美国国家公共电台 NPR Is Trump's Deal With Carrier A Form Of Crony Capitalism?

Is Trump¹'s Deal With Carrier A Form Of Crony Capitalism²? 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0007:19repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser³ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: 

Let's hear two of the many interpretations⁴ of a move to save some jobs in Indiana. President-elect Trump yesterday celebrated⁶ a deal that will keep close to 1,000 jobs at Carrier in Indianapolis, though other Carrier jobs will still go to Mexico. Trump fans cheered this move. Mr. Trump himself says he forgot his campaign promise to save Carrier but was reminded after the election by a TV report.

Bernie Sanders, the former presidential candidate, doesn't like this, noting that the government paid incentives⁷ to Carrier, which other corporations may now demand. The debate is especially stark⁸ on the right. And we're going to hear two views from the right on this move. First, Don Evans, commerce secretary under President George W. Bush, who likes the symbolism.

DONALD EVANS: I think what the president-elect is clearly doing is talking about how he's going to focus on jobs in America. It's clear that he's going to take the government's attitude toward the private sector⁹ in a different direction than it has been going for the last eight years, I would say. As to getting involved, I mean, you can't get involved in every business all across America. You have to create the environment for those businesses to do so well, and that's exactly what President-elect Trump has in mind.

INSKEEP: I think I'm hearing you say that this is a perfectly¹⁰ nice thing to do symbolically¹¹ but not a good idea to do all the time.

EVANS: Well, I'm just saying you cannot do it all the time. You've got too many things on your plate, you know? There will be isolated¹² situations from time to time. This happens to be one of them that was brought up during the course of the campaign. He wanted everybody to know that, as president, he's going to fight for jobs in America.

Now, exactly how this all came down and what added incentives were thrown in there or not thrown in there, I have no idea. But I don't think it's a bad thing for the president to send the strong message to the workers of America that he's going to create the environment for them to do well right here and - and send that same message to the corporations of America.

INSKEEP: Is there a right way and a wrong way for a president to intervene economically with different companies?

EVANS: Well, look, you can't - certainly, over the long haul, you can't get into the mode of picking winners and losers. I mean, the great hallmark of this country is we love to compete. And so what I think government's role needs to be, should be, will be under this president-elect, I'm confident, is create a playing field for our companies in America to compete not only here at home but around the world and provide that environment so companies here in America are willing to stay here, employ more people and build their companies here in America instead of some other country in the world.

INSKEEP: Sounds like you very much favor the direction that tax policy seems to be going here. Republicans in Congress and the new president want tax rates - corporate¹³ tax rates, especially - to be lower. What do you think of the new president's approach to free trade?

EVANS: Fair trade - I think he wants fair trade. That's what I would want. I think the world is continuing to become more integrated all the time. Ninety-five percent of the people live outside the borders of the United States. We've got to trade with the rest of the world. We're going to trade with the rest of the world, but it's got to be fair trade.

INSKEEP: If President-elect Trump goes after one of his signature campaign promises - to revoke¹⁴ NAFTA or renegotiate it - it sounds like maybe you would hope for the renegotiate side - tweaking it but keeping it.

EVANS: Yeah, no, I'm absolutely for keeping it, no question about it. Are there some provisions in it that need to be reviewed and looked at? I'm sure there are. But the idea that you're going to shut off trade with countries around the world and turn it into some kind of trade war makes no sense.

INSKEEP: Don Evans, it's a pleasure talking with you. Thanks very much.

EVANS: Thank you. Great - yeah, enjoyed it very much.

INSKEEP: Don Evans was commerce secretary during the first term of President George W. Bush. A different view of President-elect Trump's move with Carrier comes from Tyler Cowen, who is a professor of economics at George Mason University and identifies as libertarian.

Don Evans says this is a way for the president-elect to send a strong message to workers and to corporations about what his priorities are. What's wrong with that?

TYLER COWEN: We're supposed to live under a republic of the rule of law. Not the rule of man. This deal is completely non-transparent. And the notion that every major American company has to negotiate person-to-person with the president over Twitter is going to make all business decisions politicized.

INSKEEP: What do you mean it's nontransparent, first of all?

COWEN: We don't know exactly what the company is getting. There's plenty of talk that the reason Carrier went along with the deal was because they were afraid their parent company would lose a lot of defense¹⁵ contracts. So this now creates the specter of a president always being willing to punish or reward companies depending on whether or not they give him a good press release.

INSKEEP: Why don't you explain to me the thing about the parent company, which is United Technologies?

COWEN: Yes, they do a lot of defense contracting. It's at least 10 percent of their revenue. Carrier, from the state of Indiana, was already offered the tax break before the election. They turned it down. Now, all of a sudden, Trump is President. Bernie Sanders is telling Trump to threaten the defense contract of the parent company, and now, all of a sudden, the company takes the deal. And Trump is known for being somewhat vindictive¹⁶. This, to me, is scary. It indicates an environment where business decisions are now about how much you please the president.

INSKEEP: Now, you just said an interesting thing. Bernie Sanders, a socialist¹⁷ of the Democratic Party, did, a few days before the deal was announced, say that Trump ought to use the leverage¹⁸ of the defense contracts to get United Technologies to change its behavior. We don't know on a factual basis that's actually what happened, but - but you're noting that this is kind of a leftist thing to do.

COWEN: That's correct. Trump and Bernie Sanders, for all of their populist talk, their are actual recipes in both cases lead to crony capitalism.

INSKEEP: What's crony capitalism?

COWEN: Crony capitalism is a system where businesses who are in bed with the government and who give the president positive press releases are rewarded and where companies who oppose or speak out against the president are, in some way, punished.

INSKEEP: David Wessel of the Brookings Institution said on our air the other day that this act reminded him of something that is done from time to time in France - under the socialist government in France. And I'm also thinking of Venezuela, where the late President Hugo Chavez would go on TV and denounce companies and demand that companies do specific things. And of course, the economy there has ended up being a complete mess. Is that - is that a fair comparison at all?

COWEN: Well, we're not close to that point yet, but we're taking baby steps in that direction. And the way you avoid getting to that point is by having people speak out when they see the baby steps.

INSKEEP: If the president-elect gets results, at least some of the jobs - at least for now - are staying in Indiana. Does it really matter how he does it?

COWEN: Well, keep in mind the broader numbers. Since the year 2000, Indiana has lost 150,000 manufacturing jobs. And this, at best, assuming all goes well, saves a thousand of those. So to actually make a dent⁵ in the problem, jawboning isn't the way to do it. It's changing economic incentives and making it more cost-effective to hire people in the United States. And none of this really does that.

INSKEEP: Tyler Cowen, thanks very much.

COWEN: Thank you.

INSKEEP: He's with George Mason University, and he's one of the views we're hearing about a deal to save some jobs at Carrier.

1 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。

2 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

3 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

4 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 symbolically   

ad.象征地，象征性地

参考例句：

• By wearing the ring on the third finger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other. 将婚戒戴在左手的第三只手指上，意味着夫妻双方象征性地宣告他们的爱情天长地久，他们定能白头偕老。
• Symbolically, he coughed to clear his throat. 周经理象征地咳一声无谓的嗽，清清嗓子。

12 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

13 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。

14 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 vindictive   

adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的

参考例句：

• I have no vindictive feelings about it.我对此没有恶意。
• The vindictive little girl tore up her sister's papers.那个充满报复心的小女孩撕破了她姐姐的作业。

17 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

18 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。