【考研英语阅读训练】每周两篇时政阅读01：如何拯救欧元

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        小编导读：得阅读者得天下，这句话揭示了阅读在考研英语中所占的重要比重。《经济学人》周刊关注全球政治和商业动态，写作风格十分有特色，是考研英语阅读材料的重要来源。从今天起，来跟着小编一起学习里面的精髓文章吧。
        今日主题：如何拯救欧元（节选）
        Europe's currency crisis-How to save the euro
        It requires urgent action on a huge scale. Unless Germany rises to the challenge, disaster looms
        Sep 17th 2011 SO GRAVE, so menacing, so unstoppable has the euro crisis become that even rescue talk only fuels ever-rising panic. Investors have sniffed out that Europe’s leaders seem unwilling ever to do enough. Yet unless politicians act fast to persuade the world that their desire to preserve the euro is greater than the markets’ ability to bet against it, the single currency faces ruin. As credit lines gum up and outsiders plead for action, it is not just the euro that is at risk, but the future of the European Union and the health of the world economy.
        小编注解：sniff out  发现；寻找；嗅出   bet against  打赌；打赌断定（某事）一定不会发生
        credit line  信用额度；新闻出处及来源   gum up  搞乱；把事情弄糟  plead for  请求；为……辩护
        欧元危机越来越严重，也越来越有威胁性，甚至无法阻挡，以至于政府间的拯救会谈反而使恐慌更加蔓延。投资者们已经意识到欧洲领导人不愿意做出巨大努力（来拯救这场危机）。除非政治家们马上以行动告诉世界——他们保护欧元的意愿大大超过了市场做空的能力。因为信用额度崩坏，外界都在号召行动，现在不仅仅是欧元命悬一线，整个欧盟和世界经济都遭受着严重危机。
        It is a sobering thought that so much depends on the leadership of squabbling European politicians who still consistently underestimate what confronts them. But the only way to stop the downward spiral now is an act of supreme collective will by euro-zone governments to erect a barrage of financial measures to stave off the crisis and put the governance of the euro on a sounder footing.
        小编注解：an act of supreme collective  高度统一的行动  a barrage of  大量的   
        stave off 避开，延缓  the governance of  对于……的管理
        必须清醒地认识到过分依赖争吵不休的欧洲领导人是不明智的，他们一直低估了所面临的危机。现在唯一能阻止危机的方式是欧元区各国统一采取行动，制定一系列财政措施来延缓危机，并在更合理的基础上管理欧元。
        The costs will be large. Few people, least of all this newspaper, want either vast intervention in financial markets or a big shift of national sovereignty to Europe. Nor do many welcome a bigger divide between the 17 countries of the euro zone and the EU’s remaining ten. It is just that the alternatives are far worse. That is the blunt truth that Germany’s Angela Merkel, in particular, urgently needs to explain to her people.
        小编注解：least of all  尤其，最不  far worse  更糟糕
        这么做的代价将会很大。现在摆在德国总理默克尔面前的就只有两个选择，要么是对金融市场的大规模干预，并动用欧洲国家的主权；要么将欧元区的17个国家和剩余的欧盟10国分离开来。只是，第二种方法更糟糕。不管是哪一个，她都必须尽快和德国人阐明其中的利害关系。
        The failure of austerity and pretence
        财政紧缩政策的失败和掩盖事实真相
        A rescue must do four things fast. First, it must make clear which of Europe’s governments are deemed illiquid and which are insolvent, giving unlimited backing to the solvent governments but restructuring the debt of those that can never repay it. Second, it has to shore up Europe’s banks to ensure they can withstand a sovereign default. Third, it needs to shift the euro zone’s macroeconomic policy from its obsession with budget-cutting towards an agenda for growth. And finally, it must start the process of designing a new system to stop such a mess ever being created again.
        小编注解：make clear  解释清楚；讲明   be deemed  被视为，被认为   
        shore up  支持；支撑；加固  shift…from…to/towards  从……转变为……
        拯救行动必须尽快做四件事。首先必须明确欧洲各国那些缺乏流动性，哪些即将破产，对有偿还能力的政府提供全力援助，对没有偿还能力的政府进行债务重组。其次，大力支持欧元区银行，确保他们经受住主权债务违约危机。第三，彻底改变欧元区的宏观经济政策，停止削减财政预算，将精力转到经济增长上来。最后，必须开始着手设计新的体系，以防止类似危机再次发生。
        The fourth part will take a long time to complete: it will involve new treaties and approval by parliaments and voters. The others need to be decided on speedily (say over a weekend, when the markets are shut) with the clear aim that European governments and the European Central Bank (ECB) act together to end today’s vicious circle of panic, in which the weakness of government finances, the fragility of banks and worries about low growth all feed on each other.
