2011《財富》最愚蠢商業事件大盤點（上）

美國債務上限辯論大混戰

????“愚蠢。”“就像身處香蕉共和國（指經濟單一、政局不穩的效果——譯注）一樣。”

????投資者紛紛用這樣尖刻的話來描述國會在債務上限辯論中的表現。

????一些國會議員寧愿讓國家冒違約的風險，也不愿意擴大借貸。因為，美國需要現金來為現有政策買單，而通過這些政策的就是……國會。

????國會的原則聽起來很高尚——美國不能無限期地借款。但如果不提高債務限額，就意味著需要大幅削減開支，而此舉必將使美國經濟陷入困境，導致稅收下降，進而使財政赤字進一步惡化。

????雖然美國國會最終涉險過關，但此次爭論卻使美國失去了寶貴的AAA信用評級。——珍妮?薩哈蒂

Debt ceiling debacle

????"Stupid." "Like a banana republic."

????Those are a few of the choice words investors used to describe Congress' behavior during the debt ceiling debate.

????Some members of Congress were willing to risk letting the country default rather than borrow more money. The country needed cash to pay bills from policies that had already been authorized by...well, Congress.

????Their principle was noble -- the United States can't borrow indefinitely. But to not raise the debt ceiling would have meant cutting spending drastically, upending the economy. That, in turn, would worsen deficits as tax revenue fell.

????Congress came through in the end -- barely -- but the bickering led to the loss of the country's prized AAA credit rating. -- Jeanne Sahadi