经济学人:货币的半衰期 (1)

 　　In 1946 Gyorgy Faludy, a Hungarian poet, received 300 bn pengo for a new edition of his works. 1946年，匈牙利诗人Gyorgy Faludy收到了作品再版稿费3000亿辨戈。

　　The sum would have been worth $60bn before the second world war. 二战前这笔稿费的价值相当于600亿美元。

　　But after the Nazis¹ departed with Hungary's gold reserves and the Russians occupied its territory, 但在匈牙利黄金储备遭纳粹洗劫，其领土被俄罗斯人占领后，

　　the country's currency was not what it was—and becoming even less so. 这个国家的货币不复以往—且大不如前。

　　After collecting the money, Faludy rushed to the nearby market and spent it all on a chicken, two litres of cooking oil and a handful of vegetables. Faludy拿到这笔钱后，匆忙来到附近市场并用这笔钱买了一只鸡、两公升食用油以及少量蔬菜。

　　For those not enduring it, hyperinflation can seem mind-bendingly abstract. The numbers are hard to fathom². 对于那些没经历过的人而言，恶性通货膨胀似乎是一个令人费解的抽象概念。这些数字很难理解。

　　In Venezuela's faltering³ economy, prices rose by 223.1% last month alone, 经济学家兼反对党政治家Angel Alvarado表示（该国政府早已停止公布官方统计）

　　according to Angel Alvarado, an economist⁴ and opposition⁵ politician (the government has long ceased publishing official statistics). 在委内瑞拉的经济低迷期，仅上个月物价就上涨了223.1%。

　　Each day throngs⁶ of Venezuelans rush across the 300m Simon Bolivar bridge joining their country to the economic sanity⁷ of Colombia, 每天都有大量委内瑞拉人穿过300米长的Simon Bolivar大桥，来到另一头经济健全的哥伦比亚

　　where they hope to obtain medicines, food and a better-preserved currency. 希望能够获得药物、食品以及存储更加完备的货币。

　　Venezuela's inflation could reach 1m percent for the full year, according to a (somewhat loose) forecast by the IMF. 国际货币基金组织预测，委内瑞拉的全年通货膨胀率可达到1,000,000%。

　　Such a figure is far from unprecedented⁸, however. In the worst month of its postwar hyperinflation, Hungarian prices rose by 41,900,000,000,000,000%. 但该数字并非空前绝后。在战后恶性通货膨胀最糟糕的月份里，匈牙利物价上涨了41,900,000,000,000,000%。

　　The government had to print a 100 quintillion note (with 20 zeroes), the highest denomination⁹ ever produced. 政府不得不印刷一种一百百万的五次幂的纸币（后边20个零），这是世界上面值最大的纸币。

　　One elderly gentleman used one to line his hat, according to Victor Sebestyen, a historian. 历史学家Victor Sebestyen称，一位老绅士还用这种纸币给自己的帽子加衬。

　　If Venezuela's monthly inflation gets no worse, its hyperinflationary horror will rank only 23rd out of the 57 episodes 如果委内瑞拉每月通胀不再恶化，那么其恶性通货膨胀的惨状在约翰霍普金斯大学的史蒂夫·汉克

　　identified by Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins University and Nicholas Krus. 以及尼古拉斯·克鲁斯所鉴定的57次通货膨胀中仅排在23位。

1 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

3 faltering   

犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的

参考例句：

• The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
• I canfeel my legs faltering. 我感到我的腿在颤抖。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 throngs   

n.人群( throng的名词复数 )v.成群，挤满( throng的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She muscled through the throngs of people, frantically searching for David. 她使劲挤过人群，拼命寻找戴维。 来自辞典例句
• Our friends threaded their way slowly through the throngs upon the Bridge. 我们这两位朋友在桥上从人群中穿过，慢慢地往前走。 来自辞典例句

7 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

8 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

9 denomination   

n.命名，取名，(度量衡、货币等的)单位

参考例句：

• The firm is still operating under another denomination.这家公司改用了名称仍在继续营业。
• Litre is a metric denomination.升是公制单位。