经济学人130:马克里奇 悼念原物料大王

 　　Marc Rich

　　马克里奇

　　Marc Rich, king of commodities, died on June 26th, aged¹ 78

　　“原物料大王”马克里奇于6月26日去世，享年78岁

　　A NEW employee once asked Marc Rich for advice on trading. He expected, perhaps, “Buy low, sell high”, or “Think long-term”. Or perhaps, given Mr Rich's habit of going to the office at daybreak, “Up with the lark”. Instead, Mr Rich picked up a knife and ran a finger across the edge. “As a trader you often walk on the blade,” he said softly. “Be careful and don't step off.”

　　曾经一名新职员向马克里奇寻求生意方面的建议。他期待的回答可能是“低价买进，高价卖出”或者“做长远思考”。或者考虑到里奇天一亮就去办公室的习惯，所以可能会说“早起床”。但是，里奇拿起一把小刀，一根手指放在刀刃上滑动，然后轻声说：“作为一个商人，经常会有走在刀刃上的感觉，所以要小心，不要让自己掉下来。”

　　马克里奇.jpg

　　Few walked it more skilfully² than Mr Rich. Obsessively³, he scanned the globe to see crises coming, wars brewing⁴, shortages looming⁵. He bought before anyone else did, and was first there when countries began to look round for oil or zinc⁶ or nickel. On the eve of the Korean war, as a mere⁷ junior trader at Philipp Brothers in New York, he created a market in mercury, which the army needed for batteries. The price soared. From the late 1960s, somehow anticipating the Arab oil-export embargo⁸, he began to create a spot market for oil. Previously⁹, all crude was tied up by the big companies in inelastic long-term contracts. Starting in Tunisia, Mr Rich began to buy and sell it for immediate¹⁰ delivery, like any other commodity. When the embargo bit after 1973 he was swimming in oil when the majors were struggling, and was able to sell it at a mark-up of as much as $14 a barrel. Some called that profiteering. Mr Rich called it a service charge. He could have demanded more, but that would have been “like taking candy from a baby”.

　　没有人能走得比里奇更轻巧熟练。他观察世界各地，预见哪儿危机将要发生，战争将要爆发，商品将要发生短缺，尽情沉溺于这一切。当一些国家开始到处寻求石油、锌或镍时，他总是第一个买到这些商品的人，也是第一个去到那里的人。在朝鲜战争前夕，虽然只是纽约菲利普兄弟公司一个资历较浅的职员，里奇却开创了有关汞的市场。当时军队需要汞来制作电池，所以汞价格飙升。从20世纪60年代末开始，不知为何他预感阿拉伯会禁令石油输出，所以他开始创立了石油现货市场。在这之前，所有原油都被大公司以硬性长期合约的形式限制住了。里奇首次在突尼斯开始以立即交付的形式买卖原油，就像其他商品一样。1973年后，贸易禁令产生负面影响，当其他人深受其苦时，他却拥有着大量石油，这样他以每桶加价14美金的价格出售石油。一些人称这种行为是投机倒把。里奇认为这是服务费。他本可以要价更高，但是那就“像从小孩手里抢糖果一样简单”。

　　A free agent in this exhilarating new market, he went from strength to strength. Turning on his insistent¹¹, feline¹² charm, he sought out buyers and sellers while his partner Pinky Green arranged shipping¹³. It was a winning combination, forged at Philipp Brothers but soon outgrowing¹⁴ it. In 1974 the two of them, peeved¹⁵ that their bonuses were still so small, left to form Marc Rich + Co. The main office was in Zug in safe, secret Switzerland, no questions asked.

　　在这个振奋人心的新市场中，作为自由代理人的里奇不断发展强大起来。靠着自己坚持不懈、猫科动物般的魅力，他不断找寻买主和卖主，而他的搭档平卡斯?格林则负责安排运输。这是成功的合作，他们在菲利普兄弟公司形成的，但是很快地他们不再需要依赖这个公司了。二人因不满自己的奖金仍是很少，所以在1974年都离开了这家公司，一起创立了马克?里奇+有限公司。总公司设在瑞士的一个叫楚格的地方，这里安全、神秘、不问理由。

　　From there, with cat-like tread, Mr Rich found his way round any political or moral obstacle. He sold Soviet¹⁶ oil to apartheid South Africa, despite a UN embargo, and between 1979 and 1994 made profits of around $2 billion there. He sent Soviet and Venezuelan oil to Cuba in exchange for sugar, ignoring America's ban on trade. He sold on the global market surplus Iranian oil that had flowed to Israel down a secret pipeline¹⁷, and kept the arrangement going seamlessly despite the Iranian revolution of 1979, another embargo, and the American hostage crisis. The Iranians respected their contracts, he explained. They could not sell their oil, so he bought and sold it for them, using shell companies wherever necessary. Keeping well below the radar¹⁸, as he always did, he was soon the world's largest independent oil-trader, with a turnover¹⁹ in 1980 of $15 billion.

