切記向富人徵稅解決不了貧富差距
It's not often that a lengthy economics book gets very much attention, but by now, many have heard of French economist Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First 685-page book has unexpectedly become a bestseller; Piketty analyzes hundreds of years of tax records throughout the world and arrives at a harsh reality: The rich are indeed getting richer.
一部長篇經濟學作品能贏得大量關注可不是件常見的事。不過現在，許多人都知道了法國經濟學家托馬斯o皮凱蒂的著作《21世紀資本論》（Capital in the Twenty-First Century）。這本685頁的著作出人意料地成爲了暢銷書。皮凱蒂在書中分析了幾百年來全球的稅務記錄，最終發現了一個殘酷的現實：有錢人的確變得越來越有錢。A lot of attention has been paid to incomes, but as Piketty highlights, the divide is much wider when it comes to wealth. While he has broadened the debate about inequality, what's often been missing from the discussion is what should we do about it?
很多人關注收入差距問題，但正如皮凱蒂強調的，就財富而言，貧富鴻溝要寬得多。儘管他拓展了人們對於貧富差距的爭論，但書中的討論往往忽視了一點：我們應該如何解決這個問題？At least in the U.S., the prescriptions have overwhelmingly focused on raising incomes; hardly a day goes by when the media, a city mayor, or Washington lawmakers make the case for raising workers' minimum wage. While that might help equalize incomes, it does nothing to help Americans build wealth.
至少在美國，人們普遍認爲提高收入是出路。各路媒體幾乎每天都有報道稱，某市長或華盛頓的立法者正在努力提高工人的最低工資。然而，這或許能夠讓收入差距減小，卻無助於幫助美國人積累財富。
Piketty suggests levying a global wealth tax, but taxing the rich isn't necessarily the answer. What could help average Americans, particularly low-income households, are policies that help them build wealth by helping people to save more. This is an approach recently articulated by my New America Foundation colleague, William Elliott. In his report, "Harnessing Assets to Build an Economic Mobility System," he argues that the richest Americans already enjoy extensive government subsidies on their savings. This year, the top 20% of income earners will capture two-thirds of the $140 billion in subsidies for retirement, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office.
皮凱蒂建議在全球徵收財富稅，不過向富人徵稅並不一定能夠解決問題。能夠幫助普通美國人、尤其是低收入家庭的，是那些能夠協助人們增加儲蓄從而積累財富的政策。這是近期由我在新美國基金會（New America Foundation）的同事威廉o埃利奧特提出的方法。他在他自己的報告《利用財產打造經濟流動系統》中認爲，最富有的美國人已經通過他們的儲蓄享受了大量政府補貼。根據美國國會預算辦公室（Congressional Budget Office）的估計，今年美國1,400億美元的退休補貼中，有三分之二將由收入最多的那20%的人獲得。Lower-income Americans don't have this type of support. In fact, they're explicitly discouraged from saving more if you look at rules over federal food and income assistance programs that can make families with less than $1,000 in the bank ineligible to participate.
收入較低的美國人則無法得到這種資助。實際上，如果去看看聯邦食品和收入援助項目的規定，你就會發現，窮人實際上並不被鼓勵存錢。銀行存款不到1,000美元的家庭都沒有資格參加這種項目。As a result, higher income families are rewarded for long-term planning and investment and low-income families are penalized for doing so. The point is that it takes money to make money, so how about making sure that everyone starts out with some?
結果，收入更高的家庭從長期計劃和投資中獲得了好處，而低收入家庭這樣做則有弊無利。問題的關鍵在於，錢生錢需要本錢，要如何保證每個人都能有些錢來走上致富之路呢？There are multiple ways: Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has recently voiced his support for a universal savings accounts for children, modeled on the ASPIRE Act. ASPIRE would provide all children born in the U.S. with a $500 savings account that could be put toward the cost of college, buying a home, or retirement. Up to $2,000 could be deposited into the account annually on a tax-free basis, and lower-income families would qualify for a federal match of up to $500 a year. Representative Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) has supported a similar approach.
解決方式有許多：俄勒岡州的參議院羅恩o懷登最近表示，支持“立志法案”（ASPIRE Act，The America Saving for Personal Investment, Retirement, and Education Act）中提到的給全體兒童設立儲蓄賬戶的提議。立志法案將爲每位在美國出生的兒童提供500美元的儲蓄賬戶，其中的資金可供上大學、買房或退休使用。人們每年可以向其中存入最多2,000美元而不用繳納稅款。低收入家庭也可以按照聯邦標準，每年向其中最多存入500美元。紐約州的代表喬o克勞利也支持類似的方式。There are certainly other measures that need to take place to make sure that an approach like that is successful, such as getting rid of asset limits that cast savings as a liability in the minds of low-income families, as well as helping families build a financial cushion in the form of flexible savings, as the Financial Security Credit would do.
當然，還需要採用一些其他方法來保證這種方式能夠獲得成功，比如取消資產限制，讓低收入家庭將儲蓄看作可靠的手段，同時幫助家庭以靈活的儲蓄方式建立金融儲備，比如新美國基金會推出的金融安全信用制度（Financial Security Credit）。As Piketty rightly observes, the continued consolidation of wealth is deeply problematic. This is true on a macro scale as well as in the day-to-day lives of families trying to make ends meet and get a few steps ahead. Replacing our flawed public policies that exacerbate this problem with a system that facilitates the creation of new wealth would go a long way toward allowing more Americans to share in such a powerful driver of economic success.
皮凱蒂的觀點很對，財富不斷地滾雪球會帶來深遠的問題。無論是從宏觀上看，還是從家庭精打細算過日子、努力往前奔，都是這樣。取消我們那些加劇貧富差距、具有缺陷的公共政策，代之以能夠促使新的財富生成的新體系，這將會讓更多美國人分享到經濟成功帶來的巨大驅動力。
