2019年经济学人 美国的大规模干扰性武器(2)

 

You might think that America’s clout¹ comes from its 11 aircraft-carriers, 6,500 nuclear warheads or its anchor role in the IMF. But it is also the central node in the network that underpins² globalisation. This mesh³ of firms, ideas and standards reflects and magnifies American prowess. Though it includes goods traded through supply chains, it is mainly intangible. America controls or hosts over 50% of the world’s cross-border bandwidth, venture capital, phone-operating systems, top universities and fund-management assets. Some 88% of currency trades use greenbacks. Across the planet it is normal to use a Visa card, invoice⁴ exports in dollars, sleep beside a device with a Qualcomm chip, watch Netflix and work for a firm that BlackRock invests in.

你可能认为美国的影响力来自其11艘航空母舰、6500枚核弹头或其在国际货币基金组织中的核心角色。但美国也是支撑全球化网络的中心节点。这种由公司、理念和标准组成的网络反映并放大了美国的实力。虽然它包括通过供应链交易的商品，但主要是无形的。美国控制或拥有全球超过50%的跨境带宽、风险资本、电话操作系统、顶尖大学和基金管理资产。大约88%的外汇交易使用美元。在全球范围内，使用Visa卡、用美元开具出口发票、睡在装有高通芯片的设备旁、看Netflix，以及为贝莱德投资的公司工作，这些都稀松平常。

Foreigners accept all this because, on balance, it makes them better off. They may not set the rules of the game, but they get access to American markets and fair treatment alongside American firms. Globalisation and technology have made the network more powerful although America’s share of world GDP has fallen, from 38% in 1969 to 24% now. China cannot yet compete, even though its economy is approaching America’s in size. Despite this, Mr Trump⁵ and his advisers⁶ are convinced that the world order is rigged against America, pointing to its rustbelt and its trade deficit⁷. And rather than mimic⁸ the relatively⁹ restrained tactics of the last trade conflict, with Japan in the 1980s, they have redefined how economic nationalism works.

外国人接受这一切，因为总的来说，这让他们生活得更好。他们可能不会制定游戏规则，但他们可以进入美国市场，并与美国公司一起获得公平待遇。尽管美国在全球GDP中所占的份额从1969年的38%下降到现在的24%，但是全球化和技术使美国全球化之网更加强大。尽管如此，特朗普和其顾问们认为，世界秩序受到了操纵，不利于美国，原因是美国经济衰退和贸易逆差。他们没有效仿上世纪80年代与日本贸易冲突中相对克制的策略，而是重新定义了经济民族主义的运作方式。

1 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

2 underpins   

n.基础材料( underpin的名词复数 )；基础结构；（学说、理论等的）基础；（人的）腿v.用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）( underpin的第三人称单数 )；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强

参考例句：

• A powerful sense of mission underpins everything he does. 一种强烈的使命感支撑他所做的一切。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His presence at the crime underpins the case against him. 案子发生时他在场对他更不利。 来自辞典例句

3 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

4 invoice   

vt.开发票；n.发票，装货清单

参考例句：

• The seller has to issue a tax invoice.销售者必须开具税务发票。
• We will then send you an invoice for the total course fees.然后我们会把全部课程费用的发票寄给你。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

7 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。

8 mimic   

v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人

参考例句：

• A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

9 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。