金融:功能重要,而非规模

Finance: Function Matters, Not Size

Journal of Economic Perspectives · 2013
被引 70
人大 A-ABS 4

中文导读

批评了以规模判断金融行业好坏的倾向,主张应关注其功能是否良好、是否存在市场或政府扭曲,以及监管是否有效。

Abstract

It's fun to pass judgment on waste, size, usefulness, complexity, and excessive compensation. But as economists, we have an analytical structure for thinking about these questions. “I don't understand it” doesn't mean “it's bad,” or “regulation will improve it.” That attitude pervades policy analysis in general and financial regulation in particular, and economists do the world a disservice if we echo it. I will not offer a competing black box [to explain the size of the finance industry]. I don't claim to estimate the socially optimal “size of finance” at, say, 8.267 percent of GDP. It's just the wrong question. Hayek and the failure of planning should teach us a little modesty: Pronouncing on socially optimal industry size is a waste of time. Is the finance industry functioning well? Are there identifiable market or government distortions? Will proposed regulations help or make matters worse? These are useful questions.

金融功能金融规模市场失灵政府失灵