　　从这里开始，里奇发现他的路布满了各种形式的有关政治、道德的阻碍，他小心地走着。他将苏联石油卖到种族隔离的南非，尽管当时联合国颁布了贸易禁令。在1979到1994年期间，他就这样赚了将近20亿美元。他将苏联和委内瑞拉的石油输送到古巴以换取糖，全然不顾美国的贸易禁令。他把过剩的伊朗石油拿到全球市场上出售，伊朗石油曾沿着一条秘密管道流向以色列，并且把这一切进行得天衣无缝，尽管1979年伊朗发生了革命，尽管禁止跨国贸易，尽管爆发了美国人质危机。他解释说，伊朗人尊重他们的合同。伊朗人不能卖掉他们的石油，所以他先买下，然后不顾一切利用空壳公司替他们售出石油。在这种公司的保护下，正如以往一样生意顺利经营着，很快地他成为世界上最大的独立石油贸易商，1980年的营业额达到150亿美元。

　　Then he stepped off the knife-blade. In 1980-81 he violated America's domestic oil-price controls by relabelling Texas crude from old fields as new-found, jacking up the price by as much as 400%. He made profits of $105m and shipped them abroad, avoiding taxes of $48m. Once federal prosecutors²⁰ were after him for that, they charged him with 64 other crimes, including racketeering and “trading with the enemy”. In 1983 he fled to Switzerland with his family, having also tried to spirit away two trunks of subpoenaed²¹ business papers.

　　也就在这时，他从事业浪尖掉了下来。在1980到1981这段期间，他触犯了美国对国内石油价格控制的规定，原因是他把从德克萨斯旧油田开采的原油重新贴上标签变成新石油，从而将价格提高了4倍。他因此获益了1.05亿美元，并将这些钱运送到国外，逃脱了4.8千万美元的税款。正因为这样，联邦司法人员控告他，同时他被控的其他罪行达64项，包括诈骗和“与敌人贸易”。1983年他和家人逃到瑞士，当然他试图想要偷走两箱商业报告。

　　The outsider

　　局外人

　　Thereafter he became a fugitive²², a star of the FBI's most-wanted list. He remained—until 1994, when he sold his stake and his company became the vast, tentacular²³ Glencore—the world's biggest trader of metals and minerals, while darting²⁴ between Spain, Switzerland and Israel, a citizen of all three. In Marbella or St Moritz, beside a $9.5m swimming pool or among his Braques and Picassos, with a fortune estimated at $2.5 billion, he reconciled himself to exile. His father died in America; he had to say kaddish down the telephone. You cry a little, you move on.

　　因此，他变成了一个逃犯，也位列美国联邦调查局最想抓捕人犯名单之中。他一直是世界上最大的金属和矿物贸易商，直到1994年他卖掉了自己的股份，而他的公司成为嘉能可这个涉猎领域广的大公司。这段期间他在西班牙、瑞士和以色列这几个国家之间奔波，成为这三个国家的公民。在马尔韦亚或圣莫里茨，或者在9.5百万美元打造的游泳池旁边或者在他收藏的布拉克和毕加索的作品间，这个估计拥有25亿美元财富的人才会勉强承认自己被流放。他的父亲死于美国；他只能在电话里念着赞美诗《珈底什》。他认为，小段悲伤，然后继续前行。

　　In his own mind he was shy, modest and innocent of everything. American embargoes²⁵, he maintained, did not apply to companies based in Switzerland. Bribes²⁶, such as the $1m he gave to Nigeria's transport minister, were paid “in order to be able to do business at the same price as other people were willing to do the business”. Getting round the price controls on oil from old fields was something many of the oil majors had done, too; but only he was faced with criminal prosecution²⁷ for it.

　　在他自己心目中，他是害羞、谦虚和清白的。他认为，美国的贸易禁令不适用于总部位于瑞士的公司。而那些贿赂，比如他送给尼日利亚运输部长的1百万美元，这只是“为了能够做生意，就像其他人也会愿意以同样的价钱做这样的生意”。绕开对旧油田开采的石油的价格控制也是许多的大石油公司会做的事情；但是只有他为了这个事情而面临到刑事控诉。

　　Why? Perhaps, he mused²⁸, because he was Jewish, always the outsider: the refugee boy from Belgium who changed schools so often that he had no friends and hardly talked to anyone. Perhaps because he loved Israel more than America, showering it with money for good causes, helping²⁹ to airlift Jews from Ethiopia and Yemen, and giving Mossad's agents contacts in Iran. Or perhaps just because he was making an awful lot of money. He always saw profit where others didn't care, or dare, to look; he got that from his father, who had started in business by peddling³⁰ round Antwerp pieces of fabric³¹ and scrap³² metal that factories had thrown away.

