2020年经济学人 一周要闻 沃尔玛终止以机器人追踪库存 推特CEO将继续留任（在线收听）

The mayor of London reached a financial agreement with the British government that will keep the city’s transport system running for at least another six months. The revenue stream from London’s Tube and buses has dwindled during the pandemic. The government had threatened to take direct control of the network. The mayor has agreed to some cost savings, but he will not have to extend the size of the capital’s congestion-charging zone outside the centre.

伦敦市长与英国政府达成了一项财政协议，该协议将使伦敦的交通系统至少再运行6个月。伦敦地铁和公共汽车的收入在疫情期间减少了。政府曾威胁要直接控制该交通系统。该市市长同意削减一些成本，而不必将首都拥堵收费区扩大至市中心以外。

More oil companies reported their earnings, spotlighting the impact that falling oil prices and reduced demand are having on the industry’s bottom line. ExxonMobil posted its third consecutive quarterly net loss, this time of $680m. It plans to cut 15% of its global workforce next year. Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, made a net profit of $11.8bn, but that was 45% less than in the same three months last year. It still intends to pay out dividends totalling $18.8bn. Most of that will go to the Saudi government, which owns the vast bulk of Aramco’s shares.

更多的石油公司公布了财报，凸显出油价下跌和需求减少对行业利润的影响。埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)公布了其连续第三个季度的净亏损，这次亏损金额为6.8亿美元。该公司计划明年在全球裁员15%。全球最大的石油公司沙特阿美石油公司(Saudi Aramco)净利润为118亿美元，但比去年同期下降了45%。该公司仍打算支付总计188亿美元的股息。其中大部分股息将归沙特政府所有，该政府持有沙特阿美大部分股份。

A committee of the board at Twitter that reviewed the company’s management structure “expressed its confidence” in the current arrangements, confirming that Jack Dorsey will remain chief executive. The committee was created after Elliott, an activist hedge fund, questioned Mr Dorsey’s commitment to his job. Twitter’s share price has risen sharply this year, rewarding Elliott and other investors, though it was dented recently by weak daily-user numbers.

Twitter董事会的一个委员会审查了该公司的管理结构，并对目前的人事安排“表示了信心”，确认杰克·多尔西将继续担任首席执行官。该委员会是在对冲基金埃利奥特质疑多尔西对工作的承诺后成立的。Twitter的股价今年大幅上涨，给埃利奥特和其他投资者带来了回报，尽管最近由于每日用户数量疲软而受到了影响。

Both Lufthansa and Air France-KLM reported another heavy quarterly loss. The German and French-Dutch airlines have received huge state bail-outs during the pandemic. Lufthansa said it would restructure its business further; Air France-klm is to curtail its flight schedule for the rest of the year. Ryanair also made a loss as passenger numbers plummeted. Michael O’Leary, its combative boss, blamed the first lockdowns in Europe earlier this year, which he said had “achieved nothing”, and lambasted the second lockdowns, many in force this week, which he thinks will achieve “even less”.

汉莎航空(Lufthansa)和法航荷航(Air France-KLM)都报告了另一个严重的季度亏损。德国和法荷航空公司在疫情期间接受了政府的巨额救助。汉莎航空表示将进一步重组其业务；法航荷航集团将缩减今年剩余时间的航班计划。瑞安航空也因乘客数量锐减而出现亏损。该公司好强的老板迈克尔·奥利里(Michael O’leary)指责今年早些时候欧洲的第一次封锁“毫无成效”，并痛斥了第二次封锁，其中很多封锁措施在本周实施，他认为这次封锁的“效果更差”。

Berlin Brandenburg Airport at last opened to passengers after a decade of delays, six missed openings and huge cost overruns. The airport’s inaugural arrival flights were operated by easyJet and Lufthansa. Even the opening had a hitch. Bad weather stopped a planned parallel landing by the aircraft.

柏林勃兰登堡机场在经历了10年的延误、6次错过的开放以及巨额超支后，终于向乘客开放了。该机场的首批抵达航班由易捷航空(easyJet)和汉莎航空(Lufthansa)运营。甚至开幕仪式也出现了问题。恶劣天气导致原定的飞机平行降落的计划被打乱。

There was a sliver of hope for the human race this week, with the reported news that Walmart has scrapped plans to use robots to check stock levels, prices and misplaced items. The retailer will instead retain flesh-and-blood workers, who have been found to be just as adept at those tasks during the pandemic.

本周，人类还有一线希望。有报道称，沃尔玛(Walmart)取消了使用机器人检查库存水平、价格和错位商品的计划。相反，这家零售商将保留有血有肉的员工，公司发现，员工在疫情期间同样擅长这些工作。