        第四步是一个长期过程，它包括签署新的条约，并得到各国议会和选民的批准。而其它三项则必须尽快完成（假定市场关闭时一个多星期），欧洲各国和欧洲中央银行（ECB）必须明确目标，一致行动来终结这种恐慌恶性循环：政府财政状况糟糕，银行体系脆弱和市场对经济低增长的担忧互相影响。
        So far the euro zone’s response has relied too much on two things: austerity and pretence. Sharply cutting budget deficits has been the priority—hence the tax rises and spending cuts. But this collectively huge fiscal contraction is self-defeating. By driving enfeebled economies into recession it only increases worries about both government debts and European banks. And mere budget-cutting does not deal with the real cause of the mess, which is a loss of credibility.
        迄今为止，欧元区政府对危机的反应可归结为两点：财政紧缩政策和掩盖事实真相。大幅削减财政赤字是很多政府的首选措施，而因此税收上涨，政府支出下降。但这种大规模集体财政紧缩就会弄巧成拙，它使本来就疲软的经济更加每况愈下，加深了人们对政府债务和欧洲各国银行的担忧。而在不考虑危机真正原因下实施的财政减缩政策反而会降低公信度。
       

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        Italy and Spain are under attack not because their finances have suddenly deteriorated, but because investors fret that they may be forced to default. For this loss of confidence, blame the pretence. Europe’s leaders have repeatedly denied that Greece is insolvent (when everyone knows it is), failing to draw a line between it and the likes of Spain and Italy, which are solvent but short of liquidity. The excuse is that a Greek restructuring may cause contagion. In fact denying the inevitable has undermined pledges about solvent governments.
        小编注解：fail to do  未能做某事  draw a line  划清界限
        意大利和西班牙受到危机影响并不是因为两国财政突然恶化，而是投资者们担心他们可能会被迫违约，而这种信心的丧失应该归咎于他们的伪装。欧元区领导人不断否认希腊即将破产（但每个人都知道希腊即将破产的事实），没有将希腊同西班牙和意大利划清界限，让人们意识到这两国只是缺乏流动性，但依然有偿还债务能力。欧元区领导人总是以希腊重组有传染性为由而破坏其他有偿还能力政府的信用。
        Instead of austerity and pretence, a credible rescue should start with growth and, where it is unavoidable, a serious restructuring of debt. Europe must make an honest judgment about which side of the line countries are on. Greece, which is unambiguously insolvent, ought to have a hard but orderly write-down. The latest, inadequate plan for a second Greek bail-out, agreed at a summit in July, should be thrown away and rewritten. But all the other euro members (and on present numbers Portugal is just about in the solvent camp) should be defended with overwhelming financial firepower. All the troubled economies, solvent or insolvent, need a renewed programme of structural reform and liberalisation. Freeing up services and professions, privatising companies, cutting bureaucracy and delaying retirement will create conditions for renewed growth—and that is the best way to reduce debts.
        小编注解：restructuring of debt  债务重组  bail-out  应急措施  free up  空出来，削减
        除了停止财政紧缩政策和掩盖事实真相外，还应该实施促进经济增长的可靠救援政策和无法避免的债务重组。欧元区必须做出诚实判断应该救援哪些国家。毫无疑问，希腊已经破产，应该坚决有序地确认损失。七月欧盟峰会上通过的针对希腊的第二次救援计划应该废弃重订。而对于其他欧元区成员国（葡萄牙是有偿还能力的其中一员）需提供一个可靠的经济支持。最后，所有欧元区国家，无论是否有偿还债务能力，都需要进行结构化改革并实现自由化。削减政府部门，使公司私有化，减少官员编制和延长退休年龄将为经济增长创造条件，而这些也是减少债务最好的办法。
        How to prevent contagion? A Greek default would threaten many banks, not just in Greece: this week the markets took aim at French banks that hold southern European debt. Moreover, solvent countries need a breathing-space to push through reforms. That points to agreeing to two measures at the same time: a scheme to shore up the banks, which may take months to put into practice, and a rock-solid promise to support solvent governments, which has to be immediate.
