时代周刊:美国如何落到今天这步田地?(6)

I played a role in this "antisocial" movement.

我在这场“反社会”运动中也扮演了一定的角色。

In 1979, I started a magazine called the American Lawyer,

1979年，我创办了一本名为《美国律师》的杂志，

which focused on the business of law firms and the intriguing¹ questions lurking² behind their elegant reception areas.

重点关注的是律师事务所的业务以及隐藏在它们体面的接待区背后的一些有意思的问题。

Which ones were best managed?

比如，哪些律所管理得最好？

Which offered the most opportunity to women or minorities?

哪些律所给女性和少数群体提供的机会最多？

Which were more likely to promote associates to partnership³?

哪些律所员工转正的几率最高?

Which had the fairest or most generous bonus systems?

哪些律所的奖金制度最公平或最慷慨？

And, yes, which provided the highest profits for partners?

是的，还有哪些律所为合伙人提供的利润最高？

That last question resulted in the American Lawyer launching a special issue every summer, beginning in 1985,

为了探讨最后一个问题，我的杂志从1985年开始每年夏天都会专门发一期特刊，

in which we deployed⁴ reporters to pierce the secrecy⁵ of these private partnerships⁶

通过派记者去破除这些私人伙伴关系背后的秘密，

so that the magazine could rank the revenues and average profits taken home by partners at the largest firms.

我们在这期特刊上对大公司合伙人拿回家的收入和平均利润进行了排名。

When the first survey was published, I received a call from a former classmate who practiced at a large Los Angeles firm.

初次调查结果公布后，我接到了在洛杉矶一家大公司工作的前同学打来的电话。

He was outraged⁷ because he—and his wife—had found out

他很生气，因为他——和他的妻子——发现，

that another classmate who worked at a seemingly fungible L.A. firm made about 25% more than he did.

另一位在洛杉矶差不多同性质的公司工作的同学的收入比他高出了25%左右。

Until then, they had been perfectly⁸ happy with his six-figure income.

在那之前，他们对他六位数的收入一直都是非常满意的。

The fallout from this report and those from similar trade publications was significant and double-edged.

这份报告以及类似贸易出版物的影响是显著的，但也有其两面性。

The new flow-of-market information about these businesses

关于这些企业 的新信息

made those who ran them more accountable to their partners, their employees and their clients,

使企业主对他们的合作伙伴、员工和客户都更加负责了，

but it also transformed the practice of law by the country's most talented lawyers in ways that had significant drawbacks.

但它也以明显存在缺陷的方式改变了这个国家最有才华的律师的法律实践。

The emphasis was now fully⁹ on serving those clients who could pay the most.

导致他们现在将重点完全放在了服务那些能付钱最多的客户上。

THE MERITOCRACY'S ASCENT¹⁰ WAS ABOUT MORE THAN PERsonal profit.

精英统治的崛起关乎的不仅仅是个人利益的问题。

As my generation of achievers graduated from elite¹¹ universities and moved into the professional world,

随着我们这一代的成功人士从精英大学毕业进入职场，

their personal successes often had serious societal consequences.

他们个人的成功往往带来了严重的社会后果。

They upended corporate¹² America and Wall Street with inventions in law and finance

他们用法律和金融领域的发明创建了一个依靠四处转移资产的交易而非创建新资产的交易建立起来的经济体，

that created an economy built on deals that moved assets around instead of building new ones.

他们就用这样的发明颠覆了美国企业界和华尔街。

They created exotic, and risky¹³, financial instruments,

他们创造了奇异且高风险的金融工具，

including derivatives¹⁴ and credit default swaps¹⁵, that produced sugar highs of immediate¹⁶ profits

如金融衍生品和信用违约掉期(cds)，给消费者许下了立竿见影的高额利润的美梦，

but separated those taking the risk from those who would bear the consequences.

但又把承担风险的人和承担后果的人分开了。

They organized hedge funds that turned owning stock into a minute-by-minute bet rather than a long-term investment.

他们组建对冲基金，把持有股票变成按秒计算的押注而不是长期的投资。

They invented proxy¹⁷ fights, leveraged¹⁸ buyouts and stock buybacks that gave lawyers and bankers a bonanza¹⁹ of new fees

他们发明代理权之争、杠杆收购和股票回购，给律师和银行家带来了巨额的费用，

and maximized short-term profits for increasingly unsentimental shareholders²⁰,

将越来越冷静的股东的短期利润最大化，

but deadened incentives²¹ for the long-term growth of the rest of the economy.

却也抑制了对经济体内其他主体的长期增长的激励。

1 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

5 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

6 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

7 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

8 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。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

11 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

12 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。

13 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

14 derivatives   

n.衍生性金融商品；派生物，引出物( derivative的名词复数 )；导数

参考例句：

• Many English words are derivatives of Latin words. 许多英语词来自拉丁语。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These compounds are nitrosohydroxylamine derivatives. 这类合成物是亚硝基羟胺衍生物。 来自辞典例句

15 swaps   

交换( swap的名词复数 )； 交换物，被掉换者

参考例句：

• He swaps his old car for a new motorcycle. 他用旧车换了一辆新摩托车。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• Swaps the anchor and end points of the current selection. 交换当前所选内容的定位点和结束点。

16 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。

17 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

18 leveraged   

促使…改变( leverage的过去式和过去分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• Chrysler has traditionally been a highly leveraged company. 克莱斯勒一向是一家周转十分灵活的公司。
• Leveraged recaps have become popular for a number of reasons. 杠杆资本重组的大行其道有好几个原因。

19 bonanza   

n.富矿带，幸运，带来好运的事

参考例句：

• Bargain hunters enjoyed a real bonanza today.到处买便宜货的人今天真是交了好运。
• What a bonanza for the winning ticket holders!对于手持胜券的人来说，这是多好的运气啊。

20 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

21 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