Imagine that, instead of recycling US Treasuries, China really put its enormous foreign currency reserves to work. What does $3,045bn buy you these days?
想象一下，假如中国不是把庞大的外汇储备再拿去购买美国国债，而是真正投入使用，3.045万亿美元在当下能买些什么呢？
Italy. Principal and interest on the entire sovereign debt stock of il bel paese, going out to 2062, comes to $3,031bn. Or if China were after commodities, rather than countries, it could stash away 25bn barrels of Brent crude. Based on February’s consumption, that would satisfy almost 13 years of net oil imports. And how about companies? Assuming a civil 30 per cent takeover premium, Beijing could buy up America’s ten biggest listed firms, from ExxonMobil to JPMorgan, or the 15 biggest Euro-stocks, from BHP Billiton to Eni. For true value for money, though, China might want to browse a little closer to home. Its reserves managers could acquire the entire Nikkei 225, with $30bn in change.
能买意大利。该国全部主权债务到2062年的本息之和为3.031万亿美元。或者，如果中国属意的是大宗商品而非国家，那么它可以囤积250亿桶布伦特原油。根据2月份的消费量，这可满足近13年的石油净进口需求。如果买企业呢？假设收购溢价高达30%，中国可买下美国的10家上市公司，从埃克森美孚(exxonmobil)到摩根大通(JPMorgan)，或是欧元区的15家上市公司，从必和必拓(BHP Billiton)到埃尼集团(Eni)。不过，要真正物有所值，中国也许想在离家更近一些的地方出手。中国的外储管理机构可以买下日经225指数所有的成分股公司，还可剩余300亿美元。
