突破傳統經濟政策的迷思–以美國和日本為例

第二次世界大戰後，傳統經濟政策在國際經濟舞臺上扮演舉足輕重的角色，因為它們是對抗景氣循環的重要武器。過去幾十年來，世界各地雖仍陸陸續續出現大小不等的經濟衰退，但其力道通常短暫而溫和，大規模經濟衰退甚且大蕭條的景象已不復現，人們對於靠政府介入市場經濟運作，以維持經濟成長於不墜的信念愈加堅定，而政府對於自身有能力藉由經濟政策之運作，以掌控景氣循環亦信心滿滿。

Traditional economic policies have served as helpful instruments for contending with economic downturns throughout the world over the past decades. Nevertheless, they may be harmful to an economy if they are not implemented in the right way. The recent experiences of the United States and Japan have demonstrated that some negative effects, such as the formation of bubble economies, the accumulation of government debt, and the worsening of income disparities, have actually resulted from misguided economic policies.
It is necessary and urgent for the authorities to learn from these lessons and to reconsider the issues of, for example, tax exemptions, minimum-wage laws, inflation-targeting policy, and export-led growth strategy, from a non-traditional perspective. Moreover, rather than putting off addressing, or trying to paper over, structural problems, and simply relying on tinkering with economic policies instead of carrying out fundamental reforms, the authorities should take decisive steps to deal with all the structural problems without delay. If structural problems are neglected, they will worsen and become harder to correct, making it increasingly difficult for an economy to perform soundly no matter how sound its economic policies may be.