经济学人:因病施治,对症下药(2)

 By reducing the need for radical¹ innovation, the speed and efficacy of the response left the world economy less reformed  通过降低对全面创新的需求，应对的速度和效率让世界经济处于一种改革欠缺的状态，

and so vulnerable to the same forces that made the crisis possible in the first place. 使之在面对最初使这场危机成为可能的同样的力量时是如此的脆弱不堪。

Several shortcomings stand out. 几大缺陷原形毕露。

In dealing² with the Depression, governments ultimately discarded the gold standard, the global currency regime that helped propagate the disaster. 在应对大萧条中，各国政府最终抛弃了金本位制，这种曾经为那场灾难的传播起到了推波助澜作用的全球汇率制度。

Countries on gold sacrificed monetary-policy independence, and had to respond to a loss of market confidence with an economy-bashing increase in interest rates, for instance. 实施金本位制的国家奉献出了货币政策的独立性，却不得不对经济体打击利率上升的市场信心的失去作出反应。

The system transmitted distress³ around the world. 这一体系将沮丧传遍了整个世界。

When one country acted to build up its gold reserves, others saw a sudden drain on theirs. 当一个国家行动起来构建其黄金储备时，其他国家看到的是自身储备的骤然耗尽。

The sooner a country left gold in the 1930s, the sooner its recovery began. 在上世纪30年代，一个越早地放弃金本位制，其复苏越早地开始。

But the international system that facilitated the more recent financial crisis has been neither abandoned nor reformed. 但是，造成了最近这场金融危机的国际体系既没有被放弃也没有得到改革。

Open capital flows can put countries at the mercy of sudden swings in market sentiment. 开放的资本流动能够让国家成为市场情绪忽上忽下的牺牲品。

To manage this, many emerging markets accumulate foreign-exchange reserves, which can be drawn⁴ on in crisis. 为了治理这种情况，许多新兴市场积累了可以在危机中被提取出来的外汇储备。

But these reserves add to a global glut⁵ of capital which depresses interest rates and encourages borrowing. 但是，这些储备加重了一种抑制利率并鼓励举债的全球资本过剩。

Because reserves are so often held in the form of dollar-denominated bonds, they can destabilise the American economy. 由于储备常常都是以美元计价的债券的形式被持有，它们能够动摇美国经济。

They also heighten the world's exposure to American financial stumbles. 而且它还加大了世界各国之于美国金融动荡的风险敞口。

This regime helped turn an American housing bust⁶ into a global crisis, and remains⁷ in place now. 这种制度曾经促成了美国房地产泡沫成为一场全球危机的转化，而且如今依旧当道。

 

1 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

6 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。