Last month Apple raised $17bn in a bond issue. Not because it needs the money; the company currently has reserves of $145bn, and the eye-watering margins on its products generate cash at a rate that perhaps only a central bank can emulate. Apple is raising money because its money is in the wrong places and it would face tax bills if it repatriated the money to the US. The transaction illustrates a paradox in the modern relationship between business and finance. Companies have never had so little need for capital nor so much engagement with capital markets.
不久前，苹果(Apple)通过发行债券筹集了170亿美元资金。苹果发行债券，不是因为苹果需要资金——该公司目前有1450亿美元的现金储备，其产品令人垂涎的利润率创造现金的速度或许也只有央行能媲美。苹果之所以筹资，是因为它的资金没有放在合适的地方，而如果它要将资金调回美国，就需要纳税。这一融资案体现出商业和金融现代关系中的一个悖论。企业的资金需求从未像现在这样低，与资本市场的关系也从未像现在这样紧密。