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

 

Business this week

本周经济要闻

The saga¹ at Valeant rumbled² on. Michael Pearson decided³ 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 investigation⁴ for its ties to an online pharmacy⁵, 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 earnings⁶. William Ackman, an activist⁷ investor⁸ 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 merge⁹ 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 considerably¹⁰. It is the latest in a series of “tax inversion” deals that have attracted political controversy¹¹ 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 Supreme¹² Court agreed to hear Samsung's appeal against the penalties it has incurred¹³ 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 fend¹⁴ 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 uncertainty¹⁵ 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%。

1 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

2 rumbled   

发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋）

参考例句：

• The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
• Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了，然而，在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声，持续不断。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

9 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

10 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

11 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。

14 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

15 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。