th have made the outlook far worse. The terrorist attacks brought with them a new mood of uncertainty: businesses and consumers have reacted anxiously, nervous of travel and of forward planning until they have a clearer sense of what will happen next. How long this mood of uncertainty will last is unclear. While it persists, policy action to speed economic recovery will be even more difficult than usual.
That does not mean that policy action will be ineffective. Nor does it mean that the same policy prescription is right for everyone: the unmistakeably global nature of the downturn underlines the extent of linkages between economies, but that is not to say that the causes of the slowdown are the same everywhere.
This is most clearly seen in the case of Japan, which has had so many recessions in the past ten years that there was a good chance one of them would coincide with slowdowns elsewhere in the world. Japan’s persistent failure to escape from the aftermath of the bursting of its massive asset-price bubble more than a decade ago reflects, in the opinion of most economists, the longstanding reluctance of successive Japanese governments to tackle the country’s structural problems. The Japanese central bank has also been criticised repeatedly for its sluggish response to the deflation which has plagued the country for so long. On October 4th, a member of the bank’s policy board repeated the bank’s opposition to inflation targeting—a policy advocated by several economists as a way of ending deflation.
Memo prescription 処方箋 underline 強調する unmistakeably 明白に coincide with 一致する、同時に起こる criticise à criticize おー、誤植みっけた。Spell checker使ってないのかな。
Japan’s prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, in office for barely six months, has pledged that he will get to grips with the structural problems which have been at the heart of the country’s poor economic performance; in particular, the banking system’s long-standing burden of bad loans. So far, though, he has made slow and unconvincing progress. The one hopeful sign in recent weeks has been the apparent recognition by the Japanese ministry of finance that it must avoid a further appreciation of the yen. As the dollar weakened, first as the American economy slowed and then much more rapidly in the wake of the terrorist attacks, the yen rose. This is potentially catastrophic for Japan’s hopes of kickstarting its economy. The ministry of finance repeatedly, and publicly, intervened to sell yen and buy dollars and euros in order to push the yen’s value down. どうなのかね。Koizumiがpledgeしているのは構造改革であって、銀行のbad loansは副 次的な結果なのだから、その結果までcommitした訳ではないと私はおもうのだが。円を売 ったのはドルを支えるためであって、必ずしも日本だけの為とは私には思えないのだが諸 兄は如何?
Europe’s problems are very different and, as yet, far less serious than those afflicting Japan. But it has become clear this year that Europe needs to do more to grapple with its own structural problems. The European economies have been affected both by the American downturn and by the worldwide high-tech slump. But some of Europe’s slowdown has been home-grown. In Germany, for instance, domestic demand fell faster than exports. Most economists agree that Europe still needs to do more in the areas of labour-market flexibility and economic deregulation.
A large body of economists also believes European economic policy-making needs to be more flexible. As the economic outlook deteriorated during the year, the European Central Bank (ECB) sometimes seemed just as reluctant as the Bank of Japan to respond. Interest-rate cuts were slow in coming, as the ECB struggled to achieve the credibility it craved as a guardian against inflation, even when it seemed to many that inflation was among the smaller risks facing Europe and the world economy. When the Federal Reserve cut American interest rates on September 17th, partly to generate confidence ahead of Wall Street’s re-opening (after its longest closure since the 1930s), the ECB quickly followed suit. But it has so far refrained from following that with another cut: the next test comes when the bank meets on October 11th.
The contrast between the Fed and the other big central banks could not be greater. The Fed has cut interest rates nine times this year, most recently on October 2nd. Alan Greenspan, the Fed’s chairman, is determined to do all he can to mitigate the effects of what most people now concede will be an American recession, following the terrorist attacks. The federal government, too, has ditched—temporarily at least—its opposition to government spending and its attachment to a budget surplus. In the short term the overwhelmingly important objective is to get the economy moving again. The challenge for American policymakers is to persuade their G7 colleagues to do the same.
Memo crave しきりに欲しがる followed suit 前例にならう (おっ、やさビジ聞いてて良かった) Alan Greenspan, the Fed’s chairman, is determined to do all he can to mitigate the effects of what most people now concede will be an American recession, following the terrorist attacks. テロの後、アメリカの景気後退に結びつくと人が思いつくおよそあらゆ る事に対してアラングリーンスパン氏は、取りうる手段は全て取ろうと決意している。(あ まり上手い訳ではありませんねえ。) ditch 溝にはまる (おーこれもやさビジに出たなあ)
The federal government, too, has ditched—temporarily at least—its opposition to government spending and its attachment to a budget surplus. 連邦政府も、野党に対して、政府支出と、支出超過に対する追加財源の面では、少なくて も一時的にせよ、深みにはまっている。
Interest rates How low can they go? 金利はどこまで下げられるか #1 Oct 4th 2001 Central banks have reduced interest rates to their lowest levels for decades. But have they done enough to revive the sickly world economy?
