2019年经济学人 简洁的代价(1)

简洁的代价(1)

A central bank's words have power. Three of them ("whatever it takes") calmed the euro area's debt panic in 2012.

央行的话语颇具有分量。2012年，其中三家（“竭尽所能”）平息了欧元区的债务恐慌。

Another few (the Federal Reserve mulling a "step down in our pace of purchases") started the taper¹ tantrum that upset emerging markets in 2013.

2013年，另外几家（美联储考虑“放慢购买步伐”）开启了令新兴市场不安的缩减恐慌。

What is left unsaid can also be powerful. After its interest-rate meeting on April 25th,

剩下没有发言的仍很有影响力。4月25日利率会议后，

Turkey's central bank failed to repeat eight words that had been included in each of its seven previous statements:

土耳其央行未能重复此前七份声明中包含的八个词：

"if needed, further monetary² tightening³ will be delivered".

“如有需求，将出台进一步的货币紧缩政策”。

The omission⁴ cast doubt on its commitment to fight inflation, which was almost 20% in the year to March.

这一遗漏让人怀疑它对抗通货膨胀的承诺，截止三月，其通货膨胀率将近20%。

In response, the lira fell by more than 1% against the dollar. It has fallen by 11% this year.

作为回应，里拉兑美元下跌超过1%。今年已经下降了11%。

The mishap⁵ was an uncomfortable reminder⁶ of last summer's currency turmoil⁷, when the central bank

这一灾祸使人想起去年夏天的货币动荡，当时中央银行

(browbeaten by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president) failed to raise interest rates swiftly enough to prevent a collapse⁸ in the currency.

（受制于土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安）未能迅速提高利率阻止货币崩溃。

But the parallels should not obscure what has changed in the interim⁹. Turkey's economy is better balanced now than it was then.

但这些相似之处不应该掩盖其中的变化。土耳其现在的经济比之前更加平衡。

In September the central bank reasserted itself, increasing interest rates to 24%, where they have stayed since.

九月，央行重申自己跌立场，将利率上涨至24%，自此之后一直保持该水平。

The combination of tighter money and a cheaper currency curbed¹⁰ import spending and encouraged exports.

货币紧缩和货币贬值的组合抑制了进口支出，鼓励了出口。

As a result, Turkey's current-account deficit¹¹ has narrowed far more swiftly than even the government had envisaged¹².

因此，土耳其经常账目赤字的缩减速度比政府设想的要快得多。

Although its import bill is hardly the only claim on its foreign earnings¹³ (its banks and firms must also service heavy external debts),

虽然其进口账单并不是海外收益的唯一要求（其银行和公司也必须服务于沉重的债务。）

the lira was relatively¹⁴ stable from December to February.

但从12月至2月，里拉相对稳定。

Local elections in March were supposed to bring a similar stability to politics,

3月的地方选举本应给政治带来类似的稳定，

concluding a maddening cycle in which Turks marched to the polls seven times in five years.

结束土耳其人5年7次的疯狂选举循环。

Instead, the weeks before and since have done the opposite, unsettling both Turkey's politics and the markets.

相反，前几周和之后的几周却适得其反，让土耳其的政治和市场都感到不安。

Mr Erdogan's party, which lost in most of the country's big cities, has so far refused to accept its narrow defeat in the Istanbul mayoral contest.

埃尔多安所在的政党失去了该国的大部分城市，到目前为止，该党拒绝承认在伊斯坦布尔的选举中以微弱优势落败。

Citing alleged¹⁵ irregularities, it has asked for a new vote.

该党以涉嫌违规为理由要求重新投票选举。

1 taper   

n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小

参考例句：

• You'd better taper off the amount of time given to rest.你最好逐渐地减少休息时间。
• Pulmonary arteries taper towards periphery.肺动脉向周围逐渐变细。

2 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

4 omission   

n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长

参考例句：

• The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
• The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

5 mishap   

n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸

参考例句：

• I'm afraid your son had a slight mishap in the playground.不好了，你儿子在操场上出了点小意外。
• We reached home without mishap.我们平安地回到了家。

6 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

7 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

8 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

9 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

10 curbed   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Advertising aimed at children should be curbed. 针对儿童的广告应受到限制。 来自辞典例句
• Inflation needs to be curbed in Russia. 俄罗斯需要抑制通货膨胀。 来自辞典例句

11 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

12 envisaged   

想像，设想( envisage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He envisaged an old age of loneliness and poverty. 他面对着一个孤独而贫困的晚年。
• Henry Ford envisaged an important future for the motor car. 亨利·福特为汽车设想了一个远大前程。

13 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为