商业报道

　　Business and geopolitics

　　商业与地缘政治学

　　Enter the G20

　　走进G20

　　Business hopes to be heard at next week's G20 summit

　　商界希望下周的G20峰会能倾听到自己的心声

　　WHEN the G20, a group of governments from the world's biggest economies,

　　本月晚些时候，世界上最大的20个经济体组成的集团，

　　meets in Los Cabos, Mexico, later this month, business will have a seat at the table.

　　G20将在墨西哥的洛斯卡沃斯召开会议，这一次，商界将也要出席这次会议。

　　The bosses of more than 300 large companies will be at the same beach resort for the fourth summit of the B20, a group that tries to persuade governments to be more business-friendly.

　　超过300个大公司的总裁将会在同一个海滩度假胜地迎来第四次B20峰会。B20这个集团组织的宗旨是游说政府对对商业更加友好。

　　For the first time, B20 leaders will be invited to address the assembled politicians.

　　这是B20的领导第一次受邀在政治家云集的峰会上演讲。

　　They will give advice on matters ranging from infrastructure to jobs,

　　这些商界领袖将会针对从基础设施到就业等重大问题，向大会献计献策。

　　but the B20's most useful role may be as a watchdog.

　　不过B20最有益的作用或许是充当监督者。

　　The politicians at these powwows have a reputation for saying one thing and doing another when they return home.

　　众所周知，参加这类会议的政客回国后，常常说一套做一套，甚至光说不做。

　　To hold them to account, the B20's chairman, Alejandro Ramírez, touts a new performance dashboard.

　　为了让他们说到做到，B20主席亚利桑德罗·拉米雷兹竭力推荐实施一种全新的绩效榜机制。

　　This dashboard, prepared with input from the International Chamber of Commerce, the McKinsey Global Institute and the University of Toronto, will track each G20 country's progress in keeping promises made at each year's summit.

　　这个绩效榜上待评价的指标是由国际商会、麦肯锡全球研究所和多伦多大学共同编写的。每年G20 国家都会在峰会上做出承诺，绩效榜将跟踪每个G20 国家在实现承诺的进展情况。

　　Initially, the dashboard will focus only on commitments directly relevant to business.

　　最初，绩效榜将关注与商业直接相关的承诺。

　　The Economist has seen a draft dashboard, minus the country names.

　　《经济学人》杂志同僚曾经见到过绩效榜的草稿，略去了国家的名称。

　　It tracks progress made between the 2010 and 2011 G20 summits on 13 categories of pledge.

　　它跟踪调查了2010年G20峰会和2011年峰会间，13类承诺的实现情况。

　　They include improving the financial system, fighting climate change, promoting free trade and curbing corruption.

　　这些承诺包括：改善财政体系，积极应对气候变化，促进自由贸易并整治腐败。

　　It makes dismal reading, in places.

　　绩效榜上有些国家的表现十分低迷。

　　On trade, only four of the G20 did what they said they would.

　　在贸易方面，只有4个国家信守了承诺。

　　Five made no progress at all, or regressed.

　　5个国家没有实现任何进展，甚至有所倒退。

　　Pledges to fight corruption, manage exchange rates sensibly and price fossil fuels to reflect their carbon emissions were also widely breached.

　　包括打击腐败，合理控制汇率，对矿物燃料定价使其能够反映其碳排放多少等在内的许诺大部分都没有兑现。

　　The dashboard ought to embarrass people who deserve to be embarrassed.

　　绩效榜应该然让那些理应蒙羞的人感到难堪。

　　But although it has been shown to the G20 governments, the B20 is dithering about whether to publish it.

　　但是，尽管G20各国政府都看到了这个绩效榜，但B20却对是否发表这个榜单犹豫不决。

　　Fans of good government will be disappointed. What use is a watchdog that does not bark?

　　有信誉的政府的支持者可能会感到失望。但是，要是看门狗不叫的话，要它何用？

　　For now Mr Ramírez, whose day job is boss of Cinépolis, a Mexican cinema chain, will say only that Australia has performed best, making progress on every pledge, whereas Argentina has performed poorly.

　　作为B20主席，拉米雷兹的日常工作是担任一家名为辛普利的墨西哥影院连锁的总裁。仅就目前而言，拉米雷兹只能说澳大利亚的表现是最好的，在每一个承诺上都做出了成绩，相反，阿根廷表现很差。

　　No surprises there.

　　这点不足为奇，

　　Australia has grown rich selling food and minerals to China, and is rolling out the welcome mat for foreign talent.

　　澳大利亚通过向中国出售食品和矿产而大发横财，并展开怀抱，积极引进外国人才。

　　Argentina, in contrast, cannot even keep honest inflation statistics, and has a nasty habit of nationalising foreign companies.

　　相反，阿根廷甚至在通胀数据上都不能诚实一点，并有个恶劣的习惯——将外国企业收归国有。

　　Following a disappointing B20 last year in Cannes, when the politicians lectured the bosses but did not listen,

　　去年在戛纳召开的B20峰会令人不快，因为政治家们批评了商界总裁，但却没有听取他们的意见。

　　Mr Ramírez has been doing all sorts of sensible things to make the B20 seem more than just a club of rich grumblers.

　　自此之后，拉米雷兹采取各种各样的明智的手段，以使B20看上去不仅仅是个爱发牢骚的富人的俱乐部。

　　He has invited NGOs and other outsiders to join its deliberations.

　　他邀请了许多非政府组织和旁观者参与到自己的讨论中来。

　　Barbara Stocking, the head of Oxfam UK, is on the B20's food-security task force. John Evans, a veteran trade-union official, is on its employment task force.

　　英国乐施会的负责人芭芭拉·斯托金已经加入到B20的食品安全特别小组。资深工会领导人，约翰·埃文斯已成为其就业特别小组成员。

　　But a pressure group is measured by results, not intentions.

　　压力集团是否起作用靠的是结果而非意图。

　　The B20 has yet to prove itself.

　　这一点上，B20有待证明自己。

　　1.summit n.顶点；最高阶层

　　It was a warm climb to the summit.

　　向顶峰攀登时身上都热起来了。

　　2.persuade v.说服；劝说

　　How can I persuade you of my sincerity?

　　我如何能够让你相信我的诚意？

　　3.assemble v.集合；收集；装配

　　If the fire-alarm goes, staff should assemble outside the building.

　　火警警报响时全体人员应到楼外集合。

　　4.reputation n.好名声；声誉，名声，名气

　　He has not too good a reputation in the matter of honesty.

　　就诚实而言, 他的名声不太好。

　　5.institute n.学院；学会；协会

　　New methods of teaching foreign languages are adopted in this institute.

　　该学院采用新的外语教学法。