11/5 Fri.
［社説］米量的緩和の縮小は経済見極め慎重に
2021/11/519:05 [有料会員限定]
オンラインで記者会見する米連邦準備理事会（FRB）のパウエル議長（3日）
米連邦準備理事会（FRB）が量的緩和の縮小開始を決めた。物価の急上昇と景気回復の鈍化で、金融政策のかじ取りは難しさを増している。国内外に十分目配りした慎重な政策運営を期待したい。
新型コロナウイルス禍を受け、FRBは20年3月から量的緩和を続けてきた。米国債を月800億ドル、住宅ローン担保証券（MBS）を同400億ドル購入してきた。今月から購入月額をそれぞれ100億ドル、50億ドルずつ減らし、来年6月にも量的緩和を終える予定だ。
コロナ下の量的緩和は当初の役割を終えつつある。格差拡大といった弊害も目立ち、縮小に動くのは妥当だ。FRBは13年、リーマン危機後に発動した量的緩和の縮小をめぐり世界の金融市場を混乱させた。その教訓から今回はきめ細かく情報を発信し、今のところ混乱は起きていない。最後まで気を抜かず対応してほしい。
市場の関心は次のステップの利上げに移っているが、FRBは板挟みだ。物価上昇率が目標の前年比2%を超える一方、雇用者数はコロナ前より500万人少ない。経済がまだ本調子でないうえ、感染を恐れて職場に復帰しない人びとも多いためだ。
これが供給網の混乱と物価上昇に拍車をかける。物価高に対応し金融を引き締めるべきか、回復途上の雇用を緩めの政策で支え続けるべきかの見極めが難しい。
パウエル議長は「利上げは時期尚早だ」と述べた。22年後半になれば雇用面で環境が整う可能性もあるとみるが、市場は22年中に2度の利上げを織り込み、3度目まで視野に入れ始めている。
供給網や感染の行方など不透明要因は多く、政策の先行きは読みにくい。ただFRBが早期の利上げを否定し続けても、市場でさらなる物価上昇の観測が広がり、長期金利が急騰するといったリスクもある。経済・物価の動向を予断なく見極め、市場とも粘り強く対話を続けてほしい。
折しも韓国やノルウェー、ニュージーランドが利上げに踏み切った。カナダも量的緩和の終了を決めるなど、緩和的な金融政策を見直す動きが広がっている。
米国で利上げ観測が強まり、金利が急上昇した場合、新興国から資金が流出するなど大きな影響が及ぶ可能性も否定できない。コロナ禍からの経済回復が遅れている国々も多く、FRBに十分な配慮を求めたい。
Summary:
FRB decided to start to decrease qualitative easing. It is getting hard for them to control financial policies because of rising commodity prices at a rapid pace and business recovering at a lower pace. We expect them to deal with a careful policy management taking care of what is happing in US and the rest of the world.
We are sure that the role of qualitative easing seems to come to an end. It is very appropriate that FRB adopts its measure due to expansion of the haves and the have nots.
The market concerns have already moved into raising interests. FRB is at the crossroads. The rate of commodity prices has already over 2%, while the number of employees remains less 5 million people than that of pre coronavirus days.
Anti-China MEPs don’t deserve too much attention from mainland: Global Times editorial
By Global Times
Published: Nov 03, 2021 09:08 PM
Anti-China MEP Illustration: Chen Xia/GT
A delegation sent by the European Parliament's Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation (INGE), arrived in the island of Taiwan on Wednesday. The delegation is composed of seven European parliamentarians led by Raphael Glucksmann, a French MEP sanctioned by China in March. The group and Taiwan touted the tour significant as the first formal delegation sent by the European Parliament to Taiwan.
The delegation reflects the clear hostility of some European parliamentarians toward China. They take advantage of the Taiwan question to create trouble for Beijing and raise their own values. Glucksmann said the island is already "a democratic model in Asia," and "I will continue, always, to stand with those who fight for democracy and human rights." He is trying so hard to promote the provocative visit to a level worthy of applause from Western public opinion.
Chinese authorities may just as well tone down their response to the provocations of Western lawmakers. In the Western system, parliamentarians are so-called "representatives of the public." To get noticed, their main job is to shout with the banner of "morality" and radical posture. They have no real power and are not responsible for the functioning of society. With no real power, they are part of the Western-style political system that embodies "freedom of speech." When there is a conflict with China, they are always the ones with the fiercest reactions. This is their political nature.
Members of the European Parliament are more idle than parliamentarians from other countries and keener to attract attention. In many cases, they are equivalent to China's internet celebrities. As many of them are not well-known, they are only equivalent to mediocre or small celebrities. When China becomes a hot topic and defined as a "challenge," think about how much they will be tempted to affect the original framework of European relations with China to be noticed.
The Western system determines that many parliamentarians will be "anti-China," and that their administrative officials will sometimes voice opinions to cater to the general dissatisfaction and extreme sentiments toward China's rise. When China attaches importance to relations with another country, society will form a certain degree of self-consciousness to respect that country and not engage in opposing public opinion. But the situation is different in the West. There has long been room for an anti-China sentiment in the West. Now that the West has resisted China's rise, anti-China performances have been given more momentum.
China should not pay much attention to Western parliamentarians' anti-China performances in the future. Instead, China should focus on major incumbent officials. There will be more extreme words and deeds from parliamentarians, whose goal is to attract attention. If we frequently argue with them, it will consume our energy and resources, and will allow them to spread the influence of their anti-China opinions and acts. They will only find being anti-China more profitable and thus act more rampantly.
Trade is paramount in China's relations with Western countries. There are bound to be challenges in ideology between China and the West. We should not expect mainstream public opinion in Western countries to be "pro-China." If China were poor, they might show us a friendly gesture with a sense of superiority. The stronger and more prosperous China is, the more they will face us with complaints and even resentment.
We are not advocating that Western lawmakers and anti-China tendencies in public opinion be left alone, or discard efforts to influence them. Instead, attempts should be made, but we will never get angered by some of their provocations. We are aware that Western lawmakers and media outlets are "just like that," and understand that the real influence of Western lawmakers is far less than the impression they want to create.
The seven members of the European Parliament hope to make their visit a "big event" and become the focus of confrontation between China and Europe. As a result, they can become the "anti-China stars" in Europe. We cannot remain indifferent to their visit, but we cannot allow their goals to succeed. We need to try to find out how to deal with Western anti-China lawmakers under new historical conditions.