美國第一任女財長就職信：K型經濟的惡果50年前已埋下_風聞

來源：羅漢堂觀點

1月26日，在宣誓就任美國第78任財政部長後，珍妮特·耶倫致信財政部84000名公務員，以下是信件中英文全文：

各位親愛的同僚們：

我叫珍妮特·耶倫。就在剛剛，我宣誓就職美國第78任財政部長。能夠加入到這龐大的84000人的團隊中，我感到非常榮幸，無以言表。

當拜登總統問我願不願意出任財政部長的時候，我答應了。很大一部分原因是我知道我會跟什麼樣的同事一起工作。我在美聯儲工作14年，雖然和財政部諸位並不是直接同事，但是我們曾在金融危機時心心相惜，共同戰鬥過。我記得在深夜參加過無數的電話會議。我深深欽佩財政部各位專家的奉獻精神和創造力。

現在，我們需要再次並肩戰鬥。

這一次的危機顯然和2008年的危機不同。不僅規模比之前有過之而無不及，程度也是毀滅性的。全行業停擺，1600萬美國人待業，食物銀行儲備逐漸減少。

我知道許多同僚從一開始就在努力應對這場危機。比如説，如果沒有財政部，美國人不會收到《關懷法案》的疫情財政紓困金。此時此刻，我們必須堅持到底。我們要確保更多美國人有尊嚴地挺過這場疫情的最後幾個月，然後幫助他們安全復工。

這個任務將會佔據我們接下來的工作日程（甚至可能還有“夜”程）。但在我們為了恢復疫情帶來的打擊日夜兼程的同時，我們也不能忽略自己的基本職責，仍然要恪盡職守，做好從監管金融市場，到管理國家財政，再到與美國盟友合作加強全球經濟和打擊非法金融等重要工作。

另外，我們還有一系列長期目標。

如果你在過去幾周聽過拜登總統的演講，你應該對“四大歷史性危機”的説法並不陌生。新冠是其中一個，除此之外，這個國家還需應對氣候危機，系統性的種族危機，和演化了近五十年的經濟危機。

大家都擔心經歷K型復甦——但其實早在疫情之前，我們就生活在K型經濟之中，富者愈富，而另一些人羣則越來越被忽視。

我相信我們的部門在不管應對哪一個危機時都可以發揮重要作用。

説到底，經濟學並不是一個存在於教科書裏的學科，更不是一堆理論的合集。**我從學界進入到政府是因為我堅信經濟政策對於增進社會福祉有強大的作用。**我們可以，也應該，用我們所學來對抗不平等，種族歧視和氣候變化。

這些都是頗具野心的目標。我深知這其中沒有任何一個能單靠我和部長辦公室周圍的小團隊的努力就實現。我們需要一個兼容包並的環境，才能將這個機構的天賦和才華發揮到極致。所以，在接下來的幾周，我計劃與你們每一個人見面，我希望聽到你們告訴我什麼需要被改變、我們在哪方面可以做的更好。我十分期待這次的“傾聽之旅”。接下來幾天，等我們決定好如何安排這些線上會議，會通知大家更多詳情。

在我的提名確認聽證會中，我解釋了我成為經濟學家的緣由：是因為我的父親。我父親是一位在布魯克林一個工薪階層聚集的街區工作的醫生。他是大蕭條時代出生的孩子。晚上他回到家，總會跟我們講他的哪位病人丟了工作，或者付不起醫藥費。

我父親對經濟困難有近乎本能的反應。到現在，他説的那些話依然是我童年最清晰的記憶之一。可能這也是為什麼，過了這麼多年，我依然試圖像我父親看待他的學科一樣看待我的學科—經濟學，我相信經濟學可以幫助人們。

我知道你們很多人都如此相信。你們相信經濟政策可以讓人們生活得更好**；你們相信數據，更能發現數據之下的人性光輝。**

未來充滿不確定性，我不能保證什麼。但我希望當經濟學家回首美國的這段歷史，他們會説，這種信仰幫助我們留下了一個更強大繁榮的國家。

最後，我想再次表達能和各位敬業的公務員一起工作的榮幸，非常期待儘快與你們見面。

真誠地，

耶倫部長

以下為英文原文：

Dear colleagues,  

My name is Janet Yellen, and a short while ago, I was sworn in as the 78th Secretary of the Treasury. It’s an incredible honor to join this team of 84,000 public servants. I can’t overstate that. 

