美國金融改革著政治分析─管制與革新─

Abstract

當東亞各國歷經一九九七年亞洲金融風暴而正在商議如何對流動性資本進行管制的同時，就在去〈一九九九〉年十一月，美國參、眾兩院正式通過金融業現代化法案，正式廢除長達六十六年的格拉斯─史帝格法案，徹底打破銀行、證券與保險業務的藩籬，可見在面對資本國際化與金融合併蔚為風潮的情況下，連美國都不得不採取綜合銀行政策來提高金融機構的國際競爭力。本文認為，當金融業務越趨於多元化、國家對於金融體系的管制就越困難，因此在金融自由化的浪潮下，國家如何在管制與改革下尋求金融穩定與效率的最適點便成本文探討的焦點。本文主要論點是：一個穩定的金融機構必須擁有健全的金融監督制度，先有健全的監督制度才能夠在進一步提生金融自由化與競爭力，換句話說，當國家在進行金融自由化的同時應該也要對於金融監督體系進行再管制，但是監督體系卻常常會受到政治力量的干預，因而影響到金融體系的穩定。因此，本文將以一九八O年之後美國金融監督體系的管制改革為例證，分析其背後的政治意涵。本文將從政府、企業與銀行三邊關係的角度切入，分析國會與利益團體的互動關係對金融監督體系改革的影響，並舉出一九九O年之後美國國內對格拉斯─史帝格法案存廢的爭辯，來驗證本文的論點。

In November 1999, when East Asian countries collectively contemplated methods to control international capital movements, the United States Congress abolished the Glass-Steagall Act that had tightly restricted capital movement among the banking, security, and insurance sectors. Under the pressure of financial liberalization and company mergers, the United States adopted such a universal banking policy in order to promote the international competitiveness of her financial institutions. However, tension between financial liberalization and stability is unavoidable. The critical factor in preventing financial liberalization from leading to uncontrollable instability is the establishment of an effective monitoring system over capital flows. Political forces representing different interests and ideologies heavily influence the establishment of such a monitoring system, however. This paper analyzes the interaction of political forces – the government, legislators, banks, and businesses – in the process of abolishing the Glass-Steagall Act.