        小编注解：take aim at  瞄准；盯着；注意到；以…为目标  push through  完成；促成；排除困难办好事
        如何减少危机传染？希腊债务违约将威胁很多银行，这些不仅仅包括希腊境内的。这周市场就攻击了持有南欧债务的法国银行身上。此外，有偿还能力的国家需要有合适的空间来完成改革。这就意味着有两个措施需同步进行：一是有个框架来支撑银行，这可能需要几个月的时间，第二个就是稳若磐石的承诺来支持有债务偿还能力的政府。
        The recapitalisation of Europe’s banks must be based on proper stress tests. Some banks may be able to raise money in the equity markets, but the most vulnerable will need government help. Core countries like Germany and the Netherlands have enough cash to look after their own banks, but peripheral governments may need euro-zone money. Ideally that would come from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), whose overhaul was the most useful thing to emerge from the July summit. But it also makes sense to set up a euro-zone bank fund, together with a euro-zone bank-resolution authority. That is part of the longer-term institution building. However, the ECB could help the banks by giving a commitment to provide unlimited liquidity for as long as it is required, rather than a rolling six months, as now.
        对欧洲银行的资本重组应建立在谨慎试验的基础上。有些银行可能有能力在证券市场融资，但更多的脆弱银行则需要政府的帮助。像德国和荷兰这样的核心国家有足够资金支持本国银行，但外围区国家则需要欧元区支持。欧洲金融稳定基金（European Financial Stability Facility，EFSF）是最理想的援助渠道，对该基金的全面了解是七月峰会浮现出的最有用的东西。但是专门设立一项欧元区共同银行基金也未尝不可。当然这是一项长期建设工程。但是，欧洲中央银行也应该承诺对那些需要帮助的银行提供无限制的流动性，而不是现在所说的六个月时间。
        The great firewall of Europe
        欧洲经济防火墙
        None of this will work unless the Europeans create a firewall around the solvent governments. That means shoring up euro-zone sovereign debt. Spain and Italy owe €2.5 trillion. What if the markets suddenly took fright over Belgium or France? Some have argued for a system of Eurobonds in which every country’s debt is backed by all. But the political oversight to ensure that high-spending countries do not fritter away other people’s money would take years to sort out—and one thing the euro zone does not have is time. The answer is to turn to the only institution that can credibly counter a collective loss of confidence on such a scale.
        小编注解：take fright over sth.  对……担忧  fritter away  一点点浪费；消磨   sort out  解决，清理
        除非欧洲人在有债务偿还能力的国家间构筑经济防火墙，否则上述工作将无法实现，这也就意味着支持欧元区主权国债务。西班牙和意大利共欠了2.5万亿欧元，如果市场突然担心比利时和法国的主权债务怎么办？有人建议设立一个欧洲债券系统，由欧洲国家共同担保，可是通过政治上的监管来确保高支出国家不会浪费其他国家的血汗钱可能需要好几年时间实现——而目前欧元区最缺的就是时间。因此，当务之急是建立一个可以有效应对如此规模危机的特殊机构。
        The ECB must declare that it stands behind all solvent countries’ sovereign debts and that it is ready to use unlimited resources to ward off market panic. That is consistent with the ECB’s goal to ensure price and financial stability for the euro zone as a whole. So long as governments are solvent and the bank sells the bonds back to the market after the crisis, this does not amount to monetising government debt. In today’s recessionary world, the ECB could buy several trillion euros-worth of bonds without unleashing inflation.
        小编注解：ward off  抵御，避开  consistent with  符合；与……一致
        欧洲中央银行必须声明确保支持所有有偿化能力的国家的主权债务，并准备好利用手中资源抵御市场恐慌。这与欧洲中央银行确保欧元区整体价格与金融稳定的目标是一致的，只要政府有能力偿还债务，同时银行在危机过后将债权投入市场，这样就不会出现债务货币化的危机。在目前的经济衰退世界，欧洲中央银行可以购买数万亿欧元债券而不会引发大规模通货膨胀。
        Even so, this is a huge step. The ECB’s German officials have taken to resigning in protest at the limited bond-buying undertaken so far. They fear not only that so young an institution is vulnerable to a loss of credibility, but also that the ECB, which is independent but unelected, could become embroiled in political decisions—especially by declaring a state insolvent and cutting it off. Both these longer-term risks are real, but they are far outweighed by the need to stop the rot. It would be a nonsense if the ECB’s dogged defence of monetary rigour led, say, to an Italian default and a global depression.
        即使如此，这也是艰难的一步。欧洲中央银行的德国官员已经辞职抗议大规模购买债券。他们担心这个年轻的机构能否抵挡住这场信用危机。而且，虽然欧洲中央银行是一个独立机构，其成员也并非选举产生，但依然很容易卷入政治决策中——特别是当宣布一个国家破产或者把一个国家逐出欧元区的时候。这些长期风险的确存在，但阻止危机变得更严重比预防这些风险重要得多。如果欧洲中央银行继续实行严格的货币政策，最终导致意大利出现违约或者引发全球的金融危机将得不偿失。