When President Biden asked if I would accept the position of Treasury Secretary, I said “yes” in large part because I knew who I would be working with. I had just spent fourteen years at the Federal Reserve. The Treasury staff weren’t exactly our coworkers. But during the financial crisis, the two teams grew close. I remember participating in a countless string of late-night conference calls and admiring the dedication and creativity of Treasury’s experts. Your work helped save the economy from its worst crisis since the Depression.

Now we need to do it again. 

Of course, the current crisis is very different from 2008. But the scale is as big, if not bigger. The pandemic has wrought wholesale devastation on the economy. Entire industries have paused their work. Sixteen million Americans are still relying on unemployment insurance. Food bank shelves are going empty.

I know many Treasury employees have been responding to the economic emergency since the beginning. Without Treasury, for instance, Americans would not have received economic impact payments from the CARES Act. But now we must complete the task. We must help the American people endure the final months of this pandemic by making sure they have roofs over their head and food on the table. Then, we must assist them in getting back to work safely.

This task will occupy our days (and probably many of our nights) in the near future. But even as we work to recover from this pandemic, we cannot forget about the Department’s usual business; the essential work that ranges from overseeing financial markets, to managing the nation’s finances, to strengthening the global economy and fighting illicit finance in partnership with America’s allies. 

Then, there is another set of long-term objectives. 

If you have listened to President Biden speak over the past few weeks, you have heard him talk about “four historic crises.” COVID-19 is one. But in addition to the pandemic, the country is also facing a climate crisis, a crisis of systemic racism, and an economic crisis that has been building for fifty years. 

People worry about a K-shaped recovery to the pandemic – and that is a cause for concern – but long before COVID-19 infected a single individual, we were living in a K-shaped economy, one where wealth built on wealth while certain segments of the population fell further and further behind. 

I believe our Department can play a major role in addressing each of these crises. 

After all, economics isn’t just something you find in textbook. Nor is it simply a collection of theories. Indeed, the reason I went from academia to government is because I believe economic policy can be a potent tool to improve society. We can – and should – use it to address inequality, racism, and climate change.  

These are ambitious goals, and I am fully aware none of them will be accomplished by working exclusively with a small team out of the Secretary’s office. Ours will have to be an inclusive Department. We must tap the full measure of the institution’s talent and expertise.  That is why over the next few weeks, I plan to meet with each office and bureau. I want to hear from you about what needs changing and what we can do better.  I’m excited about this “listening tour,” and you can expect more details in the coming days as we determine how to conduct these meetings virtually. 

During my confirmation hearing, I spoke about why I became an economist. The reason was my father. He was a doctor in a working-class part of Brooklyn. He was also a child of the Depression. He would come home at night, and he would tell us when one of his patients had lost a job or couldn’t pay. 

My father had such a visceral reaction to economic hardship. Those moments remain some of the clearest of my early life, and they are likely why, decades later, I still try to see my science – the science of economics – the way my father saw his: as a means to help people. 

I know that many of you share this sensibility. You see economic policy as a way to improve people’s lives; you see the humanity beneath the data. 

I cannot be sure about the future, but I expect that when economists look back at this period in American history, they’ll conclude that perspective helped us leave behind a stronger, more prosperous country. 

I am profoundly glad to be working alongside dedicated public servants once again. I look forward to meeting you. And I hope to do so in person sooner rather than later. 

Sincerely, Secretary Yellen 

（完）

耶倫成為美國歷史上首位女性財政部長。（圖片來源：路透社）