经济学人418:只为重建信心 For those who have lost faith

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;Rehabilitating capitalism¹

　　文艺；书评；振兴资本主义

　　For those who have lost faith

　　只为重建信心

　　Why Capitalism? By Allan Meltzer.

　　《为何是资本主义？》作者：Allan Meltzer

　　A Capitalism for the People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity. By Luigi Zingales.

　　《为人民的资本主义：重拾美国繁荣时期消失的天才》作者：Luigi Zingales

　　The financial crisis has led some people to question the viability² of America’s economic system. Socialism’s appeal has faded in Russia and China, and to a degree in other countries that once were its champions, such as India and Cuba. But American-style capitalism has not had an easy time of it either. Crashing financial markets, bank bail-outs and high unemployment have all added to a growing sense of unease about a system that is based on private ownership of resources.

　　当前这场金融危机让人不由得开始质疑美国经济体系的可行性。社会主义的光环在俄罗斯和中国已逐渐褪去，甚至在像印度和古巴这样一度全权拥护社会主义的国家，它也早已不再神圣无比。但美式资本主义过的也并不轻松。不断崩溃的金融市场，银行紧急财政援助，再加上居高不下的失业率，这都导致人们对这一建立在资源私有基础上的经济体制倍感不安。

　　“Why Capitalism?” by Allan Meltzer, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, is an extended response to some of the calls he has received in recent years. The most thought-provoking came from a woman in Germany who, after reading the New York Times, wondered if, only two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, she was actually witnessing the implosion³ of the system that brought it down.

　　《为何是资本主义？》的作者Allan Meltzer是匹兹堡的卡耐基·梅隆大学的一名经济学教授，该书主要是对他这几年收到的咨询电话做出的扩展回复。最发人深省的电话来自一名德国女士，她在看完纽约时报后，不由深思，当初正是资本主义推倒了柏林墙，如今柏林墙倒塌才20年，她是否就已经在亲临这一体制的逐渐崩溃。

　　Capitalism’s core defence, Mr Meltzer argues, is that it is the only system that leads to freedom and economic growth. It is less good at ensuring virtue⁴ or stability; failure is an inherent part. Indeed the author’s observation that “capitalism without failure is like religion without sin. It doesn’t work well,” has already been widely circulated. However, the sins attributed to capitalism—corruption, fraud and greed, to name but three—are not only pervasive⁵ in systems where the state controls production, but far more damaging and far less likely to be rectified⁶.

　　Meltzer指出资本主义的最核心优势在于它是唯一能够带来自由和经济增长的制度。这一体系并不能保证道德常驻和社会稳定，所以失败崩溃是在所难免的。事实上，本书作者曾说过，“不失败的资本主义就好比没有原罪的宗教，发挥不了什么作用。”这一观点已广为流传。但是，资本主义带来的罪恶—腐败，欺诈和贪婪，在此仅列举这三样—不仅在政府控制生产的体制里蔚然成风，其危害性也非常大，并且并不好修正。

　　The main problem, he argues, is that even nominally⁷ capitalist systems have, for better and worse, elements of state control. These often begin with defence and the police, and go on to national transport systems, which leads, in America’s case, to an ever-expanding network of bureaus and agencies. Much of bureaucracy is adopted under the rationale of enhancing “fairness”. But, as Mr Meltzer notes, fairness often means providing present benefits using debt that must be repaid by taxpayers⁸ in the future (which is hardly fair) or through regulations and subsidies⁹ created by people in government who then go on to exploit them in private-sector¹⁰ jobs (which is also unfair).

　　Meltzer认为主要的问题在于即使是名义上的资本主义系统，无论好坏，统统都是有政府控制成分的。政府控制一般先从国家机器①着手，再扩展到交通运输系统，最后再像美国那样蔓延至不断扩大中的官僚机构网。很多官僚主义是在“增强公平”的正当理由下得以滋生。但是，Meltzer认为公平通常意味着用债务带来现时效益，但这些债务将来必须由纳税人偿还（其实这并不公平）；或者是通过政府人员制定的规章和津贴带来现时效益，而这些人随后便在私营部门剥削纳税人（这也是不公平的）。

　　It is this last issue that forms the heart of “A Capitalism for the People” by Luigi Zingales, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Mr Zingales has written an elegy¹¹ to the America he found when he moved there 24 years ago from an Italy that was rife¹² with nepotism¹³. Italian businesses preferred to stay small and discreet¹⁴. Growing bigger made them vulnerable to scrutiny¹⁵ and would require them to hire people on the basis of talent rather than loyalty¹⁶; and loyalty was important because it, once again, helped protect the firm from scrutiny.

　　《为人民的资本主义》一书最后一个话题也正是该书的中心思想，书的作者是芝加哥大学布斯商学院的Luigi Zingales教授。24年前，Zingales从裙带关系泛滥的意大利来到美国，该书正是Zingales为当时他所见的美国写的一曲挽歌。在意大利，公司一般都喜欢小规模运作谨慎周密地运作。扩大公司规模会让他们更容易经不起监管，还要求他们得根据能力选人而非忠诚度，但是忠诚度又极其重要，因为正是员工的忠诚才让他们经得住详细盘查。

　　Arriving in America, Mr Zingales found an enthusiasm for capitalism. Americans believed that it was possible to become rich and that increasing wealth benefited the poor as well as the not so poor. They regarded their capitalist system as fair—or at least fair enough. All of those sentiments, says Mr Zingales, have been eroded¹⁷.

