浅论希腊经济危机始末

How did Greece get to this point?

希腊如何落到今天的地步?

Greece became the epicenter of Europe’s debt crisis after Wall Street imploded in 2008. With global financial markets still reeling, Greece announced in October 2009 that it had been understating its deficit figures for years, raising alarms about the soundness of Greek finances.

2008年，美国华尔街爆发了金融危机。希腊成为欧洲债务危机的重灾区。随着全球金融市场举步维艰，希腊在2009年10月宣布，在过去数年里，它的赤字都被有意低报。这敲响了希腊金融问题的警钟。

Suddenly, Greece was shut out from borrowing in the financial markets. By the spring of 2010, it was veering toward bankruptcy, which threatened to set off a new financial crisis.

突然之间，金融市场停止向希腊提供借贷。到2010年春季，希腊开始走向破产，这预示了新的金融危机的爆发。

To avert calamity, the so-called troika —the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission —issued the first of two international bailouts for Greece, which would eventually total more than 240 billion euros, or about $264 billion at today’s exchange rates.

为了避免这一灾难，所谓的三驾马车(国际货币基金组织、欧洲央行和欧盟委员会)向希腊提供了两项国际援助中的第一笔，根据今天的汇率，这笔援助最终达到2400亿欧元或2640亿美元。

The bailouts came with conditions. Lenders imposed harsh austerity terms, requiring deep budget cuts and steep tax increases. They also required Greece to overhaul its economy by streamlining the government, ending tax evasion and making Greece an easier place to do business.

这些援助是有条件的。贷方强加给希腊一些财政紧缩条款，要求它大幅削减预算和增加税收，此外还要求希腊通过精简政府机构、终止偷税漏税、改善商业环境来彻底改革其经济。

If Greece has received billions in bailouts, why is there still a crisis?

既然希腊收到了数以亿计的援助，为什么还会发生危机?

The money was supposed to buy Greece time to stabilize its finances and quell market fears that the euro union itself could break up. While it has helped, Greece’s economic problems haven’t gone away. The economy has shrunk by a quarter in five years, and unemployment is above 25 percent.

这笔钱是用来为希腊换取稳定财政的时间，以及压制市场对欧盟分裂的恐慌。虽然达到了这些目的，但希腊的经济问题并未得到解决。希腊经济在5年里缩水1/4，失业率超过25%。

The bailout money mainly goes toward paying off Greece’s international loans, rather than making its way into the economy. And the government still has a staggering debt load that it cannot begin to pay down unless a recovery takes hold.

援款主要用于偿还希腊的国际债务，而不是用于发展经济。除非经济复苏，否则希腊政府仍有数额惊人的负债无法偿还。

Many economists, and many Greeks, blame the austerity measures for much of the country’s continuing problems. The leftist Syriza party rode to power this year promising to renegotiate the bailout; Mr. Tsipras said that austerity had created a “humanitarian crisis in Greece.

许多经济学家和希腊民众谴责经济紧缩政策是该国经济问题持续的主要原因。今年上台的左翼激进联盟党承诺将就援助重新进行谈判。齐普拉斯表示，经济紧缩在希腊造成了“人道主义危机。

But the country’s exasperated creditors, especially Germany, blame Athens for failing to conduct the economic overhauls required under its bailout agreement. They don’t want to change the rules for Greece.

但是被激怒的债权方，尤其是德国，批评希腊政府没能执行援助协议中规定的经济重组。他们不会为希腊改变规则。

As the debate rages, the only thing everyone agrees on is that Greece is yet again running out of money —and fast.

争论日趋激烈的同时，只有一件事是每个人都赞同的：希腊很快就将再次耗尽现金。