Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

The Fed has not only failed to fix what's broken in the U.S. economy--it has actively made those problems worse.

FEDは壊れた米国経済を修復できなかっただけでなくーー積極的に問題を悪化させている。

The Federal Reserve claims its monetary interventions saved America from economic ruin in 2009, and have bolstered growth ever since. Don't hurt yourself patting your own backs, Fed governors past and present: it's bad enough that the Fed can't fix the economy's real problems--its policies actively make them worse.

FEDは２００９年の崩壊から米国経済を金融政策で救済し成長を促進させるとは言う。（「
Don't hurt yourself patting your own backs」歌の題名です、自分の背中を叩いて自分を傷つけるな、とでも訳すか）、FED高官はこれまでもそして今でもそうなんだが：FEDが現実の経済課題を解決できないくらいに悪化している時にはーーその政策は状況を一層悪化させる。

After seven long years of politicos and the financial media glorifying the Federal Reserve's policies as god-like in their power and efficacy, let's take a quick look at the results of these vaunted policies: ZIRP (zero interest rates), (QE) quantitative easing, both of which are ways of shoving nearly-free money ( a.k.a. liquidity) into the banking sector, where all this free money is supposed to filter into the global economy, working miracles of prosperity.

もう７年ものながきにわたり、政治屋とメディアはFED政策を褒め称えてきたが、ご自慢の政策の結果を簡単に検証してみよう：ゼロ金利も量的緩和もどちらも資金の移動を制限し（流動性として知られるが）銀行に資金を押し込む、この資金が世界経済につぎ込まれ奇跡の繁栄を呼び起こすはずだった。

The stated goal of the Fed's zero-interest rate policy (ZIRP) and quantitative easing (QE) was to make borrowing easier for both corporations and consumers, the idea being that companies would borrow to invest in new productive capacity and consumers would buy the new goods and services being produced with the Fed's cheap credit.

FEDのゼロ金利政策と量的緩和の目的は企業も個人も資金を借りやすくするものだった、その理念は企業が資金を得て新しい生産設備を導入したり、消費者が物やサービスを購入しやすくするものだった。

The secondary publicly stated goal was to spark a rally in stocks, bonds and real estate that would spark a wealth effect: as households saw their net worth rise, they would feel wealthier and thus more likely to borrow money to buy more goods and services.

副次的に株式や債券、不動産のラリーを引き起こし資産効果を呼び起こすと考えられていた：持ち家の価値があがり、金持ちになったような気分で借金をして物やサービスをさらに買うと。

Let's start by stipulating that the Fed's policies are unprecedented. Keeping interest rates near-zero for over seven years and pumping up its balance sheet from $800 billion to over $4 trillion are both completely off the scale of central bank policy in the U.S.

FED政策は前代未聞だったことから検証しよう。この７年、金利をほとんどゼロにしFEDバランスシートをかつての＄８００Bから＄４Tにするというのはまったくもって米国中央銀行政策では規格外のものだった。

The most charitable assessment we can make of Fed policy is that the "prosperity" it created is concentrated in the most parasitic and politically powerful sector: finance. Why should we be surprised that the Fed, itself a servant of the banking sector, should devise policies that enrich financiers?

FED政策を最大限寛容にみても、「冨」の生成は副次的なもので政治的に力のある部門に集中した：金融。皆がFEDに驚いたのは、銀行セクタの下僕に成り下がったこと、金融部門を豊にする政策を撮り続けたことではないか？

The Fed's policies have been an unqualified success for financiers and an abject failure for everyone who has to work for a living. The Fed has not just failed to rectify the nation's obscene inequality in wealth and income; it has actively widened it by handing guaranteed returns to the banks and financiers while stripmining what's left of the middle and working classes' non-labor income, i.e. interest on savings.

FED政策は金融機関にとっては望ましいが、日々の生活を送る人にとっては酷い物だった。FEDは資産と収入の極端な格差を是正することに失敗した；積極的に格差を拡大し銀行や金融機関の収益を保証し、中産階級や労働者階級の不労所得を奪い去った、預金の利息のことだ。

So let's see what corporations and financiers did with the Fed's free money for financiers:

They borrowed billions to buy back their own stocks:

というわけで、FEDのfree money で企業や金融機関がどうなったか見てみよう：彼らは多額の借金で自社株買いを行った：

Which boosted the the value of the stocks, enriching the corporate managers and big shareholders:

これが株価を押し上げ、企業の役員や大株主に巨額の冨をもたらした：

Did corporations share the wealth with their employees? The top 5% have done very well, the bottom 95%--well, their real incomes stagnated or declined:

企業の株式は従業員の冨だろうか？上位５％はとてもうまく行っている、下位９５％はーー彼らの収入は停滞または下落している：

Did corporations and financiers create more breadwinner jobs? That is, full-time jobs that pay enough to support a household (i.e. the employee doesn't have to live in his/her parents' basement).

Nope. Breadwinner jobs have declined. The "growth" measured by GDP is mostly increases in prices, not growth in full-time jobs or wages for the bottom 95%.

企業や金融機関は一家の大黒柱の仕事を生み出したろうか？一家の家計を支えることができるフルタイムの仕事ということだ（両親と同居しなくとも暮らして行けるかということだ）。

全くダメだ。大黒柱の仕事は減っている。GDPで計測する「成長」は価格で増える、下位９５％の人の給与や仕事の増加で増えるわけではない。

Did they invest the Fed's free money for financiers in new productive capacity? No, productivity has tanked:

FEDが提供するfree money は新規設備更新につかわれていただろうか？　ちがう、生産性は停滞している：

But the Fed's near-zero interest rates and easy credit must have encouraged investors and entrepreneurs to launch a tsunami of new businesses, right? Wrong -- new business growth has collapsed since the Fed's policies were put in place:

But certainly the Fed's policies have kept inflation low, correct? No--not if you pay rent, college tuition or healthcare:

しかしFED政策のおかげでインフレは収まっていただろうか？　NOーー家賃や大学授業料、医療費を見ればわかる：

But surely the Fed's vaunted wealth effect has trickled down to all households? Not even close--wealth/income inequality has soared:

しかしFEDご自慢のトリクルダウン効果が家計にまで及んだろうか？　全く程遠いーー資産／収入格差は広がる一方だ：

95% Of Income Gains Since 2009 Went To The Top 1%:

Berkeley economics professor Emmanuel Saez put out an update to his estimates of income inequality, and the headline figure has everybody outraged: 95% of income gains since 2009 have accrued to the top 1%.

２００９年からの収入増の９５％は上位１％の人のものだ：

バークレー大学の経済学者Emmanuel Saezが収入格差を見積もった、その表題は皆を憤慨させるものだった：２００９年以来の収入増の９５％は上位１％のひとのものだった。

The Fed has not only failed to fix what's broken in the U.S. economy--it has actively made those problems worse. The first step in solving these problems is to eliminate whatever is making them worse--i.e. the Federal Reserve.

FEDは米国経済の失敗を修復することは出来ずーーそれらの問題を積極的に悪化させてきた。状況を悪化させてきた問題を解決するための第一歩はーーーすなわち、FEDを無くすことだ。