2015年经济学人 和英国财政部割裂？ 要钱还是要命？

Breaking up the Treasury¹

Your money or your life

The knives are out for Whitehall's mightiest² department

TONY BLAIR once kidnapped a civil servant. It was 2005 and the then prime minister, who was heading to EU budget talks in Luxembourg, needed an economic expert.

So he purloined³ a Treasury official. The reluctant bureaucrat⁴ was later dumped in Paris without passport or money,

recalls Jonathan Powell, a former adviser⁵, in his book “The New Machiavelli”.

Oddly, the man “just wanted our assurance that we wouldn't tell the Treasury that he had been travelling with us.”

If the news got out, his career could have ended.

The tale illustrates⁶ the potency⁷ of Britain's finance ministry⁸, which has long wielded⁹ more power than its international counterparts—or, it sometimes seems,

the prime minister's office. In the post-war years the Treasury was a hub for Keynesian demand management.

Under Margaret Thatcher¹⁰ it became the engine room of a monetarist revolution. It commandeered social policy during Mr Blair's administration.

Now it oversees¹¹ austerity, the lodestar of the coalition¹² government.

Yet a report published on September 4th, “The Destruction of HM Treasury”, says Whitehall's leviathan should count its days.

The two authors know their stuff. Stian Westlake directs policy at the National Endowment for Science,

Technology and the Arts, a charity taken seriously by Treasury types. Giles Wilkes was an adviser to Vince Cable, the business secretary.

Mr Westlake and Mr Wilkes argue that the rhythm of twice-yearly financial statements, in the budget and the autumn statement,

makes the Treasury short-term in outlook and prone¹³ to headline-grabbing wheezes¹⁴.

Moreover, all three main parties have embraced the interventionist “sector strategies” championed by Michael Heseltine on the right and Lord Adonis on the left.

Because the Treasury detests¹⁵ that sort of economic meddling¹⁶, politicians have it in their sights.

The department's functions might, the authors suggest, be distributed to an expanded prime minister's office,

a stronger business department and a dedicated¹⁷ finance ministry.

A plan to dismantle¹⁸ the Treasury was pitched to—and well received by—senior Labour figures at a private seminar last winter.

Shadow cabinet ministers talk eagerly about the idea, though in the ruling Conservative and Liberal Democrat¹⁹ parties it is more a niche²⁰ interest.

Even if any of this comes to pass, however, the Treasury's mandarins will remember that governments have tried to trim their wings before.

Harold Wilson's Labour government set up a new Department of Economic Affairs to rival the Treasury.

It too was supposed to concentrate on long-term planning, and it too was created partly for political reasons, to appease²¹ the ambitions of George Brown,

the perpetually tired and emotional deputy leader of the party. The Treasury fought it, and won.

Brown moved to the Foreign Office and the upstart department was unceremoniously closed down in 1969.

The lesson? Never underestimate the power, and self-interest, of the Treasury.

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 mightiest   

adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的

参考例句：

• \"If thou fearest to leave me in our cottage, thou mightiest take me along with thee. “要是你害怕把我一个人留在咱们的小屋里，你可以带我一块儿去那儿嘛。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
• Silent though is, after all, the mightiest agent in human affairs. 确实，沉默毕竟是人类事件中最强大的代理人。 来自互联网

3 purloined   

v.偷窃( purloin的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• You have chosen align yourself with those who have purloined the very seat of your existence. 你们选择了将自己与那些盗取了你们存在之真正席位的人相校准。 来自互联网

4 bureaucrat   

n. 官僚作风的人，官僚，官僚政治论者

参考例句：

• He was just another faceless bureaucrat.他只不过是一个典型呆板的官员。
• The economy is still controlled by bureaucrats.经济依然被官僚们所掌控。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

7 potency   

n. 效力，潜能

参考例句：

• Alcohol increases the drug's potency.酒精能增加这种毒品的效力。
• Sunscreen can lose its potency if left over winter in the bathroom cabinet.如果把防晒霜在盥洗室的壁橱里放一个冬天，就有可能失效。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 wielded   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The bad eggs wielded power, while the good people were oppressed. 坏人当道，好人受气
• He was nominally the leader, but others actually wielded the power. 名义上他是领导者，但实际上是别人掌握实权。

10 thatcher   

n.茅屋匠

参考例句：

• Tom Sawyer was in the skiff that bore Judge Thatcher. 汤姆 - 索亚和撒切尔法官同乘一条小艇。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Mrs. Thatcher was almost crazed; and Aunt Polly, also. 撒切尔夫人几乎神经失常，还有波莉姨妈也是。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

11 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

12 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

13 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

14 wheezes   

n.喘息声( wheeze的名词复数 )v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They've tried some brilliant wheezes, but every time, Jerry's twigged at the last moment. 他们使用了一些华丽的陈腐俏皮话，但是每次到了最后关头，德国人就察觉了。 来自互联网
• The lungs are clear to auscultation bilaterally, without any wheezes, rales, or rhonchi. 双肺听诊清音，无喘鸣或干湿罗音。 来自互联网

15 detests   

v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• My brother detests having to get up early. 我兄弟极讨厌早起，又不得不早起。 来自辞典例句
• The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him. 两样的法码，为耶和华所憎恶。诡诈的天平，也为不善。 来自互联网

16 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

17 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

18 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

19 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

20 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

21 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。