经济学人:短期借贷 原则与利率 (2)

 　　But lenders can get around these laws by registering as “credit service organisations”, relocating to other states,  但贷款人可以通过注册为“信用服务组织”，迁移到其他州，

　　or even working with Native American tribes to claim sovereign immunity¹. 甚至与美洲土著部落一起申请主权豁免权来避开这些法律。

　　At the federal level, Congress passed the Military Lending Act in 2006, capping loan rates to service members at 36%. 2006年，在联邦一级的国会上通过了“军事贷款法”，限制对军人的贷款利率上限为 36%。。

　　More recently, the Department of Justice launched “Operation Choke Point”, an effort to press banks into severing² ties with businesses at risk of money-laundering,  最近，司法部发起了“瓶颈行动”，旨在强迫银行与有洗钱风险的公司断绝关系，

　　payday lenders among them. 薪资贷款（公司）就包括其中。

　　But the real crackdown on payday lending could come if the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) , a watchdog, implements³ new regulations on high-interest loans. 但是，如果监管机构——消费者金融保护局（CFPB）在高利息贷款上实施新规定，对发薪日贷款真正的打击可能会到来。

　　The rules include underwriting standards and other restrictions⁴ designed to keep borrowers out of debt;  这些规则包括承保标准和其他旨在保证借款人还清债务的限制；

　　the CFPB estimates that they could reduce payday-loan volumes by more than 80%. CFPB估计可以将发薪日贷款额度减少80%以上

　　The threat of regulation may already have had an effect. 监管的威胁可能已经产生了影响。

　　The Centre for Financial Services Innovation, a non-profit group, reckons that payday-loan volumes have fallen by 18% since 2014; revenues have dropped by 30%. 非营利组织金融服务创新中心认为，自2014年以来，工资日贷款量下降了18%收入利润下降了30%。

　　During the first nine months of 2016, lenders shut more than 500 stores and total employment in the industry fell by 3,600, or 3.5%. 在2016年前九个月，关闭了500多家贷款点，该行业的就业总额下降了3600个，即下降了3.5%。

　　To avoid the new rules, lenders are shifting away from lump-sum payday loans toward instalment loans, which give borrowers more time to get back on their feet. 为了避免这个新的法规，贷款人正从一次总付发放日贷款转向分期贷款，这种类型的贷款给借款人更多的时间还清他们的贷款。

　　It would be premature⁵ to celebrate the demise⁶ of payday lenders. 庆祝发薪日贷款的消亡还为时过早。

　　The Trump⁷ administration is likely to block the CFPB's new regulations. 特朗普政府很可能阻碍消费者金融保护局的新规定。

　　And even if the rules are pushed through, consumers may not be better off. 甚至如果规则通过，消费者们并不会过得更好。

　　Academic research on payday-lending regulation is mixed, with some studies showing benefits, others showing costs, and still others finding no consumer-welfare effects at all. 关于发薪日贷款管理的学术研究观点是复杂的，一些研究显示其有益，有些则显示损害，还有一些研究没有发现对消费者福利的影响。

　　A forthcoming paper by two economists⁸ at West Point concludes that the Military Lending Act yielded “no significant benefits to service members”. 西点军校的两位经济学家即将出版的论文得出结论，“军事借贷法”对军人来说没有重大好处。

1 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

2 severing   

v.切断，断绝( sever的现在分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The death of a second parent is like severing an umbilical cord to our past. 父母当中第二个人去世，就象斩断了把我们同过去联在一起的纽带。 来自辞典例句
• The severing theory and severing method for brittle block are studied. 研究裂纹技术应用于分离脆性块体的分离理论和分离方法。 来自互联网

3 implements   

n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• Primitive man hunted wild animals with crude stone implements. 原始社会的人用粗糙的石器猎取野兽。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They ordered quantities of farm implements. 他们订购了大量农具。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

6 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》