经济学人343:汽车城熄火抛锚(1)

 　　APART from more money, what the city of Detroit needs most is certainty. Both are in short supply at the moment. On March 21st a state-appointed review team unanimously agreed that it is suffering a “severe financial emergency”. The day before, Moody’s had downgraded more than $2.5 billion of the city’s debt, citing its lack of cash. Amid this deepening financial crisis the state of Michigan, local unions, the mayor, the city council and the courts are battling over the future of Motor City.

　　除了缺乏资金，底特律急需还有稳定；而就当前局势来言，两者都不乐观。在3月21日，州政府任命的调查组达成一致，认定底特律正处于“严峻的财务危机”中。前天，鉴于市政府在现金上捉襟见肘，穆迪投资评级机构将底特律所欠的25亿美元降级处理。眼看底特律深陷财政危机，苦苦挣扎，密西根州政府，底特律市长，当地各公会，以及市政委员会和法庭一一粉墨登场，就汽车城的未来你争我夺，互不相让。

　　The simplest solution, a state bail-out, is tricky¹. Both the governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, and the head of the state’s House Appropriations² Committee, Chuck Moss³, argue that yet another infusion⁴ of cash will not solve Detroit’s underlying⁵ problems. To prove his point, the governor recently reminded citizens that the city has borrowed $600m since 2005 just to get by. It is also planning, with some state support, to issue $137m in bonds in order to refinance its debt and create cashflow that will allow it to totter⁶ on until the end of the financial year.

　　面对底特律棘手的现状，州政府救助这一看似最简单的解决方法已无济于事。密西根州州长Rick Snyder，连同州众议院拨款委员会委员长Chuck Moss表示即使再次注入资金也无法从根本上解决底特律所面临的问题。为了证实这一点。最近州长出面告知底特律居民，自从2005年起，底特律已举债6亿美元，且这笔钱仅够市政府勉强维持正常运营。除此之外，在州政府的协助下，底特律还计划发行价值一亿三千七百万美元的债卷，筹集来的资金用于债务重组和资金注入，好让这座汽车城蹒跚移到本财政年度期末。

　　Detroit’s financial problems have been building up for decades. City revenues have been hit by the collapse⁷ of manufacturing, declining property values and the flight of better-off people to the suburbs. At the same time, the cost of servicing a still-sprawling city has not shrunk in proportion. Like many of America’s struggling municipalities, Detroit is paying pensions, entitlements and salaries far larger than it can afford.

　　冰冻三尺非一日之寒，底特律的财政问题是数十年来累积的结果。制造产业的崩塌，房地产衰退加上小康家庭蜂拥搬到郊区，使市政收入大幅缩水。但于此同时，民政服务开销却随着城区不断扩大而日益增长。同美国许多不断挣扎市政府一样，底特律将要支付的退休金，补贴和薪水已远超过其所能承受的范围。

　　Without new loans, the city will run out of cash in mid-May. The state is pushing it hard to sort out its structural⁸ deficit⁹. Late last year it began a financial review of Detroit which was the legal prelude¹⁰ to bringing in an unelected emergency manager, as Michigan has done in several other distressed¹¹ cities.

　　没有新的贷款注入，在五月中旬底特律就会掏空口袋里的最后一枚铜板。严峻的现状迫使底特律急需找到解决结构性赤字的办法。去年末，一项对底特律财政状况的调查就已开展。此举也为指派危机总长从合法性上打下了伏笔。密西根州政府在其他危机重重城市也曾指派过危机总长。

　　Mr Snyder has said he would rather not use these laws in Detroit, and there is reason to believe him. Not only have they never been applied¹² to a city this size, but the takeover of a black city (with an all-black mayor and council) by a white governor has become racially charged. At one recent public meeting the crowd was unruly. “Before we let you take over our city,” one activist¹³ shouted, “we will burn it down!”

　　但Snyder州长曾表态，不希望由危机管理员接手底特律。他也有他的苦衷：危机总长还从未接手过像底特律这样大规模的城市。更重要的是现已有人提出指控，认为由一个白人州长接管一个黑人种族为主的城市（市长和市委成员都为黑人）有种族歧视之嫌。在底特律最近一次公众聚会上，参与市民情绪激动，秩序混乱。更有甚者，一名活动参与者高呼：“在你们踏入我们的城市之前，我们就会先毁了它。”

1 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

2 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

4 infusion   

n.灌输

参考例句：

• Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
• Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。

5 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

6 totter   

v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子

参考例句：

• He tottered to the fridge,got a beer and slumped at the table.他踉跄地走到冰箱前，拿出一瓶啤酒，一屁股坐在桌边。
• The property market is tottering.房地产市场摇摇欲坠。

7 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。

8 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

9 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。

10 prelude   

n.序言，前兆，序曲

参考例句：

• The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
• The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。

11 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

13 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。