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经济类文章 Background Information 美元持续走低，意味着美国经济存在缺陷，但是否就意味着地球上其他国家也将遭受劫难？答案是否定的。世界经济将从美元的逐步下滑中受益。这将有助于缓解全球流动资金失衡状况，并且通过将生产转移到美国可贸易领域，缓冲房地产泡沫破灭给美国经济带来的震荡。诚然，美元的下滑将影响欧洲及亚洲的出口，但如果这些地区的央行现有的利率走低，进而促进内需---这也正是全球经济达到重新平衡所需要的局面----那么这种影响将会被抵消。现今欧洲及亚洲的强势增长也将有助于防止美国经济的低迷蔓延至整个世界。 The Falling Dollar THE dollars tumble this week was attended by predictable shrinks from the markets; but as it fell to a 20-month low of $1.32 against the euro, the only real surprise was that it had not slipped sooner. Indeed, there are good reasons to expect its slide to continue, dragging it below the record low of $1.36 against the euro that it hit in December 2004. The recent decline was triggered by nasty news about the American economy. New figures this week suggested that the housing markets troubles are having a wider impact on the economy. Consumer confidence and durable-goods orders both fell more sharply than expected. In contrast, German business confidence has risen to a 15-year high. There are also mounting concerns that central banks in China and elsewhere, which have been piling up dollars assiduously for years, may start selling. So, contrary to popular perceptions, Americas economy has not significantly outperformed Europes in recent years. Since 2000 its structural budget deficit (after adjusting for the impact of the economic cycle) has widened sharply, while American households saving rate has plunged, causing the current-account deficit to swell. Over the same period, the euro-area economies saw no fiscal stimulus and household saving barely budged. Yet cyclical factors only partly explain why the dollar has been strong. At bottom, its attractiveness is based more on structural factors---or, more accurately, on an illusion about structural differences between the American and European economies. The main reason for the dollars strength has been the widespread belief that the American economy vastly outperformed the worlds other ri