2019年经济学人 汇率操纵(2)

 

The Commerce Department's would allow its officials to declare a country a manipulator even if the Treasury¹ had not.

美国商务部将允许其官员宣布一个国家为汇率操纵国，即便财政部没有这样做。

Companies seeking an unfair edge over foreign competitors would no doubt lobby hard.

寻求对外国竞争对手不公平优势的公司无疑会大力游说。

The measures suggested by Mr Bergsten and Mr Gagnon would grant Mr Trump² huge financial firepower—

伯格斯登和加农提出的建议将赋予特朗普巨大的财力—

dangerous, given his penchant³ for using whatever weapon is to hand to fight his trade wars.

鉴于他喜欢用手中的任何武器来打他的贸易战，这样很危险。

They think the Treasury should be allowed to use the ESF to neutralise currency intervention⁴ by other countries with equal and opposite purchases,

他们认为财政部应该被允许利用ESF，通过同等和反向购买来抵消其他国家的货币干预

thus deterring⁵ the intervention in the first place. But to be credible⁶ it would need hundreds of billions of dollars at its disposal.

从而从一开始便阻止干预。但要做到令人信服，它将需要数千亿美元可自行支配的资金。

Its current portfolio⁷ is around $95bn, of which $23bn is in dollars.

其目前的投资组合约为950亿美元，其中230亿美元为美元资产。

Moreover, unilateral action might lead other central banks to retaliate⁸.

此外，单边行动可能会招致其他中央银行的报复。

Mark Sobel, a former Treasury official who managed the ESF, worries that a currency conflict might even push the dollar up,

管理ESF的前财政部官员Mark Sobel担心，如果投资者匆忙转向以美元标价的资产寻求安全，

if investors⁹ scurried¹⁰ for safety into dollar-denominated assets.

那么货币冲突甚至可能将推高美元。

Stephen Englander of Standard Chartered, a bank,

渣打银行的史蒂文·英格兰德

warns American policymakers to "think about how you're going to feel the morning after".

警告美国政策制定者要“想想你第二天早上会有什么感觉”。

Intervention means buying unpopular currencies.

干预意味着购买不受欢迎的货币。

Mr Bergsten and Mr Gagnon argue that their scheme could make the Treasury money as undervalued currencies rise.

伯格斯登和加农辩称，随着估值偏低的货币升值，他们的计划能够为财务部挣钱。

But negative yields on European and Japanese debt make losses at least as plausible¹¹.

但欧洲和日本债务的负收益至少让损失看起来是合理的。

One more reason for caution is the potential for further harming an already-fragile multilateral system.

谨慎的另一个原因是，这有可能会进一步损害本已脆弱的多边体系。

Previous American administrations considered tariffs¹² on imports from countries manipulating their currencies,

前几届美国政府考虑过要对操纵货币的国家的进口征收关税，

arguing that an artificially weak exchange rate amounted to an export subsidy¹³.

并称人为压低汇率相当于出口补贴。

But they held back, understanding that such action would break the World Trade Organisation's rules.

但他们退缩了，因为他们明白，这样的行为将违反世界贸易组织的规则。

A reversal would invite legal challenge, and perhaps retaliatory¹⁴ tariffs. The bellicose¹⁵ Mr Trump, however, would be unlikely to mind.

这种逆转将招致法律上的挑战，或许还会招致报复性关税。但好斗的特朗普可能并不在意。

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 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。

3 penchant   

n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向

参考例句：

• She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
• He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 deterring   

v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• However, investors say are a number of issues deterring business. 然而，投资者表示，有很多问题让他们却步。 来自互联网
• It's an effective way of deterring potential does online, the logic goes. 逻辑上这是抑制潜在线上威胁的有效方法。 来自互联网

6 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

7 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

8 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

10 scurried   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She said goodbye and scurried back to work. 她说声再见，然后扭头跑回去干活了。
• It began to rain and we scurried for shelter. 下起雨来，我们急忙找地方躲避。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

12 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

13 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

14 retaliatory   

adj.报复的

参考例句：

• The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action. 在WTO通过此行动之前，这个程序恐怕要等上一阵子了。 来自互联网
• Retaliatory tariffs on China are tantamount to taxing ourselves as a punishment. 将惩罚性关税强加于中国相当于对我们自己实施课税惩罚。 来自互联网

15 bellicose   

adj.好战的；好争吵的

参考例句：

• He expressed alarm about the government's increasingly bellicose statements.他对政府越来越具挑衅性的声明表示担忧。
• Some irresponsible politicians made a bellicose remarks.一些不负责任的政客说出一些好战的话语。