2016年经济学人 一周要闻 制药巨头瓦兰特四面楚歌 苹果公司的悲喜交加（在线收听）

Business this week

本周经济要闻

The saga at Valeant rumbled on. Michael Pearson decided to quit as chief executive of the troubled Canadian drugmaker. He acknowledged that the past few months, during which time the company has been criticised for introducing whopping price increases on heart medicines and has come under federal investigation for its ties to an online pharmacy, have been “difficult”. He will stay until a successor is named. The company blamed the “tone at the top of the organisation” and pressure to achieve targets as factors causing it to restate its earnings. William Ackman, an activist investor whose hedge fund owns 9% of Valeant, was appointed to the board.

加拿大制药公司瓦兰特的故事仍在继续。该公司如今深陷困境，执行总裁迈克尔·皮尔森（Michael Pearson）离任。在过去几个月里，该公司由于大幅度上调心脏病药物的价格而饱受指责，并因为与某家网上药店的交易而受到联邦调查。皮尔森承认这几个月十分“难熬”。他将继续掌管公司直到新总裁上任。瓦兰特将公司重申收益归咎于“高层的决策制定”以及达标压力。激进投资者威廉·阿克曼（William Ackman）被任命为董事会成员，其麾下的对冲基金拥有瓦兰特9%的股份。

IHS and Markit, two providers of market and financial data, agreed to merge in a transaction they valued at $13 billion. IHS is based in Colorado but will move to London, where Markit has its headquarters, thus allowing it to lower its corporate-tax rate considerably. It is the latest in a series of “tax inversion” deals that have attracted political controversy in America. The new IHS Markit will compete with Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters for business.

两家市场与金融数据供应商IHS和Markit就价值130亿美元合并案达成共识。IHS位于科罗拉多州（Colorado），合并后将迁至Markit总部所在地伦敦，以此大幅度降低企业税率。这是一系列“税负倒置”案中的又一新例，在美国引发了政治上争论。新公司IHS Markit将与彭博（Bloomberg）和汤森路透（Thomson Reuters）展开商业竞争。

Apple went back to basics, unveiling a new iPhone, the SE, which comes with a smaller screen than the iPhone 6 and is billed by the company as the cheapest iPhone ever. Meanwhile, America's Supreme Court agreed to hear Samsung's appeal against the penalties it has incurred for copying Apple's patented designs on the iPhone.

苹果公司（Apple）回归最初，发布新款iPhone SE。该款手机屏幕比iPhone 6小，并且是苹果有史以来价格最便宜的一款手机。与此同时，美国最高法院（America's Supreme Court）同意受理三星公司（Samsung）的上诉。三星认为对其抄袭苹果iPhone专利设计的处罚不合理。

Marriott increased its offer for Starwood Hotels to $13.6 billion in order to fend off a rival bid from Anbang, a Chinese insurance company. Starwood, which counts the Sheraton and Westin chains among its brands, accepted Marriott's new deal, which was discussed by the companies' bosses when they accompanied Barack Obama on his visit to Cuba. Starwood also announced that it had struck a deal with the Cuban government to operate hotels on the island, the first American hotelier to do so since the revolution in 1959.

为了阻止中国保险公司安邦（Anbang）收购喜达屋酒店（Starwood Hotels），万豪（Marriott）将其收购报价提升至136亿美元。喜达屋和万豪的高层在陪同巴拉克·奥巴马（Barack Obama）访问古巴（Cuba）期间不断商讨，最终喜达屋接受了万豪的提案。同时，喜达屋还宣布与古巴政府达成协议，进军古巴从事酒店经营。喜达屋将成为自1959年古巴革命以来第一家进驻古巴的美国酒店经营商。喜达屋旗下拥有喜来登（Sheraton）和威斯汀（Westin）等连锁品牌。

The minutes from the latest meeting of the Bank of England's policy committee showed that its members think uncertainty in the markets over the outcome of the June referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union is a “significant driver” behind the fall of the pound. The central bank, which is officially neutral in the Brexit debate, said the uncertainty was also causing some businesses to delay spending decisions.

英格兰银行（Bank of England）政策委员会最新会议纪要显示，6月英国退欧公投所造成的市场不确定性正是英镑贬值的“主要原因”。中央银行对英国退欧问题保持中立态度，并表示这种不确定性同时也导致一些企业放缓了支出决策的制定。

In a surprise move, Nigeria's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 1 percentage point, to 12%. Nigeria's currency, the naira, has been hurt by the fall in oil prices. That has helped push up inflation to 11.4%.

尼日尼亚央行将银行基准利率调高1个百分点至12%，此举令人倍感意外。尼日尼亚货币—奈拉因油价下跌而受到重创，致使该国通胀率高达11.4%。