What Does "Gold" Mean?

“金子”意味着什麼？

錢宏（Archer Hong Qian）

川普在真相平台發帖說“誰有金子，誰定規則”（THE GOLDEN RULE OF NEGOTIATING AND SUCCESS: HE WHOHAS THE GOLD MAKES THE RULES. THANK YOU!）！

這話本無錯，是從一般全球化1.0到2.0的生意經實相。但是，“金子”是一個變量，所以“誰有金子”的金子，並不是一個常量，這就意味着誰“定”規則就不“一定”。

比如中國在過去二十多年裡，利用“羅得里克悖論”(自由貿易、國家主權、民主人權三者不可能兼備)，發揮“舉國體制比較優勢”和“自由貿易”規則漏洞，犧牲“民主人權”及環境資源，大力發展製造業以低於自由市場價格的廉價產品和服務，占據了“經常賬戶”產業鏈、供應鏈強勢，也在超級“順差”中賺取了“資本賬戶”的優勢，成為美國僅次於日本的“大債主”（即成為“有金子”的那個“誰”）了！這沒什麼不願承認的。

而美國的經常賬戶幾乎“虧空”，且資本賬戶也只能以“美債”的方式顯現優勢，出現了美國歷史上的超級“逆差”，僅在“金融賬戶”上占有最大優勢，這樣一來，美國引領定下的“WTO自由貿易規則”，就失靈了。

這就是“特利芬難題"！

但僅僅看到這裡，還遠遠不夠，而必須從“特利芬-蒙代爾-羅德里克”三重悖論的疊加效應中，發現經濟全球化（2.0）定下的規則，已經走到了盡頭。 所以，我寫下《<米蘭報告>的缺憾：川普對等關稅與全球化3.0的責任召喚——共生思維：破解“特里芬難題”ד羅德里克悖論”雙重張力(The Shortcomings of the Milan Report: Trump’s Reciprocal Tariffs and the Responsibility Awakening of Globalization 3.0—Symbiotic Minds： Navigating the Dual Tensions of the “Triffin Dilemma” and the “Rodrik Trilemma”》（參看http://symbiosism.com.cn/9995.html ）

那麼怎麼辦？這事還得從貨幣（金子）的本質說起，也就是“金子意味着什麼？”

根據共生經濟學（Symbionomics）自然價值論與約定價值論雙重價值論，生活、生產、生意中出現的貨幣，需要重新厘定。資源自然有用，使勞動創造使用價值成為可能；社會約定俗成，讓承兌交換價值變成現實！

而作為價值承兌通用憑證的通貨，無論是早期民間社區的“德幣”，還是後來主權國家世界秩序的“法幣”，抑或將來以區塊鏈技術廣普應用超主權共生的“數字代幣”，都必須讓個體或共同體服務（產品）的使用價值與交換價值可量化計算，為價值承兌提供方便，降低社會交易成本（包括自由貿易和非自由貿易）！

這也是目前國際上哪種貨幣會成為“硬通貨”的基本標準——說是鐵律也不為過。這個簡單標準的背後，當然有一系列相互關聯的充要條件：健全公正的法治；誠信守法的政府；全球軍事投放能力；暢旺而規模足夠大的消費市場（經常賬戶和資本賬戶的價值終端）；深厚強大的資本市場；匯率市場化；匯兌自由化，資本自由流通；互聯網開放，信息自由流通；簽證開放，人口自由流通；零關稅、零壁壘、零歧視三零原則，商品自由流通；投資准入，土地自由流通等制度成本——化解了龐大上層建築與超負荷經濟基礎的基本矛盾！

順便說一句，在這個意義上，美元是美國這個主權國家的法幣沒錯，但這個法幣，有不同於其他法幣的特徵——提供了一定程度的“超主權信用”保障（獨立於美國政府的美聯儲，保障了既不會隨意印美元，也不會隨意加息或降息），從而大大降低了國際貿易的交易成本，中國過去四十年從中獲益匪淺，美元外匯世界第一，也是中國在全球化2.0WTO國際舞台遊刃有餘的真正底氣！

按理說，無論過去、現在、將來，這都是中美共生是真正的底線，而且，不管什麼冠冕堂皇的理由（特別是Nationalism）搞壞中美關係，奢談人民幣國際化的人，要麼是無視事實脫離實際，要麼是存心不良，結果只會陷中國經濟於維谷和國民生活於困境之中，讓我們里子面子全輸光！

但十分弔詭的是，自從放棄“韜光養晦”，要“有所作為”之後，這個底線，硬生生是沒有守住，也許壓根兒就不滿足守這個共生底線！

不好意思，又言必稱共生了！

不過，撇開2018年以來的所謂“貿易戰”及今天終於聚焦於“關稅戰”（經濟學家趙曉揭示“鴉片戰爭”其實是中國參與的第一次“貿易戰”），以重新定規則，我堅持認為，經濟學基礎理論，確實該改寫了，貨幣既體現了一種債權債務關係，又是社會性價值的約定和踐約關係。

貨幣本身並不創造價值，但能夠幫助使用價值承兌通用憑證的法權人，實現其使用價值和交換價值，而a Beautiful Mind之人，則創造新的價值。

從經濟增長黃金率（菲爾普斯，2006），到經濟健康黃金率（Archer Hong Qian，2014），勞動價值論－思想價值論－美智價值論，是一個自然歷史過程。

自然－約定價值論，貫通勞動－創意－美智價值創造全過程，信用幣－主權幣－共生幣，相應伴隨全過程——這就從全球化2.0躍遷到全球化3.0的話題！

2025年4月22日於溫哥華

What Does "Gold" Mean?

