A new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the OECD, warns protectionism will worsen the global financial crisis. The report analyzes six emerging countries and shows how their economies boomed after they opened their markets to world trade. The OECD counsels wealthy countries to learn from this experience.
经济合作与发展组织在星期四公布的一份报告中说，贸易保护主义将导致全球金融危机进一步恶化。报告分析了6个新兴经济体的情况，并指出这些国家通过对外开放市场获得了经济繁荣。经合组织呼吁发达国家借鉴这个经验。
The OECD says trade protectionism is not the way to tackle the current economic crisis. The report says resisting protectionist measures may not be the politically correct thing to do, but it is the economically correct thing to do to get the world out of its financial doldrums.
经合组织发表的报告认为，贸易保护主义不是解决当前经济危机的途径。报告说，拒绝保护主义可能并非“政治正确”之举，但从经济角度来看却是帮助全球走出金融危机阴影的正确做法。
Director of OECD Trade and Agriculture, Ken Ash, says countries that have liberalized various sectors the most have performed the best in economic terms.
经合组织贸易和农业局局长肯.阿什说，在很多领域中自由化程度最高的国家在本轮危机中经济表现最为出色。
"Protectionism is absolutely the wrong thing to do. So, our advice to OECD countries is do not go there," Ash said. "Do not fall back…It does not make sense to close your markets. When governments do that…they impose costs on households, they impose costs on businesses, they choke off markets and they get the exact opposite effect of what they want. What they want they will get, if they open markets further."
他说：“贸易保护主义绝对是错误做法。因此，我们对经合组织成员国的建议是不要这样做，不要开倒车。关闭市场没有道理。政府关闭市场往往导致家庭和企业的成本增加和市场窒息，结果事与愿违。如果政府要实现目标，就应该更大地开放市场。”
The report says the wealthy industrialized countries would be wise to follow the lead of six emerging markets that have done well since opening up to world trade.
这份报告指出，发达工业化国家的明智做法是效仿6个新兴经济体。这几个国家在向全球贸易开放市场后经济表现出色。
The report shows Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa have significantly reduced their border protection and have been expanding their exports much faster than the leading developed countries.
报告认为，巴西、俄罗斯、印度、印度尼西亚、中国和南非在降低贸易壁垒的同时，其出口增长幅度大大超过主要发达国家。
Acting Head of the OECD's Development Division in Trade and Agriculture, Douglas Lippoldt, says openness has served the global economy well and all countries should keep their markets open to improve their economic prospects.
经合组织贸易和农业局发展处代理处长道格拉斯.利波尔德说，开放市场使全球经济从中受益，所有国家都应该通过保持市场开放来改善经济前景。
"Protectionism inhibits, it prevents us from realizing our economic potential. It is a distortion and it leads to inefficiencies and we all are losers when it is employed...Efforts to revive stalled trade reforms would help the major emerging economies to build on the progress already achieved over the past two decades," Lippoldt said. "And, importantly to emerge from the current economic crisis with stronger trade positions and more robust performance than otherwise would have been possible. That is, if we tackle the distortions now, we have a better chance of being in better shape as we exit from this economic downturn."
他说：“保护主义阻碍我们开发经济潜力，扭曲市场机制，降低经济效率，导致两败俱伤。恢复陷于停滞的贸易改革将会帮助主要新兴经济体在过去20年成就的基础上更进一步。重要的是，这也会使有关国家在走出本轮经济危机的过程中获得更坚固的贸易地位和更强势的经济表现成为可能，也就是说，如果我们现在着手解决市场机制扭曲的问题，那么我们在走出这轮经济下行的时候就会处于更有利的地位。”
The report urges the six emerging economies to enact, what it calls, a second generation of reforms. It says they will emerge stronger from the crisis if they reduce remaining import tariff barriers, reform domestic regulations that impede trade and further open up their services sectors.
经合组织的报告呼吁6个新兴经济体推行第二轮贸易改革。该组织认为，通过降低剩余进口关税壁垒、改革限制贸易的国内规定、以及进一步开放服务业等措施，这些国家走出危机后会变得更强大。
The OECD economists say reviving stalled trade reforms would help the major emerging economies build on the progress they have achieved over the past two decades. It would strengthen the economies of other countries as well.
While the economic crisis did not have its origin in trade, the OECD notes trade can be part of the solution.
报告说，尽管目前的经济危机并非起源于贸易，但是贸易可以成为危机解决方案的一部分。 |