经济学人:货币的半衰期 (2)

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　　They calculate how long it would take for prices to double, if inflation persists at its peak monthly pace. 他们计算出了通货膨胀保持每月最高值时，物价翻倍所需要的时长。

　　Their results provide a kind of "half-life" for a currency, showing how long it takes for it to lose 50% of its value 结果得出了一种货币的半衰期，展现了一种货币贬值50%所需时长

　　(relative to the country's consumer goods and services). （相对于该国家的生活消费品和服务而言）。

　　This alternative calculation turns the astronomical¹ percentages of hyperinflation into more mundane² intervals³ of time: 这种替代计算将恶性通货膨胀天文数字般的百分比变成了更加容易理解的时段：

　　millions into days and quintillions into hours. In Venezuela's case it took less than 19 days in August for the currency to lose half its value. 把百万变成天数，把百万的五次幂变成小时。在委内瑞拉的这种情况中，八月份，货币要贬值50%需要时间不足19天。

　　In the worst month of Hungary's hyperinflation, it took just 15 hours. 在匈牙利恶性通货膨胀最糟糕的月份里，则需要近15个小时。

　　"Soon the depreciation⁴ of the currency advanced so rapidly that it not only was felt from day to day, “货币贬值如此迅速，很快不仅能感受到每天的变化，

　　but even from hour to hour," notes one historian of the episode. 甚至能感受到每个小时的变化，”通货膨胀事件中的一名历史学家说道。

　　That ever-present feeling has one consolation⁵: it can make hyperinflations quick to end. 总有一种安慰：恶性通货膨胀很快便会结束。

　　Of the 57 episodes identified by Messrs Hanke and Krus, many lasted less than a year. 在汉克和克鲁斯鉴定的57次通货膨胀事件中，很多都持续了不足一年之久。

　　Because people are always thinking about prices, their inflation expectations are unusually fluid. 因为人们总会考虑物价，它们的实际通货膨胀率极其不稳定。

　　If the government can convince them that it has stopped printing and spending money so recklessly, 如果政府可以让他们相信，国家已经停止肆无忌惮地印钱、花钱，

　　shops, businesses and workers will be quick to act on that conviction, raising their prices and wages more conservatively. 那么商店、商业和工人很快就会坚定地做出行动，在提高价格和涨工资时会更加谨慎。

　　In high but not hyperinflationary scenarios⁶, by contrast, people become accustomed to rapid price increases and expect them to continue. 相反，当出现高通货膨胀且不构成恶性通货膨胀的情况下，人们会习惯于物价的迅速增长并认为物价还会继续。

　　That makes it more likely they will do so. Hyperinflation is so disruptive no one can get used to it. 这使得他们更有可能这么做。恶性通货膨胀极具破坏力，没人会习惯于此。

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