George Soros wants to be the Bono of the financial world.

 

乔治·索罗斯想成为金融界的博诺（U２乐队主唱）。

The speculator whose assault on sterling ejected Britain from the European exchange rate mechanism that September of 10 years ago has a mission－－to use his esti－mated ￡5 bn fortune and his fame to help tackle what he sees as the failures of globalisation.

洲汇率机制的投机商有一项使命---利用他大约 50 亿英镑的财产和他的声名 来帮助解决他所认为的全球化失败问题。

The idea that a man who made billions betting on the financial markets sides with the anti－globalisation movement might strike some as ironic. Soros is clearly genuinely appalled at the damage wrought on vulnerable economies by the vast sums of money which flow across national borders every day.

一个靠在全球金融市场上的投机赚了几十亿的人会 支持反全球化运动，这对许多人来说是具有讽刺意义的。这位在 10 年前的那个９月份攻击英镑 迫使英国退出欧很明显，对于每天在各国之间流动 的大量资金给经济脆弱国家造成的伤害，索罗斯从心底感到震惊。

"The US governs the international system to protect its own economy.

索罗斯说："美国管理国际经济体系是为了保护本国利益，

It is not in charge of protecting other economies, "he says. "So when America goes into recession, you have anti－ recessionary policies.

它并不负责保护其它国家的经 济。因此，当美国陷入衰退后，美国会出台反衰退政策。

When other countries are in recession, they don't have the ability to engage in anti－recessionary policies because they can't have a permissive monetary policy, because money would flee. "In person, he has the air of a philosophy professor rather than a gimlet－eyed financier.

而其他国家陷入衰退时，却无力这 样做，因为这些国家不能实行自由开放的金融政策，否则资金就会外流?"索罗斯本人并不像 一个目光敏锐的金融家，他更具有哲学教授的气质。

In a soft voice which bears the traces of his native Hungary, he argues that it is time to rewrite the so－called Washington consensus－－the cocktail of liberalisation, privatisation and fiscal rectitude which the IMF has been preaching for 15 years.

带着匈牙利母语口音，他轻声地说，现 在是修改所谓的"华盛顿共识"的时侯了。他指的是国际货币基金组织 15 年来宣扬的自由化、 私有化和财政透明的综合体制。

Developing countries no longer have the freedom to run their own economies, he argues, even when they follow perfectly sound policies.

他说，发展中国家即使执行非常合理的政策，也不能再自由 地控制本国经济。

He cites Brazil, which although it has a floating currency and manageable public debt was paying ten times over the odds to borrow from capital markets.

他援引巴西的例子说，尽管巴西实行了浮动汇率制和可控国债，但它向资 本市场借款还是付出了比正常条件下高出１０倍的成本。

Soros, who at one stage after the fall of the Berlin Wall was providing more assistance to Russia than the US government, believes in practising what he preaches.

索罗斯在柏林墙倒塌后一段时间内向俄罗斯提供的援助曾一度超过美国政府的援助。

His Open Society Institute has been pivotal in helping eastern European countries develop democratic societies and market economies.

他 坚定地实施自己宣扬的观点。他的"开放社会研究所"在帮助东欧国家发展民主社会和市场经 济方面发挥了重要作用。

Soros has the advantage of an insider's knowledge of the workings of global capitalism, so his criticism is particularly pointed.

索罗斯具有业内人士的优势，了解全球资本主义的运行，因此他的 批评会受到特别关注。

Last year, the Soros foundation's network spent nearly half a billion dollars on projects in education, public health and promoting democracy, making it one of the world's largest private donors.

去年索罗斯基金网络在教育、公共卫生、促进民主项目上花费了近５ 亿美元，使索罗斯基金成为世界上最大的私人捐助集团之一。

Soros credits the anti－globalisation movement for having made companies more sensitive to their wider responsibilities."

索罗斯赞扬反全球化运动使各公司更加认识到自己更广泛的责任。

I think [the protesters] have made an important contribution by making people aware of the flaws of the system, "he says."People on the street had an impact on public opinion and corporations which sell to the public responded to that."

他说："我认为（反对者 们）作出了重要贡献，使大众意识到这个体系的缺陷。大街上的人们对舆论会有所影响，而 向公众推销商品的公司也会对舆论作出反应?"

Because the IMF has abandoned billion dollar bailouts for troubled economies, he thinks a repeat of the Asian crisis is unlikely.

由于国际货币基金组织已经拒绝向经济困难 的国家提供数十亿美元的救济，索罗斯认为亚洲经济危机不会重演。

The fund's new"tough love"policy－－for which Argentina is the guinea pig －－ has other consequences.

国际货币基金组织"既 爱又严"的新政策---阿根廷是该政策的试验品---带来了其他后果。

The bailouts were a welfare system for Wall Street, with western taxpayers rescuing the banks from the consequences of unwise lending to emerging economies.

西方纳税人挽救了银行因 不理智地向新兴国家提供贷款造成的恶果，而国际货币基金组织的那些救济金则成了华尔街 的福利制度。

Now the IMF has drawn a line in the sand, credit to poor countries is drying up."It has created a new problem－－the inadequacy of the flow of capital from centre to the periphery, " he says.

现在国际货币基金组织对贫困国家的贷款正在枯竭。索罗斯说："这就产生了 一个新问题---资金从中心向周边流动不足。"