爲什麼日本沒有美國的超級富人問題

TOKYO -- Six months after Thomas Piketty's book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" generated so much buzz in the United States and Europe, it has become a bestseller in Japan. But vast differences between Japan and its developed counterparts in the West, mean that, like so many other Western exports, Piketty's argument has taken on unique characteristics.

東京——在美國和歐洲引起了巨大的反響6個月後，湯瑪斯·皮克提的著作《21世紀的資本論》成爲了日本的暢銷書。但是，像很多西方出口產品一樣，日本與其他西方發達國家的巨大差異使得湯瑪斯·皮克提的觀點具備了獨特的特點。

Piketty's main assertion is that the leading driver of increased inequality in the developed world is the accumulation of wealth by those who are already wealthy, driven by a rate of return on capital that consistently exceeds the rate of GDP growth. Japan, however, has lower levels of inequality than almost every other developed country. Indeed, though it has long been an industrial powerhouse, Japan is frequently called the world's most successful communist country.

皮克提的主要觀點是，發達國家貧富不均加劇主要是由富人的財富積累導致的，這受資本的投資回報率要長期高於GDP增長率所驅動。而日本的貧富不均水平要低於大部分其他發達國家。雖然日本已經成爲一個工業強國很久了，但它常被稱爲世界上最成功的共產主義國家。

Japan has a high income-tax rate for the rich (45 percent), and the inheritance tax rate recently was raised to 55 percent. This makes it difficult to accumulate capital over generations -- a trend that Piketty cites as a significant driver of inequality.

日本對於富人徵收的個人所得稅稅率很高(達到45%),而遺產稅稅率最近也上調到了55%.這就使得在家族中進行數代的資本積累很困難——在Piketty 看來(這種資本積累方式) 正是造成不平等的重要因素.

As a result, Japan's richest families typically lose their wealth within three generations. This is driving a growing number of wealthy Japanese to move to Singapore or Australia, where inheritance taxes are lower. The familiarity of Japan, it seems, is no longer sufficient to compel the wealthy to endure the high taxes imposed upon them.

所以日本最富有一部分家庭通常在三代以內就會失去他們的資產,這也使得移民到新加坡或者澳大利亞的日本富商越來越多，因爲這些國家的遺產稅稅率比較低。雖然日本是他們的故土，但這好像並不能足以使他們留下來。

In this context, it is not surprising that Japan's "super-rich" remain a lot less wealthy than their counterparts in other countries. In the U.S., for example, the average income of the top one percent of households was $1,264,065 in 2012, according to the investment firm Sadoff Investment Research. In Japan, the top 1 percent of households earned about $240,000, on average (at 2012 exchange rates).

這樣看來,日本的"超級富人"與其它國家的相比資產要少得多是很正常的。以美國爲例，根據投資公司薩多夫投資研究所的數據，2012年美國最富有的1%的家庭平均收入是1264065美元，而日本最富有的1%的家庭的平均收入爲240000美元（以2012年匯率計算）。

Yet Japanese remain sensitive to inequality, driving even the richest to avoid ostentatious displays of wealth. One simply does not see the profusion of mansions, yachts, and private jets typical of, say, Beverly Hills and Palm Beach.

並且日本對不平等現象很敏感，這使得富豪們並不喜歡炫富。你很難在日本看到像貝弗利山莊和澳大利亞棕櫚灘(兩個地方都是富豪雲集的地方,生活奢侈)雲集的豪宅，遊艇以及私人飛機等。

For example, Haruka Nishimatsu, former president and CEO of Japan Airlines, attracted international attention a few years ago for his modest lifestyle. He relied on public transportation and ate lunch with employees in the company's cafeteria. By contrast, in China, the heads of national companies are well known for maintaining grandiose lifestyles.

例如，日本航空公司前任CEO兼社長Haruka Nishimatsu就因其樸素的生活方式而吸引了全球的關注。他乘坐公共交通工具並且與職員們一起在公司餐吃午餐。與此形成鮮明對比的是,中國國企的領導們卻因爲他們奢侈的生活方式而聞名。

We Japanese have a deeply ingrained stoicism, reflecting the Confucian notion that people do not lament poverty when others lament it equally. This willingness to accept a situation, however bad, as long as it affects everyone equally is what enabled Japan to endure two decades of deflation, without a public outcry over the authorities' repeated failure to redress it.

我們日本人腦子裏有種根深蒂固的斯多亞主義（強調克己，自足，平靜，接受現實），這也符合孔子的一句話"君子不患寡而患不均"。無論現狀多麼惡劣，但是隻要大家都是一樣的處境，我們就能坦然接受現實而不是去抗議政府的無能，這也是我們能夠忍受長達二十年的通貨緊縮的原因。

This national characteristic is not limited to individuals. The government, the central bank, the media and companies wasted far too much time simply enduring deflation -- time that they should have spent working actively to address it.

這種民族特性並不僅限於個人。日本政府，央行，媒體和公司就是因爲樂於接受現實而浪費了太多時間——他們本應該用來解決通貨緊縮問題的時間。

Japan finally has a government, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, that is committed to ending deflation and reinvigorating economic growth, using a combination of expansionary monetary policy, active fiscal policy, and deregulation. Now in its third year, so-called "Abenomics" is showing some positive results. Share prices have risen by 220 percent since Abe came to power in December 2012. And corporate performance has improved -- primarily in the export industries, which have benefited from a depreciated yen -- with many companies posting their highest profits on record.

最終日本選舉出了新一屆的以安倍晉三爲首的政府，這屆政府承諾結局通貨緊縮問題並且重振日本經濟雄風，政府決定採用擴張性的經濟政策，積極地財政政策以及放鬆政府管制三位一體的措施。現在已經是這政策實施的第三個年頭，所謂的"安倍經濟學"顯示出了一些積極的作用。自從2012年安倍上任以來，股價已經上漲了220%並且公司收益大大改善（得益於日元的貶值，出口業改善尤爲明顯），許多企業都取得了有史以來的最高收益。

But Abenomics has yet to benefit everyone. In fact, there is a sense that Abe's policies are contributing to rising inequality. That is why Piketty's book appeals to so many Japanese.

但是"安倍經濟學"還沒有使每個人都收益。實際上有人覺得這種政策正在加劇社會不平等，這也是Piketty的書在日本很受歡迎的原因。

For example, though the recent reduction in the corporate-tax rate was necessary to encourage economic growth and attract investment, it seems to many Japanese to be a questionable move at a time when the consumption-tax rate has been increased and measures to address deflation are pushing up prices. To address this problem, the companies that enjoy tax cuts should increase their employees' wages to keep pace with rising prices, instead of waiting for market forces to drive them up.

例如，儘管政府下調了企業所得稅，這有助於經濟增長和吸引投資，但是當政府上調消費稅並且國內的物價上漲時，許多日本人對政府的舉措提出了質疑。要想解決這個問題，那些得益於企業所得稅下調的企業應該主動增加員工的工資來幫助他們應對上漲的物價，而不是等待市場力量來提高薪水。

Herein lies the unique twist that Piketty's theory takes on in Japan: the disparity is not so much between the super-rich and everyone else, but between large corporations, which can retain earnings and accumulate capital, and the individuals who are being squeezed in the process.

Piketty的理論在日本的特別之處在於：日本的"超級富人"與其他人之間的貧富差距並不是太大，貧富差距懸殊在於大企業（可保有收入和積累資本）和被壓榨的個體之間。