Archer Hong Qian

Donald J. Trump posted on Truth Social:"THE GOLDEN RULE OF NEGOTIATION AND SUCCESS: HE WHO HAS THE GOLD MAKES THE RULES. THANK YOU!"4.61K ReTruths 19.9K Likes Apr 20, 2025, 4:09 PM

"Whoever has the gold makes the rules!"（誰有金子，誰定規則）

Trump's statement is not fundamentally wrong; it reflects the practical reality of business dealings from Globalization 1.0 to 2.0.

However, "gold" is a variable, meaning the "gold" in "whoever has the gold" is not a constant. This implies that the one who "makes" the rules is not necessarily fixed. For example, over the past two decades, China has leveraged the "Rodrik Trilemma" (the impossibility of simultaneously achieving free trade, national sovereignty, and democratic human rights) by exploiting the comparative advantages of its state-led system and loopholes in free trade rules. By sacrificing democratic human rights and environmental resources, China aggressively developed its manufacturing sector, offering low-cost products and services below free market prices. This allowed China to dominate the current account in industrial and supply chains while also gaining an advantage in the capital account, making it the second-largest creditor to the U.S. after Japan (i.e., becoming the "who" that "has the gold")!

Meanwhile, the U.S. has a nearly depleted current account, and its capital account advantage is primarily manifested through U.S. Treasury bonds, with its greatest strength lying in the financial account. As a result, the WTO free trade rules established under U.S. leadership have become ineffective. This is the Triffin Dilemma!

But this observation alone is far from sufficient. We must also recognize that the rules set by economic globalization (2.0) have reached their limit, as seen through the compounded effects of the Triffin-Mundell-Rodrik trilemma. Therefore, I wrote The Shortcomings of the Milan Report: Trump’s Reciprocal Tariffs and the Responsibility Awakening of Globalization 3.0—Symbiotic Minds: Navigating the Dual Tensions of the “Triffin Dilemma” and the “Rodrik Trilemma” (see http://symbiosism.com.cn/9995.html).

So, what can be done? We need to start by examining the essence of currency (such as gold).

According to the dual value theory of Symbionomics（共生經濟學）—combining natural value theory and conventional value theory—the currency that appears in daily life, production, and business needs to be redefined.

Resources are naturally useful, enabling labor to create use value, while social conventions make exchange value a reality!

As a universal voucher for value acceptance, currency—whether it’s the early community-based "virtue coins," the later sovereign fiat currency of the world order, or the future blockchain-based digital tokens for supra-sovereign symbiosis—must allow the use value and exchange value of an individual or community's services (products) to be quantifiable. This facilitates value acceptance and reduces social transaction costs (including both free trade and non-free trade)!

This is also the basic standard for determining which currency becomes a "hard currency" internationally—it could even be called an iron rule. Behind this simple standard lies a series of interrelated necessary and sufficient conditions: a sound and just legal system; an honest and law-abiding government; global military projection capabilities; a robust and sufficiently large consumer market (the value endpoint of current and capital accounts); a deep and powerful capital market; market-driven exchange rates; free currency exchange and capital flow; an open internet with free information flow; open visa policies with free population movement; the "three zeros" principle (zero tariffs, zero barriers, zero discrimination) for free commodity circulation; investment access and free land circulation—all of which resolve the fundamental contradiction between a massive superstructure and an overburdened economic base!

Symbiotic Minds: Resolving the Triffin-Rodrik Trilemma

In this sense, the U.S. dollar is indeed the fiat currency of the sovereign United States, but it has a characteristic that sets it apart from other fiat currencies—it provides a certain degree of supra-sovereign credit assurance (the Federal Reserve, independent of the U.S. government, ensures that dollars are not printed arbitrarily, nor are interest rates raised or lowered recklessly), significantly reducing the transaction costs of international trade. China has greatly benefited from this over the past four decades, and the dollar's status as the world's leading foreign exchange reserve has been the real foundation for China's ability to navigate the WTO international stage with ease during Globalization 2.0!

Logically, this should be the true bottom line for U.S.-China symbiosis—past, present, and future. Regardless of any grandiose justifications (especially nationalism), those who damage U.S.-China relations while dreaming of RMB internationalization are either ignoring reality or acting with ill intent. The result will only be to trap China’s economy in a dilemma and its people in hardship, causing us to lose both substance and face! Ironically, since abandoning the strategy of "keeping a low profile" in favor of "being more proactive," this bottom line has not been maintained, and there has even been a complete unwillingness to uphold this symbiotic bottom line!

Apologies for constantly mentioning symbiosis again!

However, setting aside the so-called "trade war" since 2018 and the current focus on a "tariff war" (economists point out that the "chip war" was actually China’s first "trade war"), I firmly believe that the foundational theories of economics need to be rewritten. Currency embodies both a creditor-debtor relationship and a social contract for value agreement and fulfillment.

Currency itself does not create value, but it enables the legal holder of a universal voucher for value acceptance to realize its use value and exchange value, while a Beautiful Mind creates new value.

From the Golden Rule of Economic Growth (Phelps, 2006) to the Golden Rule of Economic Health (Archer Hong Qian, 2014), the progression from Labor Value Theory to Thought Value Theory to Aesthetic-Intelligence Value Theory is a natural historical process.

The Natural-Conventional Value Theory runs through the entire process of value creation via labor, creativity, and aesthetic intelligence, accompanied by credit currency, sovereign currency, and symbiotic currency throughout the process—this marks the transition from Globalization 2.0 to Globalization 3.0!

April 22, 2025, Vancouver