2015考研英语阅读保罗沃尔克

　　Paul Volcker

　　保罗沃尔克

　　Tall tale

　　伟人传奇

　　The most influential central banker of the modernera

　　当代最具影响力的央行行长

　　Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence. By William Silber. Bloomsbury;

　　《沃尔克：金石为开》威廉希尔伯著;

　　ALAN GREENSPAN may be the most famous central banker of the modern era, but PaulVolcker has been the most influential. He played a crucial diplomatic role during thedeath of the Bretton Woods financial system in the early 1970s, which severed the linkbetween money and gold and ushered in floating exchange rates. As head of the FederalReserve from 1979, Mr Volcker then tamed the inflation that ensued, bringing monetarystability in the face of political opposition to the very high interest rates required. In doingso, he set the template for modern economic management, built around an independentcentral bank with an implicit, or explicit, inflation target.

　　历任当代央行行长中，或许最知名的是艾伦格林斯潘，但最有影响力的则是保罗沃尔克。他于二十世纪七十年代初扮演着至关重要的外交角色，期间货币与黄金脱钩、浮动汇率制被引入、布雷顿森林体系走向瓦解。1979年，沃尔克出任美联储主席。为了控制随之而来的通货膨胀，沃尔克不顾来自政治方面的反对声音，大幅提高利率，带来了货币稳定。借此，他构建了当代经济管理模式，设立了具有明确/隐含通胀目标的一家独立央行。

　　After serving at the Treasury under Richard Nixon, the towering Mr Volcker wasappointed to the Fed by both Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. More recently he has been anadviser to Barack Obama, who traded on the former Fed chief s credibility by dubbing hisplan to end banks proprietary trading the Volcker rule.

　　在尼克松政府的财政部工作过后，伟岸的沃尔克先生同时被吉米卡特和罗纳德里根提名推荐到美联储。最近，他又成为了布莱克奥巴马的顾问。奥巴马利用这位前美联储主席的声誉，将其提出的禁止银行自营交易的计划称为沃尔克规则。

　　This long record of public service earns the admiration of William Silber, his newbiographer. Mr Volcker could have earned much more on Wall Street. Upon becoming headof the Fed, his salary was halved. To balance their domestic budget, his wife, , took a part-time job as a book-keeper and let a room in their flat. He smoked cheap cigarsbecause he could not imagine spending as much as $2 on a stogie. In later life, when hechaired investigations into the UN oil-for-food programme or Arthur Andersen, anaccountancy firm, he charged only a token $1 fee.

　　沃尔克的新自传撰写人威廉 希尔伯对其在公共服务的长期贡献深表敬佩。沃尔克本可在华尔街赚得更多。他的薪水在其出任美联储主席时缩减了一半。为了平衡家庭收支，妻子芭芭拉当时从事着一份记账员的兼职工作，并对外出租了他们公寓里的一个房间。沃尔克则抽着廉价的雪茄，原因是他最多肯为每支廉价雪茄支付2美元。后来，不论是在他负责联合国有关 石油换食品计划受贿案的调查项目时、还是出任安达信独立监察委员会主席时，沃尔克都仅象征性地收取1美元作为薪酬。

　　Yet Mr Volcker still lacked the consolation of popularity, unlike Mr Greenspan, who waspraised by the press and politicians for much of his term. Democrats blamed Mr Volcker forlosing them the 1980 election because of his tight monetary policy. Milton Friedman sawhim as insufficiently monetarist, and many in the Reagan White House regarded him withsuspicion as a Democrat. Mr Volcker barely made it though his eight years at the Fed. Henearly failed to be reappointed in 1983 and almost resigned in 1986, when defeated on akey vote. It was only in retrospect that his reputation grew; Mr Silber s well-written bookshould help cement it.

　　即便如此，沃尔克仍然缺乏来自民众的安慰;而格林斯潘在位期间，则常常受到媒体与政客的称颂。民主党人士认为，施行紧缩型货币政策的沃尔克要对他们1980年的落选负责。米尔顿弗里德曼认为沃尔克的货币主义没做到位，而许多里根政府人士则对他的民主党身份抱有质疑。八年的美联储生涯，沃尔克很少有一举成功的时刻。1983年，他差点落选继任美联储主席的提名;1986年则由于在一次关键性投票中落败，近乎提出辞呈。只有在后人的回顾里，才能慢慢发现沃尔克的荣望所在;而希尔伯在其所著传记里，应该很好地印证了这番观点。

　　While Mr Volcker s record at the Fed is well-known, what might be more surprising is thecrucial role he played in the exchange-rate crises of the early 1970s. Like an economicHenry Kissinger, Mr Volcker shuttled around the world to placate foreign allies in the face ofNixon s marked indifference to international economics. I don t give a shit about the lira,was one of Tricky Dick s choice phrases.

　　沃尔克在美联储的任职经历广为人知，其更令人惊讶的，应是他于二十世纪七十年代早期在汇率危机中所扮演的重要角色。同经济学家艾尔弗雷德基辛格相似，沃尔克穿梭于世界各地安抚国际同盟，尽管当时尼克松对国际经济满不在乎。我才不在乎什么里拉，摘自滑头迪克语录。

　　For decades politicians had mouthed their support for a strong currency, but Nixon cutthrough the claptrap. Volcker thinks we ought to sacrifice the domestic economy to savethe dollar, he said. I m not in favour of that. The dollar duly fell sharply in the 1970s,although it rebounded under Mr Volcker s tenure at the Fed. Mr Silber praises his subject forstabilising the currency and also for opposing Reagan s budget deficits. Whether he is rightto say that it was those deficits that pushed up real interest rates in the 1980s is harder totell; after all, deficits are even higher now and real rates are negative:

　　当时政客们已泛泛而谈支持美元长达数十年，但尼克松一语打消了这种言不由衷的空谈。沃尔克认为我们应该牺牲国民经来救美元，他称。对此我并不赞成。这导致美元于二十世纪七十年代急速跌落，尽管后来由于沃尔克在位美联储而有所恢复。希尔伯对沃尔克致力于稳定货币、反对里根财政赤字的行为表示称赞。是否如其所称，二十世纪80年代时正是这些赤字推动了实际利率上扬，如今更加难以分辨;毕竟当今赤字更加高额，而实际利率却为负值。

　　Perhaps the most remarkable fact about Mr Volcker is that he has spent much of his careerdealing with Wall Street without being captured by its influence. Mr Silber highlights hissubject s commitment to financial reform, but fails to mention one of his more pointed bonmotsthat the only useful modern financial innovation has been the automated tellermachine. Such robust cynicism about Wall Street, along with his links to the currentpresident, may explain why Mr Volcker is not a hero of the conservative movement,despite his anti-inflationary credentials.

　　沃尔克未受到华尔街影响，毕其大半精力与之斡旋， 这或许是他最杰出的功绩。希尔伯强调了沃尔克对金融改革所做的贡献，却未提及他更为尖锐的箴言即当代唯一有用的金融创新就是自动提款机。对华尔街如此口出恶言，加之其与现任总统的关系，沃尔克即便有过多么光荣的反通胀传奇也无法成为保守主义运动中的伟人了吧。