296.F公允价值对公司价值的影响——金融危机下的重新定位 英文原文.doc

US Banking Solutions DebatedBy Michael Bowman Washington08 March 2009America's banking crisis shows few signs of subsiding, despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent by the federal government to prop up struggling financial institutions and unfreeze tight credit.It is a basic and, perhaps, obvious truth: capitalism cannot function without capital, much of which is provided by private banks. But roughly half a year after Congress authorized $700 billion to rescue America's financial system - more than half of which has been spent to date - the country's biggest lending institutions remain at risk of failure.Some, like Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, have a straightforward solution.I think we need to close them, get them out of business, he said. If they are dead, they ought to be buried.Shelby was speaking on ABC's This Week program. His words were echoed by fellow-Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, who worried that more government bailout money will only prolong an unsustainable situation.Some of these banks have to fail, said McCain. You cannot have 'zombie' banks.McCain was speaking on Fox News Sunday.But the laissez-faire, or free market, solution to the banking crisis will inflict great pain on the nation as a whole, according to Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, who also appeared on This Week.If they big banks were to go down, the problem is: it is not just them. It is called collateral damage. Hundreds of thousands of blue collar men and women, other smaller financial institutions that were not involved in these bad decisions, said Bayh. They would all pay the price, too.Some are urging patience, noting that a massive economic-stimulus package as well as President Barack Obama's home mortgage aid program have only just gone into effect. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York says improving the overall economy and preventing home foreclosures will provide a boost to the banking sector.If you reduce foreclosures, you find a bottom to the housing market, said Schumer. And then the banks, which are worried about all this mortgage paper they have, will start lending again.Schumer was speaking on NBC's Meet The Press program.But patience and calm nerves may be hard to find at a time when U.S. financial markets continue to drop at alarming rates. Last week, Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to a 12-year low, and analysts say uncertainty over the country's financial picture is contributing to investors' worries.The Treasury Department is conducting so-called stress tests of major banks to gauge their viability in today's tough economic times. But in recent testimony on Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had few answers when asked what would be done should any banks be judged to have failed the stress test and be deemed fundamentally unsound.The Obama administration has been criticized for the slow pace of nominations for key Treasury posts under Mr. Geithner, who has been operating without the benefit of a full staff. Sunday, the administration announced appointments for three key positions in the department.US Lawmakers Demand Details About Bank Bailout Plan By Deborah TateWashington11 February 2009U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner returned to the U.S. Congress Wednesday, a day after he announced the Obama administration's plan for continuing efforts to rescue the nation's ailing banking system. He faced lawmakers frustrated that few details of the plan have been released.In his second day of testimony, Geithner again offered a broad description of the Obama administration's financial rescue plan, which seeks to use up to $2 trillion to help shore up ailing banks and spur more lending.The plan includes expanding a lending program to facilitate consumer and business loans and government financing for private companies to buy up bad real estate assets.But in his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Geithner remained vague on details of the plan.He offered this response when Senator Lyndsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, asked him whether the administration would ask Congress for more money for the program."Can't tell you that at this point," Geithner said. "But if we think there is a good case for doing it, we are going to come tell you how we are going to do it.""Okay, good. So, you have no clue," said Graham.Geithner said $315 billion remain in the original $700 billion bailout that Congress approved last year.Senator Graham said that would not be enough money to solve the banking and housing crisis, and said the administration should admit now that it will need more money.Geithner defended the lack of details in the plan, saying the crisis will take a long time to resolve."This is the beginning of a process of consultation. I completely understand the desire for details and commitments," he told the Senate Budget Committee. "But we want to do this carefully, consult carefully so we do not put ourselves in the position again where we are laying out details ahead of the care and substance to get it right, which requires quick departures and changes in strategy. I do not want to do that."Committee chairman Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, asked when the administration might know whether it would need more money from Congress for the financial rescue program, saying lawmakers will be preparing the annual federal budget and need to plan accordingly.Geithner said the administration should have a better idea in the next several weeks.Washington23 December 2008World markets were mixed Tuesday amid confirmation that the U.S. economy shrank in the third quarter of the year. The Bush administration says it believes fourth quarter numbers will be even worse.The U.S. Commerce Department says the U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.5 percent between July and September, matching a previously-released initial estimate. Consumer spending and exports slumped, while corporate profits also declined.White House spokesman Tony Fratto says the third quarter gross domestic product figure was not unexpected, and that the current quarter is almost certain to prove even grimmer.The fourth quarter we know, because of the credit crisis and the financial market turmoil, will be significantly weaker, he said. We see that already in the monthly payroll data that has been reported. So it is a tough quarter. What we have been focused on is implementing the financial rescue package and the efforts of the Fed to restore growth, to free up credit so that the economy can get healthy again.The United States is believed to have been in a recession since December of last year. During that time, U.S. unemployment has jumped a full percentage point. The economic slowdown has led business to slash prices in hopes of kindling demand for goods and services. But consumers are not celebrating, according to Diane Swonk, chief economist for U.S.