AMERICA'S Federal Reserve cut interest rates by another half-point this week. The federal-funds rate is now 2.5%, down from 6.5% at the end of last year, and is at its lowest in almost 40 years. After recent rate cuts around the world, the average real interest rate in America, Japan and the euro area (the G3) has fallen to its lowest level since the 1970s.
Footnotes America’s Federal Reserve米国連邦準備銀行 federal-funds rate フェデラル・ファンド・レート(FF)。米国の市中銀行同士で貸し借りす る時の利率。米国の代表的な短期金利で、金融政策の誘導目標。
Interest rates How low can they go? 金利はどこまで下げられるか #2
This aggressive monetary easing, combined with a large fiscal stimulus in prospect in America, has led some economists to predict a future upsurge in inflation. Rising long-term bond yields signal that investors are worried about inflation, they claim. However, comparisons with American index-linked bonds suggest that the main worry for investors is not inflation but that the supply of bonds will soar as the government borrows more.
Footnotes monetary easing 金融緩和。反対はmonetary tighting long term bond 長期債 index-linked bonds インデックス連動型ボンド Index-linked bonds are bullet loans issued by financial institutions, companies and governments. The bond is usually issued as a zero-coupon bond, and the return typically depends on the development of one or more specified share or commodity indices. The repayment principal is at least par value (principal guarantee) at maturity, and the return depends on the development of the share indices and the rate of return, which indicates the share of the price rise that the holder of the bond will receive. Source: http://www.xcse.dk/uk/nyt/nyheder/200005pktUK.asp
横道に逸れるが、この説明もまた難解なので、調べてみた。 bullet loan…Any loan that requires a balloon payment at the end of the term and anticipates that the loan will be refinanced in order to meet the balloon payment obligation. a balloon payment…最終残額一括払い zero-coupon…割引債。クーポン(利息)のない債券。ゼロクーポン債ともいう。 repayment of principal…元本の支払い maturity…満期
Interest rates How low can they go? 金利はどこまで下げられるか #3
That real interest rates in the big economies are at their lowest for decades may appear to suggest that monetary policy is exceptionally loose. A closer examination, however, shows that this is somewhat misleading. Using headline consumer-price inflation, American real interest rates are now close to zero. But by the Fed's favoured measure of inflation, the core personal consumption expenditure deflator (excluding food and energy), real interest rates stand at almost 1%, well above the lows of previous recessions. Moreover, inflation on all measures is expected to fall again next year, which will push up real interest rates.
Footnotes Using headline consumer-price inflation, American real interest rates are now close to zero. このUsing headlineの意味がはっきりしない。専門用語か?「消費者物価インフレ 総合指数を使うと」でいい?
Interest rates How low can they go? 金利はどこまで下げられるか #4
Average real interest rates across the G3 are historically low because of the extraordinarily synchronised global downturn. The last time American real interest rates were this low, in the early 1990s recession, real rates in the then booming euro area were 6.5%. Now the euro area and Japan are also in trouble. Surveys this week confirmed that business and consumer confidence have slumped sharply in Europe and Japan as well as America. In The Economist's latest poll of forecasters, GDP growth forecasts for the big economies have been cut dramatically for next year (see article). CSFB now forecasts that global growth in 2002 could fall to its lowest in half a century.
Interest rates How low can they go? 金利はどこまで下げられるか #4
A recent analysis by UBS Warburg finds that by this yardstick monetary policy is not particularly loose. In the year to the second quarter, nominal GDP growth in the G3 was 2.7%, roughly the same as the average interest rate. In the fourth quarter, as economies contract and inflation falls, nominal GDP growth could well slow to barely 1%, its lowest since the 1930s. If it does, interest rates need to fall further.
Japan is largely responsible for the dangerously low rate of nominal GDP growth: its nominal GDP has fallen by 2% over the past year, yet nominal interest rates cannot go below zero. But in America too, nominal GDP growth looks likely to fall towards 1% early next year as the economy shrinks. That is alarming. As inflation and nominal GDP growth approach zero, central banks' ability to loosen monetary policy becomes limited, as the Bank of Japan has painfully discovered (see article).