　　刚到美国，Zingales看到的是对资本主义的狂热。美国人坚信，致富是可能的，并且财富的增加对穷对富都是有益无害的。他们认为自己的资本主义系统是公正的，不是绝对公正至少也是足够公正的。Zingales说到，所有的这种狂热情绪已消失殆尽。

　　Much of the change is a direct result of the vast expansion of the state through complex subsidies and anti-competitive regulations that invite the sort of cronyism¹⁸ that Mr Meltzer cites as well. When government favours the private sector, Mr Zingales argues, it is all too often by being “pro-business” rather than “pro-market”, meaning that favourable¹⁹ conditions are provided to particular institutions rather than to institutions broadly. This distorts the system, resulting in precisely²⁰ the problem of select companies making profits while imposing²¹ costs on society that Mr Meltzer argues is at the core of what regulation should be designed to prevent.

　　大部分变化多是国家权力扩张的直接后果，国家通过复杂的津贴和反竞争规章来扩张权力的，而这种扩张带来的是任人唯亲的风气，这在Meltzer的书中也有提到。Meltzer认为，当政府说支持私营企业时，往往是支持“企业”而非支持“市场”，也就是说政府是为某些企业机构提供支持，而非广泛支持所有企业机构。这一行为扭曲了该系统，恰恰导致精英公司得利却让社会承担代价的后果，Meltzer认为这一问题正是制定出的规章应该避免的核心问题。

　　Mr Zingales makes three proposals. Protected sectors²², notably²³ education and health care, should be opened up to competition. Tax policy should be changed in two ways. First, it should be used to make subsidies and their costs more transparent²⁴. The deduction²⁵ on mortgages, for example, should be termed a tax on renting; the lavish²⁶ benefits provided for ethanol production should be regarded as a tax on petrol. Secondly²⁷ it should be used as a substitute for complicated regulation and applied²⁸ against areas that cost society, such as pollution and (because it creates instability) the use of short-term debt by banks.

　　Meltzer提出三个解决方案。受国家保护的部门，特别是教育和医疗，应该对外开放，接受竞争。税收政策应该在两方面做出改变。首先，应该利用税收政策来让津贴和津贴来源变得更透明。比如，按揭贷款扣除应该叫做租赁税；乙醇生产带来的丰厚利润应该被冠以汽油税。其次，税收政策该被用来代替复杂的规章，并且用在对让社会承受巨大代价的领域，比如环境污染和银行短期债务的使用（因为它会造成社会不稳）。

　　More broadly, Mr Zingales wants a closer, explicit²⁹, tie between capitalism and morality. He wants to extend the public shaming of corporate³⁰ crooks³¹ to people who take actions that are legal, but damaging to society, such as borrowers who walk away from mortgages merely because their value exceeds the value of the underlying³² property. Business schools, Mr Zingales says, are ideally positioned to point out when an action that provides a benefit for an individual comes at a cost to society, but in reality they rarely bother. This, he believes, is part of the same malaise that has befallen the political debate on capitalism, which has been taken over by special interests and people who have no faith in a real market-based system. For all America’s success, he warns, Washington is on a trajectory³³ that leads to Rome.

　　更广泛地说，Zingales期盼的是拉近并明确资本主义和道德之间的关系。他想要扩大舆论压力，要大家不仅耻于骗子企业，还要耻于行为合法但却危害社会的人，比如一些借款人，仅因为自身价值超越了作为基础产业的房地产的价值而逃避按揭付款。Zingales还指出，当个人以社会为代价获得利益时，商学院理念上要指出这样的行径，但在现实中，它们却对此不闻不问。Zingales相信，这和政治上对资本主义的争论都是一种病态，资本主义已不再是争论热点，取而代之的是对特别利益团体和那些根本就不相信真正市场导向体制的人的热议。尽管美国是成功的，但Zingales警告到，华盛顿正在重蹈罗马的覆辙。

1 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

2 viability   

n.存活(能力)

参考例句：

• What is required to achieve or maintain such viability? 要达到或维持这种生存能力需要什么？
• Scientists are experimenting to find ways to ensure the viability of seeds for even longer periods of time. 正如我们所说，科学家正在试验努力寻找让种子的生命力更加延长的方法。

3 implosion   

n.向内破裂，内爆

参考例句：

• The population explosion is accompanied by a population implosion.人口爆炸还伴随着人口爆聚。

4 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

5 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

6 rectified   

[医]矫正的，调整的

参考例句：

• I am hopeful this misunderstanding will be rectified very quickly. 我相信这个误会将很快得到纠正。
• That mistake could have been rectified within 28 days. 那个错误原本可以在28天内得以纠正。

7 nominally   

在名义上，表面地； 应名儿

参考例句：

• Dad, nominally a Methodist, entered Churches only for weddings and funerals. 爸名义上是卫理公会教徒，可只去教堂参加婚礼和葬礼。
• The company could not indicate a person even nominally responsible for staff training. 该公司甚至不能指出一个名义上负责职员培训的人。

8 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

9 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

11 elegy   

n.哀歌，挽歌

参考例句：

• Good heavens,what would be more tragic than that elegy!天哪，还有什么比那首挽歌更悲伤的呢！
• His book is not intended to be a complete history but a personal elegy.他的书与其说是一部完整的历史，更像是一篇个人挽歌。

12 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

13 nepotism   

n.任人唯亲；裙带关系

参考例句：

• The congressman lashed the president for his nepotism.国会议员抨击总统搞裙带关系。
• Many will regard his appointment as the kind of nepotism British banking ought to avoid.很多人会把他的任命看作是英国银行业应该避免的一种裙带关系。

14 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

15 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

16 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

17 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

18 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

19 favourable   

adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的

参考例句：

• The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
• We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。

20 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

21 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

22 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

23 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

24 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

25 deduction   

n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎

参考例句：

• No deduction in pay is made for absence due to illness.因病请假不扣工资。
• His deduction led him to the correct conclusion.他的推断使他得出正确的结论。

26 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

27 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

28 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。

29 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

30 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

31 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

32 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。

33 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。