PBS高端访问:美联储的新入侵者

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight: a very different take on the Federal Reserve Bank from the perspective of a con¹ man looking to steal billions.

　　Jeffrey Brown has our book conversation.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Robbing a bank without touching² any gold in the vault³, and not just any bank, but the biggest one going, the Federal Reserve. It's a heist that hinges on, yes, monetary⁴ policy, told in a new thriller⁵ about a Washington lawyer who can't shake his criminal past.

　　"The Directive" is a sequel to the bestseller "The 500."

　　And author Matthew Quirk⁶ joins me now.

　　Welcome to you.

　　MATTHEW QUIRK, Author, "The Directive": Oh, thanks for having me.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So, you were thinking where is the biggest — what's the biggest heist I could concoct⁷, what's the most money around?

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Yes.

　　You quickly come to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It has about $250 billion worth of gold in the basement. And what was really interesting for me was at the New York Fed, the real money is upstairs. And there's a trading desk there that is not very well-known.

　　And it acts almost as the Federal Reserve system's gas and brake for the entire economy.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: You say the real money, because there's the gold and then what you're talking about is information in a way that's being traded.

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Right. Right.

　　That trading desk has balance sheet of $4.5 trillion. And it backs the value of all of our currency. The dollars in your pocket are Federal Reserve notes. And so when the Fed, acting⁸ on behalf of the government, decides to speed up or slow down the economy, they actually send orders to that trading desk, called the Directive, and they go out and sort of drive the economy where the Fed wants it to be.

　　So, if you were privy⁹ to that information, you could stand to make a killing¹⁰ without actually having to go in and put on the turtlenecks and grappling hooks and all that.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: The Federal Reserve, which we of course cover all the time on this program, but it is so famously opaque¹¹, right?

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Yes.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: I remember William Greider wrote a book called "The Secrets of the Temple." We think of it as this sort of secretive temple.

　　Alan Greenspan famously would say things that were intended to not be understood, right?

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Yes.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So how did you find your way in?

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Well, I did a lot of research and reporting on it.

　　I used to be a reporter. And that's the best way to procrastinate¹² when you're writing a book. So I called around. I spoke¹³ to some people who worked at the Fed and on the desk. And I worked with for the heist these security experts. And they're called red teams or penetration¹⁴ testers.

　　And it's a really interesting profession, because their job is to attempt to break into secure corporate¹⁵ or government facilities and…

　　JEFFREY BROWN: To figure how it can be done.

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Right. So, it was great, because I said, help me break into the Fed. And they gave me all these tricks of the trade.

　　And it was very different than what I thought it would be, a real 21st century heist. And it revolved¹⁶ a lot more around essentially¹⁷ confidence games and gaining people's trust.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, I mean, that's the interesting part, is you are dealing¹⁸ with the digital world, you're dealing with information that milliseconds matter, right, and yet so much of it goes back to, when you are writing about a heist, social context, social networks, human interaction.

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Yes. Right, and just confidence and seeming like you belong.

　　So, at the end of all that, I went up to the Fed really just to do some firsthand research and to take the tour. But I was waved through some of the mantraps, these sort of security gates at the front.

　　And I found myself on an elevator full of employees. And I said, well, I will give this stuff a try. And there was no key control on the elevator. And I press nine, the floor with a desk, which I was very interested in. And I found myself rising up to the heart of the Fed.

　　So, it was one of those moments where I said, oh, this is great. And then I said, what am I doing? This isn't in a novel. And I sort of poked¹⁹ my head out and looked around and then went back to where I…

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And it didn't look like probably the most exciting place where all these billions of dollars…

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: No.

　　It's so funny, because they really — they control the monetary supply there. And it's eight to 10 guys. And they're just sitting quiet office. And it's really the heart of how the Fed can keep the economy on a steady course.

　　But, yes, it's a quiet place. And once you get past all the gun and the mantraps, it look like any other office or bank.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, there's the technology, there's the social interaction, but then there's just old-fashioned picking of locks, right, which you get into.

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Yes. Yes. I learned to pick locks for the book from some of these…

　　JEFFREY BROWN: You learned?

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Yes.

　　And it's remarkably²⁰ easy. It's scary easy. As soon as I ordered the picks — and anyone can buy them — I just opened the front door of my house in a few seconds.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Really?

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Yes. It was really scary.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So, be careful what you find out as novelist.

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Right. The research is a lot of fun. And it comes in handy sometimes, too.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Let me just ask you finally, what is it about the heist that continues — in books, in thrillers²¹, in movies that continues to grab people? It seems they just — they continually come before us.

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Yes.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And, somehow, people remain interested.

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: It's such a great genre²². It has a set formula. And you're guaranteed action. And there's always a little bit of technology and some colorful characters and some close calls.

　　And with this one, I was really glad that I could do a heist and get the suspense²³ that I love in these sort of books, but also touch on something larger and hopefully leave readers with a few things they might not have known before about the Fed and how that system works.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: All right, the new book is "The Directive."

　　Matthew Quirk, thank you.

　　MATTHEW QUIRK: Oh, thank you.

1 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

2 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

3 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

4 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

5 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

6 quirk   

n.奇事，巧合；古怪的举动

参考例句：

• He had a strange quirk of addressing his wife as Mrs Smith.他很怪，把自己的妻子称作史密斯夫人。
• The most annoying quirk of his is wearing a cap all the time.他最令人感到厌恶的怪癖就是无论何时都戴著帽子。

7 concoct   

v.调合，制造

参考例句：

• I gave her a tip on how to concoct a new kind of soup.我教她配制一种新汤的诀窍。
• I began to concoct explanations of my own.我开始思考自己的解释。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 privy   

adj.私用的；隐密的

参考例句：

• Only three people,including a policeman,will be privy to the facts.只会允许3个人，其中包括一名警察，了解这些内情。
• Very few of them were privy to the details of the conspiracy.他们中很少有人知道这一阴谋的详情。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 opaque   

adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的

参考例句：

• The windows are of opaque glass.这些窗户装着不透明玻璃。
• Their intentions remained opaque.他们的意图仍然令人费解。

12 procrastinate   

v.耽搁，拖延

参考例句：

• Most often we procrastinate when faced with something we do not want to do.面对不想做的事情，我们经常拖延。
• It's easy to procrastinate when the deadline seems infinitely far away.当最终期限总是遥遥无期时是很容易延期的。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 penetration   

n.穿透，穿人，渗透

参考例句：

• He is a man of penetration.他是一个富有洞察力的人。
• Our aim is to achieve greater market penetration.我们的目标是进一步打入市场。

15 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。

16 revolved   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The fan revolved slowly. 电扇缓慢地转动着。
• The wheel revolved on its centre. 轮子绕中心转动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

18 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。

19 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

21 thrillers   

n.紧张刺激的故事( thriller的名词复数 )；戏剧；令人感到兴奋的事；（电影）惊悚片

参考例句：

• He has written seven thrillers, and clearly enjoys intellectual pursuits. 他已经写了7本惊悚小说，显然很喜欢这样的智力活动。 来自辞典例句
• Most Americans prefer to read fast-moving adventure stories that we call "thrillers". 大部分美国人喜欢看我们称之为"惊险小说"的情节多变的冒险故事。 来自辞典例句

22 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

23 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。