英国 议员们的薪酬

　　Bargain basement

　　地下廉价部

　　The 2009 MPs' expenses scandal cast a long shadow over British politics. It also led to the creation of an Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) tasked with cleaning up the system. Last year IPSA received new powers to set salaries and pensions. Its initial consultation paper makes for intriguing reading. Despite their public reputation for Caligulan excess, Westminster legislators are rather modestly remunerated by international standards. And for the past century their pay has stagnated relative to that of their constituents. IPSA suggests indexing it to national average earnings at a ratio of between 1.5 and 4. Currently the ratio hovers between 2.5 and 2.9, so—controversially—a rise could be on the cards. MPs may need the cash. It has been made harder to file creative expenses claims. And politicians will probably be asked to contribute more to their extremely generous pension schemes in future.

　　2009年议员报销丑闻给英国政治蒙上了一层深深阴影。其另一影响，就是独立议会标准局(IPSA)的成立，该部门负责监督治理内部体制。去年独立议会标准局获得了设置薪酬和养老金的权力。其最初的咨询文件是份有趣的阅读。尽管在公众言里，他们的日子荒淫无度，以国际标准来看，威斯敏斯特议员们的收入相当微薄。所以在过去的一个世纪里，相对于他们的选民来说，这些政客们的工资增长缓慢。IPSA建议将政府工作者的工资收入以1.5至4的比例与国际平均收入水准挂钩。而今，该比例上升至2.5和2.9之间，因此虽有争议，但工资水准有望上升。毕竟议员们需要薪酬养家糊口。申报各式各样创意性的开销单越来越难了。而政客们也可能在未来被要求做出更多的贡献，例如在今后的养老金提案中，议员们需要更加慷慨。