2020年经济学人 从政治角度看疫情(4)（在线收听）

What should politicians do? Each country must strike its own balance between the benefits of tracking the disease and the invasion of privacy, but South Korea and China show the power of big data and mass-testing as a way of identifying cases and limiting their spread. Governments also need to anticipate the pandemic, because actions to slow its spread, such as banning crowds, are more effective if they are early.

政客们应该怎么做？每个国家都必须在追踪这种疾病的好处和侵犯隐私之间取得平衡，但韩国和中国展示了大数据和大规模测试的力量，它们是识别病例和限制传播的一种方式。各国政府还需要预见到，针对疫情，如果及早采取行动，如禁止人群进入等减缓流感传播的措施，效果会更好。

The best example of how to respond is Singapore, which has had many fewer cases than expected. Thanks to an efficient bureaucracy in a single small territory, world-class universal health care and the well-learned lesson of SARS, an epidemic of a related virus in 2003, Singapore acted early. It has been able to make difficult trade-offs with public consent because its message has been consistent, science-based and trusted.

新加坡是如何应对最好的例子，新加坡的病例比预期少得多。得益于一个小地方高效的官僚机构、世界级的全民医疗，以及2003年相关病毒的流行病非典的深刻教训，新加坡很早就采取了行动。新加坡之所以能够在得到公众同意的情况下做出艰难的权衡，是因为政府所传达的信息是一贯的、基于科学的、可信的。

In the West covid-19 is a challenge to the generation of politicians who have taken power since the financial crisis. Many of them decry globalisation and experts. They thrive on division and conflict. In some ways the pandemic will play to their agenda. Countries may follow America and turn inward and close their borders. In so far as shortages crimp the world economy, industries may pull back from globalisation—though they would gain more protection by diversifying their supply chains.

在西方，covid-19是对自金融危机以来掌权的一代政治家的挑战。他们中的许多人谴责全球化和专家。他们喜欢分裂和冲突。在某种程度上，流行病符合他们的议程。这些国家可能会效仿美国，控制输入、关闭边境。当短缺阻碍世界经济发展时，工业可能会退出全球化进程——尽管他们会通过多样化供应链来获得更多的保护。

Yet the pandemic also puts doctors, scientists and policy experts once again at the heart of government. Pandemics are quintessentially global affairs. Countries need to work together on treatment protocols, therapeutics and, it is hoped, a vaccine. Worried voters may well have less of an appetite for the theatrical wrestling match of partisan politics. They need their governments to deal with the real problems they are facing—which is what politics should have been about all along.

然而，这场流行病也让医生、科学家和政策专家再次成为政府的核心。流行病是典型的全球事务。各国需要在治疗方案、治疗方法以及疫苗方面共同努力。忧心忡忡的选民很可能对党派政治的戏剧性角力没有那么大的兴趣。他们需要政府来处理所面临的真正问题——这是政治一直以来应该做的。