经济学人43:该死，还不贬值! Weaken, dammit!

 　　Finance and Economics；Japanese exchange-rate policy; Weaken, dammit! Japan's policymakers try subtle approaches to cheapen the yen¹

　　财经；日本汇率政策；该死，还不贬值！日本政策制定者暗中寻求本币贬值；

　　With their overnight-lending rates at zero for most of the past decade, the Japanese public long ago stopped caring about interest rates. Instead the yen is their focus. Shoppers may revel² in its current strength against the dollar but in the news media, the financial markets and corporate³ Japan, it is a relentless⁴ source of woe⁵. Carlos Ghosn, the boss of Nissan and Renault, publicly lambasts it as a “1,000-pound gorilla” that hurts his ability to sell Japanese cars abroad. Its strength is increasingly becoming a political issue, too.

　　在过去十年的大部分时间里，日本隔夜拆借利率都为零，日本民众早就对利率失去了兴趣，而日元则成为他们关注的焦点。日元兑美元汇率走强也许是购物者愿意听到的消息，但对于新闻媒体、金融市场和日本企业来说，这却是国内经济低迷的罪魁祸首。日产—雷诺的总裁卡洛斯·戈恩公开斥责日元升值是“一头1000磅的大猩猩”损害了日本汽车在海外市场的竞争力。同时，强势日元也逐渐成为一项政治议题。

　　Both the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the finance ministry⁶ have taken steps recently that analysts⁷ believe are surreptitiously aimed at the currency markets. On April 27th the BoJ increased the size of its asset-purchase programme by ￥5 trillion ($62 billion), and extended the maturity⁸ limit of government bonds it would buy from two to three years. That enhanced easing measures introduced in February which sharply weakened the yen.

　　日本央行和财政部最近都采取了一些行动。分析人士指出，这些行动都暗中针对货币市场。4月27日，日本央行将资产购买计划扩容五万亿日元（620亿美元），同时将计划购买的政府债券期限由两年延长到三年。今年二月推行的宽松货币政策使日元大幅贬值。这些举动进一步加强了这一政策的效力。

　　Days before, the finance ministry promised the biggest single contribution—a $60 billion slug—to a $430 billion increase in IMF funding which is largely aimed at alleviating⁹ concerns about the euro crisis. As a senior official admitted, Japan’s decision was not altruistic¹⁰. When the euro crisis gets worse, it weakens Japan’s exports to Europe and strengthens the yen, which compounds the first problem. So Japan has a direct interest in market stability.

　　几天前， IMF为缓解欧元危机造成的紧张情绪将（可贷）资金规模扩充4300亿美元，为响应这一号召，财务部允诺注资600亿美元，使日本成为本次注资金额最大的国家。正如一位高级官员承认“日本此举并非毫无私心”。随着欧元危机愈演愈烈，削弱了日本对欧洲的出口，进而使日元兑欧元走强——这会使得日本出口形势进一步恶化。因此，日本经济形势与国际市场稳定性直接相关。

　　Neither institution discusses the currency openly. The BoJ knows that overt¹¹ currency manipulation is frowned upon as a “beggar-thy-neighbour” policy. But it nonetheless believes the yen’s value is important, because it has an impact on the economic decisions people and companies make. It may influence inflation expectations (of foreign investors¹², if not deflation-inured domestic ones); and it is a hot potato politically. Influential¹³ politicians are pressing the central bank to do more to stoke the economy by pushing down the yen. They brandish¹⁴ figures showing how the BoJ’s asset-purchase programme has undershot that of other big central banks (see chart). Some political parties are proposing reforms that the BoJ fears would curb¹⁵ its independence.

　　日本央行和财政部都未公开讨论过货币问题。日本央行当然明白公开操纵汇率这种“以邻为壑”会招致他国不满。尽管如此，鉴于日元购买力对公司和个人的经济决策的影响，央行还是重视日元汇率的。就算汇率不影响日本国民（他们已经习惯了紧缩），也会影响外国投资者的通胀预期。而且从政治层面来看，它也是块烫手的山芋。现在，那些位高权重的政客们正向央行施压，要求它采取更多的手段使日元贬值以此刺激国内经济。他们援引数据表明，日本央行的资产购买计划（asset-purchase programme）远不及其他主要国家央行。而日本央行担心，某些政党提出的改革方案可能有损其独立性。

　　In its latest move, the BoJ seemed keen to remind the markets that it is no miracle worker. The increase in the asset-purchase programme fell short of expectations. It implicitly¹⁶ issued a warning about the danger of monetising debt by printing money. Since its meeting, the yen has strengthened. Masamichi Adachi at J.P. Morgan says that is a reminder¹⁷ that whatever the BoJ does, global risk appetites have a bigger influence on the currency markets.

　　在最近的行动中日本央行似乎极力提醒市场：不要指望它能创造神迹。扩大资产购买项目未能达到预期目标，这对于央行将债务货币化的危险提出了含蓄的警告。摩根大通驻东京高级分析师正道安達（Masamichi Adachi）称，目前日元走势坚挺也在提醒投资者，无论日本央行采取何种举动，全球风险偏好对货币市场的影响则要更大一些。

　　But the yen will not have been forgotten about. Yunosuke Ikeda of Nomura says that on four occasions since 2010 a bigger asset-purchase programme has been followed by government intervention¹⁸ to weaken the yen. He thinks that the government must be at least considering another intervention. What’s more, he believes the IMF loan may be a crafty¹⁹ manoeuvre²⁰ to help. Japan’s leadership in providing the money, he reckons, may make it easier for it to win international approval if it does choose to sell the yen again.

　　尽管如此，日元也不会为人们所忽视。野村证券分析师池田指出，自2010年来，政府已经四次干预日元汇率使之贬值，且都伴随着资产购买项目扩容。他认为日本人政府至少应该考虑再一次干预汇率。此外，日本向IMF提供贷款这一巧妙策略提升了日本的领导力，对日元贬值也有所助益：如果日本政府选择抛售日元使之贬值，这一策略会帮助日本获得国际社会支持。

1 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

2 revel   

vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢

参考例句：

• She seems to revel in annoying her parents.她似乎以惹父母生气为乐。
• The children revel in country life.孩子们特别喜欢乡村生活。

3 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

4 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

5 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

6 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。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

9 alleviating   

减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• If it's alleviating pain,who knows what else it's doing? 如果它减轻了疼痛，天知道还影响什么？
• Measuring poverty is not the same as alleviating it, of course. 当然，衡量贫困和减轻贫困是截然不同的。

10 altruistic   

adj.无私的，为他人着想的

参考例句：

• It is superficial to be altruistic without feeling compassion.无慈悲之心却说利他，是为表面。
• Altruistic spirit should be cultivated by us vigorously.利他的精神是我们应该努力培养的。

11 overt   

adj.公开的，明显的，公然的

参考例句：

• His opponent's intention is quite overt.他的对手的意图很明显。
• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。

12 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

13 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

14 brandish   

v.挥舞，挥动；n.挥动，挥舞

参考例句：

• She answered with a brandish of her umbrella.她挥动着伞回答。
• Come on together! Brandish the florid youth together!一起舞动绚丽的青春吧！

15 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

16 implicitly   

adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地

参考例句：

• Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
• I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想，我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧？

17 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

18 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

19 crafty   

adj.狡猾的，诡诈的

参考例句：

• He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。

20 manoeuvre   

n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动

参考例句：

• Her withdrawal from the contest was a tactical manoeuvre.她退出比赛是一个战术策略。
• The clutter of ships had little room to manoeuvre.船只橫七竖八地挤在一起，几乎没有多少移动的空间。