　　为什么？他沉思道，可能因为他是犹太人，从而总是局外人：这个从比利时逃难出来的男孩因为总是换学校而没有朋友，也几乎没跟任何人说过话。可能因为他爱以色列胜过美国，所以他提供大量金钱给以色列去做一些伟大事业，帮助空运那些来自埃塞俄比亚和也门的犹太人，安排了莫萨德在伊朗的特务据点。或者可能只是因为他赚了大量肮脏的金钱。他总是看到别人不在意，或者不敢去看到的利润；这一点遗传了父亲，他的父亲开始做买卖时靠的是在安特卫普走街串巷地兜售工厂丢弃的一块块布料和废弃金属。

　　In 2001 Bill Clinton pardoned him, his hand pushed by the Israeli prime minister, the king of Spain, an ex-head of Mossad and Mr Rich's ex-wife Denise, who had given generously to the Clinton library and to Democratic campaigns. The president later regretted his action, calling it “terrible politics”. Mr Rich, oblivious³³ to politics, would have called it good business.

　　2001年比尔·克林顿赦免了他，以色列总理、西班牙国王、莫萨德前负责人和里奇的前妻丹尼斯推动了这个结果。丹尼斯曾对克林顿图书馆和民主党竞选慷慨地捐赠过。后来这位总统为自己的行为感到后悔，称之为“政治祸端”。对政治没有意识的里奇肯定会说这是一笔好生意。

　　1.pick up 捡起；接载

　　Be sure to pick up surowiecki's book.

　　请把索罗斯基的书再拾起来。

　　Can you pick up the apple for me?

　　你能帮我捡起那个苹果吗？

　　2.step off 离开；步测

　　You step off that chair, you end it all.

　　你跨出一步，一切都结束了。

　　We see her step off the plane.

　　我们看到她从飞机上走下来。

　　3.begin to 开始

　　Within minutes brain cells begin to die.

　　几分钟后脑细胞开始死亡。

　　Nobody wants to watch your science projects blossom mold or begin to stink³⁴ up the communal³⁵ space.

　　没有人想看着你的科研项目绽放“霉菌”，也没人想看到它们把整个公共空间搞得臭气熏天。

　　4.in exchange for 交换

　　Mr monti's big idea is a swap³⁶: liberalism in exchange for redistribution.

　　蒙逖先生的妙计是一个互换机制：自由主义交换再分配。

　　Chinese exporters gave the dollars to their central bank in exchange for domestic bonds.

　　中国出口商把美元交给本国央行，并换得国内债券。

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 skilfully   

adv. (美skillfully)熟练地

参考例句：

• Hall skilfully weaves the historical research into a gripping narrative. 霍尔巧妙地把历史研究揉进了扣人心弦的故事叙述。
• Enthusiasm alone won't do. You've got to work skilfully. 不能光靠傻劲儿，得找窍门。

3 obsessively   

ad.着迷般地，过分地

参考例句：

• Peter was obsessively jealous and his behaviour was driving his wife away. 彼得过分嫉妒的举止令他的妻子想离他而去。
• He's rude to his friends and obsessively jealous. 他对他的朋友很无礼而且嫉妒心重。

4 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

5 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

6 zinc   

n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

11 insistent   

adj.迫切的，坚持的

参考例句：

• There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
• He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。

12 feline   

adj.猫科的

参考例句：

• As a result,humans have learned to respect feline independence.结果是人们已经学会尊重猫的独立性。
• The awakening was almost feline in its stealthiness.这种醒觉，简直和猫的脚步一样地轻悄。

13 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。

14 outgrowing   

长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的现在分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过

参考例句：

• Vibrant colors last year around without wilting, watering, or outgrowing their pots early, quantities are limited. 它高贵优雅，不容易萎蔫，不用经常浇水，也不会长出花盆之外。

15 peeved   

adj.恼怒的，不高兴的v.（使）气恼，（使）焦躁，（使）愤怒( peeve的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sounded peeved about not being told. 没人通知他，为此他气哼哼的。
• She was very peeved about being left out. 她为被遗漏而恼怒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

17 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

18 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

19 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

20 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

21 subpoenaed   

v.（用传票）传唤（某人）( subpoena的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court subpoenaed her to appear as a witness. 法庭传唤她出庭作证。
• The finance director is subpoenaed by prosecution. 财务经理被检查机关传讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

23 tentacular   

adj.有触手的

参考例句：

24 darting   

v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句

25 embargoes   

贸易禁运令，禁运( embargo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Britain, France and the United States refused to lift their embargoes. 英、法和美国都拒绝取消禁运。
• Its public position is that it abides by all UN arms embargoes. 其公开立场是，他们遵守所有联合国的武器禁运命令。

26 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

27 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

28 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

29 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

30 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？

31 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

32 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

33 oblivious   

adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的

参考例句：

• Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后，妈妈变得特别健忘。
• He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。

34 stink   

vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭

参考例句：

• The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
• The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。

35 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

36 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。