-based Mesirow Financial.Life is getting cheaper, but unfortunately jobs are getting more scarce. Also, those people who are working are finding that they have less money in their coffers, she said.Many economists point to America's moribund housing market as a major contributor to the economic downturn. The Commerce Department is reporting more bad news on that front, with new home sales dropping nearly three percent in November to the slowest pace recorded in 17 years.One bright spot for consumers is the continuing decline in fuel prices. Oil fell below $38 a barrel Tuesday, extending a dramatic slide in prices since the commodity peaked at nearly $150 a barrel in July.Even with OPEC having one of the biggest oil production cuts in history, not even that is enough to overcome the drop in demand due to the slowing global economy. And that is why these prices are so low, said energy analyst Phil Flynn.Economic pain is not limited to the United States. Poland's unemployment rate has spiked above nine percent, prompting the country's central bank to cut interest rates for the second time in as many months.Most major financial markets saw light pre-holiday trading.Tokyo and London closed modestly higher, while Hong Kong, Paris and Frankfurt recorded moderate loses.By Heda Bayron Bangkok12 January 2009With the global economic slowdown increasingly felt in Asia, the region's governments have taken steps to shield their economies from the worst. But will these measures work?Asian governments are spending like never before. Japan's government says it will provide some $700 billion in tax cuts, liquidity injections into cash-strapped financial institutions and cash handouts to citizens. China says it will use most of its $600 billion stimulus package to build roads and bridges and improve social services. Here in Thailand, the government promised aid to farmers and continued programs to aid the poor such as free electricity, water and bus rides.All these measures are aimed at one thing: reviving economic activity to counter rapidly falling export revenues.Jeffrey Sachs is an economist at Columbia University in New York, specializing in development issues. He spoke at the Asian Development Bank in Manila earlier this month."It seems to me that the most likely way out of this, including for Asia to overcome the crisis, has to rely heavily on public spending. Government purchases of both consumption goods and provision of government services in health and education, in housing and public investment mainly infrastructure investment," he said. "The happy thing about Asia is that Asia needs all of that desperately."Some recent measures are meant to illicit a rapid turnaround. For example, tax cuts and cash handouts like those proposed in Japan and South Korea are meant to boost incomes and encourage consumer spending. Other measures like infrastructure spending proposed by China and Indonesia could take many years to show results.In Japan, while economists agree with short-term moves like pumping liquidity into the banking system to restart lending, some criticize Prime Minister Taro Aso's plan to give cash to consumers as a waste of public funds. They say Japan's long recession in the 1990's showed such handouts to be ineffective in stimulating demand."In reality, the effect of this policy is really, really minimal," said Hideaki Hirata, an economics professor at Hosei University in Tokyo. "The amount is just 120 bucks US dollars. This amount would not be sufficient to stimulate the economy." Hirata says the economy would be better off if the government invests in education, especially for poorer Japanese. Joseph Zvglich is the assistant chief economist at the Asian Development Bank, which lends to governments in the region."The question is, are you getting it into the hands of the people that are going to spend it?" asked Zvglich. "Because if it goes into savings, it won't have an impact. If you are getting it into the hands of somebody who is credit constrained, they are going to likely to spend it. By targeting the poorer segments of the population in particular, it would have a bigger impact."But a short-term boost to the economy could be the goal for some governments, especially those faced with immediate political challenges.Hirata, at Hosei University, says Japanese politicians are positioning for elections that could come as early as April."They Japanese politicians are really thinking about very short-term issues," said Hirata. "That is the election. Long term does not yield any short-term fruit so they do not have much interest in those long-term economic policy policies."In Thailand, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who took office last month after a court ruled the previous government had violated election laws, has stuck to populist measures to shore up his legitimacy in the politically divided nation. Zvglich says governments have to carefully balance short-term stimulus and long-term gains."Having funds to those who will spend it will have a rapid effect. But that's not going to have any pay back later on," he said. "After the crisis is gone, paying back the debt that is generated will be an issue. Having infrastructure projects which will provide for future growth is important. But we do have to keep in mind any infrastructure investment is going to only happen with a lag. Unless there are plans that can be scaled up very quickly, infrastructure spending is not going to give an immediate boost."One question about these plans is how will Asian countries pay for all this spending? China and Japan have enormous foreign currency reserves, but poorer nations in the region will have to borrow. The Philippines last week borrowed one and a half billion dollars from international investors to cover its stimulus spending.Sachs argues for greater regional cooperation. He called on Japan - with its strong currency - to provide long-term assistance to other Asian nations. He says this would help both Japan and the rest of the region."Since Japan is very reluctant to expand its own government investments, maybe understandably, it could expand other countries' government investment by providing long term yen-backed financing .to increase the levels of government spending on these critical long term sustainable development," Sachs said.But whether individual stimulus packages work at home, economists say a lot still depends on what happens overseas - particularly in the United States. Many people in Asia are keenly watching President-elect Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan, hoping it succeeds, and ripples across the Pacific.IASB PROMOTES FAIR VALUE' RULE CHANGE IN ATTEMPT TO END DISPUTEA radical shake-up of how banks and insurers report the value of financial instruments has been proposed by international accounting rule-setters in a bold attempt to resolve an intense dispute at the heart of efforts to prevent a repeat of credit crisis.The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed a simple principle for whether banks and insurers should value a financial investment as a long-term holding or as a trading position.The proposals could see more investments reported at current market values, a shift which could improve the transparency of accounts but increase volatility in earnings.Under the IASB's proposed rules, if a bank's investment produces predictable cash flow like a government bond, it can be valued in accounts using an accounting mechanism that smooths out market fluctuations. If the investment's cash flow is unpredictable, like some derivatives, it sh