2019年经济学人 一周要闻 特朗普提名下任世行行长 欧盟否决西门子阿尔斯通合并案 德国低成本航空公司破产（在线收听）

The world this week

本周要闻

Business

商业

Donald Trump nominated David Malpass to become the World Bank’s next president, a job that is by tradition filled by the American government. Mr Malpass currently heads international affairs at the Treasury. A controversial choice, he has voiced concerns about the spreading power of multilateral and global institutions and of Chinese influence. He was part of the negotiating team that agreed to a capital increase in the World Bank in return for restraint on staff wages and benefits.

特朗普提名戴维·马尔帕斯(David Malpass)为世界银行(World Bank)下一任行长，按照传统，该职位通常由美国政府任命。马尔帕斯目前在财政部负责国际事务。作为一名有争议的人选，他曾表达过对多边国际机构以及中国影响力不断扩大的担忧。他是同意世界银行增加资本来限制员工工资和福利的谈判小组的一员。

Europe’s competition commissioner blocked the merger of Alstom with the rail operations of Siemens, reasoning that the combination of the French and German companies would lead to higher prices in the markets for signalling systems and high-speed trains. Supporters of the deal, such as Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, said it was a mistake because such mega-mergers are vital to take on the might of Chinese companies. However, in some markets a combined Alstom-Siemens would have been three times bigger than its largest rival.

欧盟竞争专员阻止了阿尔斯通与西门子铁路业务的合并，理由是法国与德国公司的合并将导致信号系统和高速列车市场价格上涨。法国财政部长布鲁诺·勒梅尔(Bruno Le Maire)和支持该交易的其他人表示，这是一个错误，因为此类大型合并对于挑战中国企业的实力至关重要。然而，在某些市场，合并后的阿尔斯通-西门子将是其最大竞争对手的三倍规模。

Nissan’s reversal of a promise to build the X-Trail suv at its factory in Sunderland, a city in the north of England, was blamed by Remainers on Britain’s commitment to leave the European Union. The carmaker said that Brexit was a concern. But its decision was also driven by the collapse in demand for diesel and the lower costs of making the vehicle in Japan.

日产汽车放弃了在其位于英格兰北部城市桑德兰(Sunderland)的工厂生产X-Trail运动型多功能车(suv)的承诺，留欧派将此变故归咎于英国退出欧盟的承诺。这家汽车制造商表示，英国退欧的形势令人担忧。但该公司做出决定的另一个原因是，市场对柴油的需求锐减，以及日本汽车制造成本的降低。

Ryanair reported its first quarterly loss since 2014. Europe’s biggest low-cost airline said that although passenger numbers had grown, the average fare it was able to charge had fallen to less than 30 euros ($34) because of excess short-haul capacity in Europe. In a nod to shareholder discontent, the airline is replacing its chairman, who has been in the job for over 20 years. It is also moving to set up a group structure which will be overseen by Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s ebullient chief executive.

瑞安航空自2014年以来首次出现季度亏损。这家欧洲最大的低成本航空公司表示，尽管乘客的数量有所增长，但由于欧洲的短途航线运力过剩，该公司能够收取的平均票价已降至不足30欧元(合34美元)。考虑到股东的不满，这家航空公司将换掉其任职20多年的董事长。该公司还在着手建立一个由干劲十足的瑞安航空首席执行官迈克尔·奥利里监督的集团结构。

Underlining the turbulence in Europe’s discount-flight market, Germania became the latest in a long list of low-cost carriers to declare bankruptcy. The Berlin-based airline flew 4m passengers last year.

日耳曼航空成为最新一家宣布破产的低成本航空公司，这突显出欧洲廉价航班市场的动荡。这家总部位于柏林的航空公司去年的客运量为400万人次。

Turkey’s inflation rate crept up to 20.4% in January. Floods in Antalya province, the centre of Turkey’s greenhouse production of vegetables and fruits, helped push food inflation up to 31%, the highest reading since 2004 and up from 25% in December. Although it is under political pressure to reduce interest rates, the central bank recently committed itself to maintain its tight monetary stance until price pressures weaken. Happily, it also forecast that inflation will fall by the end of the year.

土耳其1月份的通胀率攀升至20.4%。土耳其大棚种植蔬菜和水果生产中心安塔利亚省发生洪灾，导致食品价格上涨31%，创2004年以来的最高水平，高于去年12月的25%。尽管面临着降息的政治压力，不过土耳其央行最近承诺，将维持紧缩的货币政策直到价格压力减弱。令人高兴的是，它还预测到年底通货膨胀率将会下降。