2016年经济学人 斯洛文尼亚 美丽背后蕴藏危机

 

Slovenia

斯洛文尼亚

Very European

浓郁的欧洲色彩

Slovenia’s first big crisis since independence

斯洛文尼亚独立后首遇大危机

Beautiful but angry

美丽表面蕴藏危机

Slovenes have always felt rather pleased with themselves. Their country is beautiful, they were the richest of the Yugoslavs and, after independence in 1991, they joined the European Union, NATO and the euro.

斯诺文尼亚的国民们一直生活得幸福快乐。他们的祖国景色秀丽，是前南斯拉夫中最富有的国家，并在1991独立后加入北约，随后成为欧盟成员国之一，并规定欧元为流通货币。

How different things are today. Slovenes are angry and confused. Their prime minister is on trial for corruption¹, unemployment is high, the country’s banks are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy² and a series of painful structural³ reforms lie ahead.

然后三十年河东，三十年河西。现如今，斯洛文尼亚举国上下充满着幽怨和迷茫。现任总理正因腐败问题接受审讯,国内失业率居高不下,该国的银行在破产边缘摇摇欲坠,而结构改革的道路上有一系列的挑战等待着他们。

In July Slovenia’s leading bank had to be bailed⁴ out to the tune⁵ of more than 380m ($478m) by the government. Janez Jansa, the prime minister, has talked of a “Greek scenario” and has warned that Slovenia will become the sixth European country to seek a bail-out unless his government’s reforms go through. The ratings agencies have downgraded Slovenia; many civil servants have had their pay cut by 7.5%.

在7月份的时候，斯洛文尼亚的主要银行不得不接受超过38亿欧元（约为47.8亿美元）的政府援助来帮助自己脱离困境。现任总理Janez Jansa曾谈论到一个“希腊场景”,并警告说，如果斯洛文尼亚不进行改革，它将成为第六个寻求援助的欧盟国家。而评级机构已经下调了斯洛文尼亚等级;许多公务员的工资也被削减了7.5%。

Even though Slovenia’s demography⁶ is terrible, it has until now had generous pensions and a low retirement⁷ age. As only 40,000 signatures are needed to call a referendum, painful reforms are easily blocked. A referendum that defeated an attempt at pension reform in June 2011 was the beginning of the end of the then government. The current coalition⁸ (in which a party of pensioners⁹ plays a crucial role) has adopted draft laws on pension and labour-law reform, which will both be contested.

尽管斯洛文尼亚人口老龄化情况是十分严峻的,到目前为止，全国还保持着高额的养老退休金以及低龄退休的传统。由于全民公投需要40000人的签名，因此曲折的改革之路很容易遇到阻碍。2011年6月的时候，一项全民公投将当时被提出的养老金改革计划扼杀在摇篮里，这意味着当时政府失势的开端。当前的联合政府(一群退休人员在这其中扮演着关键角色)通过了养老金和劳动法改革的草案,这些都将会引发争议。

Mr Jansa, a political veteran, came to power in February. He is on trial for allegedly taking bribes¹⁰ from a Finnish arms company. On September 5th the former head of one of Slovenia’s biggest companies was convicted of fraud. The Catholic church has been rocked by financial and sex scandals.

现任总理Jansa是一个政治老手,在今年2月上台执政。他在任期中因遭指控接受了一个芬兰武器公司的贿赂，现正接受审理。9月5日，斯洛文尼亚头号企业的前负责人被判欺诈罪。而天主教会一直也饱受金融和性丑闻的影响。

In this febrile atmosphere quarrels have been breaking out about who did what in the second world war. These altercations¹¹ may serve as distractions¹² from the country’s economic woes¹³, but they provoke much bitterness. In the political mythology¹⁴ of Slovenia’s right the ten-day war of independence in 1991 should take centre stage, not the tragic¹⁵ events of 1945.

这焦躁不安的气氛中，关于二战某些人所作所为也是争论不休。这些争执可能会分散他们对该国萎靡经济形势的关注，但是另一方面也会引起他们的哀怨。占据在斯洛文尼亚政治神话的中央舞台上应该是1991为期十天独立战争，而并非1945年的悲剧事件。

On November 11th Slovenia will go to the polls to elect a president. The incumbent¹⁶, Danilo Turk, looks set for a second term. Under united leadership, Slovenia could recover relatively¹⁷ quickly, says Sonja Smuc, who runs an employers’ association. It has several companies that thrive abroad and its public debt, at 47.6% of GDP, is growing but far from critical. Renata Salecl, an intellectual, is less optimistic though. Many of Slovenia’s problems are similar to those elsewhere in Europe, she says, and “soon we will reach deadlock¹⁸.”

11月11日，斯洛文尼亚将会全民投票选举总统。现任总统Danilo Turk期许能获得连任。某雇主协会主席Sonja Smuc称，在统一领导下,斯洛文尼亚能较快恢复生产经营。斯洛文尼亚在国外有几家企业发展状况良好,并且其国债占GDP比重为47.6%，虽然不断增长但无大碍。Renata Salecl是位知识分子,对此不抱有乐观态度。斯洛文尼亚的所遇到的问题和欧洲某些地区相似,她认为,“我们很快也会陷入僵局。”

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

3 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

4 bailed   

保释，帮助脱离困境( bail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Fortunately the pilot bailed out before the plane crashed. 飞机坠毁之前，驾驶员幸运地跳伞了。
• Some water had been shipped and the cook bailed it out. 船里进了些水，厨师把水舀了出去。

5 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

6 demography   

n.人口统计，人口学

参考例句：

• Demography is the analysis of population variables.人口学是对人口变量的分析。
• It was once a rule of demography that people have fewer children as their countries get richer.按人口统计学的一贯规律，一个国家里的人民越富有，他们所拥有的孩子就越少。

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

8 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。

9 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句

10 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

11 altercations   

n.争辩，争吵( altercation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Have I been in physical altercations with men? 我有和男人们发生肢体上冲突么？ 来自互联网

12 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

14 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

15 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

16 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

17 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

18 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。