Brazilian Letters: Bard of Belindia 巴西字符：Belindia诗人

　　An economist become immortal. 不朽的经济学家。

　　Brazilians who remember the hyper inflationary 1980s cheered the news on April 7th that prices rose by just 4.57% in the year to March. 在4月7日，仍记着80年代恶性通货膨胀的巴西人民，为今年3月物价只上涨了4.57%的新闻而欢呼。

　　Inflation has not come that close to the central bank's target of 4.5% in seven years. 通货膨胀率还没有达到央行七年内4.5%的目标。

　　In a fitting coincidence, on the same day one of the architects of the Real Plan, which tamed inflation in 1994, donned the gold-and-green livery of the “immortals”,  巧合的是，就在同一天，1994年驯服通胀猛虎“真正计划”的设计者之一，穿上了象征“不朽”的金绿色制服，

　　as members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters are known. 这是巴西文学院成员有目共睹的。

　　Edmar Bacha is just the third economist to join the august group, whose 40 lifetime appointments are reserved for towering intellectuals and the finest wordsmiths. Edmar Bacha正好是第三位加入这个神圣组织的经济学家，这个组织在其40年存在期内的职务都是留给那些顶尖文豪和知识分子。

　　His election last November (by members of the academy) was one of the most contentious in its 120-year history. 去年11月，Edmar Bacha的当选（由学院的成员们投票）是在其120年历史上最具有争议性的。

　　It may also be a sign of the times. 它可能是一个时代的标志。

　　Besides wrestling with inflation, Mr Bacha was head of the statistics office and the state development bank. 除了应对通货膨胀，巴沙先生也掌管国家统计局和国家开发银行。

　　He later became an investment banker. 他后来成为一个投资银行家。

　　He has a way with words. 他有自己的一套处事方法。

　　In “Fable for technocrats”, an essay published in 1974, he described Brazil as “Belindia”, a tiny, rich Belgium surrounded by a vast, poor India. 在其1974年发表的“技术官僚谎言”文章里，他描述巴西为“Belindia”，一个被辽阔且贫穷的印度包围着的小而富裕的比利时。