Interest rates How low can they go? 金利はどこまで下げられるか #5
Not only is monetary policy not yet sufficiently loose; it is also possible that, in this downturn, interest rates may be less powerful than usual in spurring demand. Massive excess capacity and the heavy debt burdens of firms and households may discourage new borrowing and spending. The unprecedented nature of the terrorist attack and its impact on confidence may also make consumers even less responsive to interest rates. If so, rates may need to fall by more than in the past to generate enough demand for a recovery.
spur demand…需要に拍車をかける、需要を刺激する
Two-armed bandits
bandit…悪漢
In recent years, it has become accepted wisdom that monetary policy is more appropriate than fiscal policy for stabilising economies. Monetary policy is much easier to reverse than spending increases or tax cuts, a crucial point given many countries' worrying long-term budgetary positions. This is why Alan Greenspan, the Fed's chairman, has advised caution on a fiscal stimulus. If a big increase in government borrowing pushes up bond yields, it will undermine cuts in short-term rates.
Monetary policy is much easier to reverse than spending increases or tax cuts, a crucial point given many countries’ worrying long-term budgetary positions.金融政策は歳出や税 金の削減に比べ金融政策は変更がずっと容易であるだけに、長期的視野に立つ予算の位置 付けについて心配する声が挙がるひとつのクルーシャルなポイントになっている。
This is why Alan Greenspan, the Fed's chairman, has advised caution on a fiscal stimulus. If a big increase in government borrowing pushes up bond yields, it will undermine cuts in short-term rates.これがグリーンスパン議長が財政刺激策に対して警告 を表明している理由である。大量の政府借入により債券利率を押し上げるとしても、短期 利率の低下を招くことになる。
Interest rates How low can they go? 金利はどこまで下げられるか #6
Nevertheless, America is going to get a fiscal stimulus. Fiscal easing from tax cuts equivalent to 0.6% of GDP was already planned before September 11th. Now a further package with a total of up to $130 billion (over 1% of GDP) may be added, tipping America's budget from surplus to deficit. On top of extra defence spending and emergency disaster relief already approved by Congress, there is strong support for more spending and tax cuts.
tipping America’s budget from surplus to deficit…アメリカの財政を黒字から赤字に傾け る
Bigger tax incentives for investment and a rebate for low-income earners seem likeliest, but there is no guarantee that either would boost spending anytime soon. Firms with excess capacity might not want to invest more and workers could simply save any tax cut. A better idea has been suggested by Alan Blinder, an economist at Princeton University. He proposes that Congress should reimburse states for a temporary reduction in sales tax. This has the advantage that, because it is temporary, it would encourage people to buy now, not later, and it would not damage America's long-term budget position.
Interest rates How low can they go? 金利はどこまで下げられるか #7
At least America starts with a budget surplus. Japan already has a vast deficit, thanks to years of wasteful public-works projects funded in a vain attempt to revive its sick economy. Japan now has little room for a further stimulus. The euro area is also constrained by its needlessly restrictive “stability pact”, under which budget deficits can exceed 3% of GDP only in exceptionally severe recessions. This rules out significant fiscal stimulus. Indeed, if governments were to meet their intermediate targets for 2002, set in the framework of the stability pact, fiscal policy would need to be tightened in the euro area by an average of 1.5% of GDP next year. But there are no penalties for exceeding these intermediate targets. So, thankfully, Europe's governments have said that they will set them aside and allow automatic fiscal stabilisers to work. Germany's target for 2002 was to reduce its deficit to 1.0% of GDP. Because of slower economic growth, it is now more likely to reach 2.5% of GDP—uncomfortably close to the 3% ceiling. Unless common sense kills the stability pact, Europe will have to rely largely on further monetary easing.
This rules out significant fiscal stimulus.このため大規模な財政による刺激策を取ること が出来ない。 So, thankfully…前文のpenaltiesがないという文を受けて、「それを良いことに」くらいの 意味。
The ECB and the Fed still have ample room to cut rates. Will they? Central banks are by nature cautious. But with inflation relatively low and falling, caution may now be more about ensuring that there is not a depression. The price, if they overdo it, may indeed be somewhat higher inflation in two years' time. But better that than a deep global slump. 中央銀行と連邦準備銀行は利率を下げる余地をまだ多く残しているが、果たして下げるの だろうか。中央銀行は元来慎重な立場である。しかしインフレが沈静化し、下落している 状況では、景気後退にならないよう舵を取る方向に今は慎重なのかもしれない。もし過度 に下げすぎると、2年という時間単位で見た場合高インフレを招く。だが世界的な景気停 滞よりはそのほうが良い。