2020年经济学人 开放不再,繁荣落幕(1)

Books & arts

文艺板块

Book review

书评

Globalisation

全球化

Lowering the drawbridge

降下封锁的吊桥

Two books expound¹ the virtues² of open societies, past and future

用两本书阐述了开放社会、过去和未来的的特点

Open: The Story of Human Progress.

《开放：人类进程的故事》

By Johan Norberg.

作者：约翰·诺尔贝格

One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger.

《十亿美国人：更远大理想的理由》

By Matthew Yglesias

作者：马修·伊格莱西亚斯

It was not just roads that led to Rome. The shipping³ lanes did, too. By the first century BC,Rome had conquered the entire Mediterranean⁴ coastline. Some 90% of its people lived within 15km of the sea, buying corn from Egypt, olive oil from Spain and toga dye from Carthage. The Roman Empire prospered⁵ because it was open to trade, people and ideas, says Johan Norberg, a Swedish thinker. Galleys⁶ brought “all the crafts that exist or have existed”, as one Greek observer put it. Foreigners could become citizens; a slave’s son could (occasionally) rise to become emperor.

不只有条条大路才能通往罗马。航道同样也能到达。到公元前一世纪，罗马征服了整个地中海沿海地带。有90%的罗马居民生活在离海岸不到15千米的地方，他们从埃及购买玉米，从西班牙购买橄榄油，从迦太基购买托加染料。瑞典思想家约翰·诺伯格表示，罗马帝国之所以繁荣，是因为它广开贸易、民众自由、思想解放。正如一位希腊评论人士所说，罗马战舰带回了“所有现存或者曾经存在过的技艺”。外国人能成为罗马公民；奴隶的儿子（偶尔）能够晋升为皇帝。

Mr Norberg’s “Open” is one of two new books that offer big ideas about globalisation, past and future. He argues that progress depends on openness, but that this tends to create resistance that sets back the clock. In “One Billion Americans” Matthew Yglesias, a co-founder of Vox (a wonky leftish news outlet), ponders how the United States might evolve if it were much more open to immigrants.

诺伯格新创作了两本讲述有关全球化、过去和未来的宏大理念书籍，《开放》就是其中一本。他认为开放是进步的先决条件，但这也往往会产生阻力，使时间倒流。Vox（一家政治左翼的新闻媒体）的联合创始人马修·伊格莱西亚斯在《十亿美国人》中着力探讨，如果美国的移民问题更加开放，那美国会如何发展。

1 expound   

v.详述；解释；阐述

参考例句：

• Why not get a diviner to expound my dream?为什么不去叫一个占卜者来解释我的梦呢？
• The speaker has an hour to expound his views to the public.讲演者有1小时时间向公众阐明他的观点。

2 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

4 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

5 prospered   

成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认，这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
• Mr. Black prospered from his wise investments. 布莱克先生由于巧妙的投资赚了不少钱。

6 galleys   

n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房

参考例句：

• Other people had drowned at sea since galleys swarmed with painted sails. 自从布满彩帆的大船下海以来，别的人曾淹死在海里。 来自辞典例句
• He sighed for the galleys, with their infamous costume. 他羡慕那些穿着囚衣的苦工。 来自辞典例句