[E315]Three wise men【经济学人】
本文音频及原文摘自杂志The Economist《经济学人》2016年第2期，China版块。
Ageing reformists diagnose the economy’s ills
| SHANGHAI
WHATEVER image you may have of the reformists[改革主义者;改革者;改良派] hoping to shake up China’s creaking[嘎吱作响;摇摇欲坠] economic system, it is probably not one of octogenarians who fiddle with their hearing aids[助听器] and take afternoon naps. But that is a fair description of three of the country’s loudest voices for change: Mr Market[市场], Mr Shareholding[股权;股份] and the most radical[根本的，基本的] of all, the liberal[自由]. With growth slowing, the stockmarket once again in trouble and financial risks[金融风险] looking more ominous, their diagnoses of the economy, born of decades of experience, are sobering.
······
▷ shake up [ʃek ʌp]
彻底调整，重组，改革(组织、机构、行业等)
The government wanted to reform the institutions, to shake up the country...
政府想要实施机构改革，整顿国家。
▷ octogenarians [ˌɑ:ktədʒəˈneriən]
n. 80到89岁的人;
She is a very active octogenarian.
她已经是八旬老人了，还很精神。
▷ fiddle with [ˈfɪdl wɪð]
v. 乱动; 摆弄; 拨弄; 搬弄
Don't fiddle with the typewriter.
不要摆弄那架打字机了.
▷ ominous [ˈɑ:mɪnəs]
adj. 不祥的，坏兆头的; 预兆的，预示的
There were ominous dark clouds gathering overhead.
不祥的阴霾在头顶上汇聚。
▷ sobering [ˈsoʊbərɪŋ]
adj. 有节制的; 清醒的，冷静的; 朴素的，柔和的; 持重的
v. 使清醒;使冷静;
Needless to say, it is a sobering set of articles.
无庸讳言, 这是一系列令人清醒的文章合集.
······
苏联模式就是采用高度集中的经济政治体制进行社会主义建设的模式。
——百度百科
Wu Jinglian, Li Yining and Mao Yushi—their real names—were born within two years of each other in 1929 and 1930 in Nanjing, then China’s capital. Whether it was that or pure coincidence[纯属巧合], all three grew up to demand an end to Soviet-style[苏联模式] central planning[中央计划，计划经济] and to propose, to varying degrees[不同程度;各不相同], capitalism[资本主义] in its place. Their influence has waned with age, but their powers of analysis remain sharp. And they do not much like what they see.
······
▷ wane [wen]
vi. 衰落; （月）亏，缺; 结束; 变暗淡;
n. 衰退; 衰退期;
When did the empire begin to wane?
那个帝国何时开始衰落的?
······
吴敬琏，1930年1月24日出生，南京人，是中国经济学界的泰斗，当代中国杰出经济学家、著名市场经济学者、北京天则经济研究所理事。
——百度百科
Mr Wu is in some ways the most important of the group. He advised the government from the earliest years of China’s “reform and opening[改革开放]” in the 1980s, through the 1990s when the great China boom[繁荣] got under way (see timeline).
He proposed that the Communist Party[共产党] should declare China a “socialist market economy[社会主义市场经济]”, a twist of words (and a hugely controversial[有争议的，引起争议的] one—conservatives[保守党的;保守派] abhorred any positive mention of markets) that opened the door to private enterprise.
······
▷ abhor [æbˈhɔr]
vt. 憎恶; （厌恶地）回避; 拒绝; 淘汰;
n. 厌恶者，拒绝者;
They abhor all forms of racial discrimination.
他们憎恶任何形式的种族歧视.
······
But Mr Market, as he came to be called, thinks this kind of linguistic[语言的; 语言学的] ruse has outlived its usefulness[失去效用/作用]. Imprecise[不精确的;不确定的;含糊不清] concepts have led to flawed actions, he warns. Though the private sector[私营成分，私营部门] has flourished over the past couple of decades, the state still looms large[赫然耸立;显得严重/突出], controlling financial flows and acting as gatekeeper for virtually all important decisions, from land deals to mergers[土地交易到土地兼并]. “Even a low-level bureaucrat[官员;官僚;官僚主义] can decide the life or death of a company. You need to listen to the party,” says Mr Wu, who now teaches at the China Europe International Business School[中欧国际工商学院] in Beijing.
······
▷ ruse [rus,ruz]
n. 诡计; 策略，计策
I saw through your little ruse from the start.
从一开始我就看穿了你的小计谋。
▷ flourish [ˈflɜ:rɪʃ]
vi. 挥舞; 茂盛，繁荣; 活跃，蓬勃;
vt. 挥动，挥舞
Crops flourish in rich soil.
作物在肥沃的土壤中长得茂盛.
······
Mr Wu notes contradictions[矛盾;否认,反驳] in the official blueprint for reforming state-owned firms. The party promises to empower[授权; 准许; 使能够] their boards[董事会;理事会], but still wants to retain authority[保留权力] over the appointment of top executives. “If you can’t solve this problem, it will be very difficult to develop effective corporate governance,” he says. Mr Wu argues that political change is now needed to shore up[支撑;支持;加强] the economy: the government must stop meddling in markets and instead focus on developing the rule of law[法制]. Holding up a copy of his recent book, he chuckles softly. “All my ideas are in here. No one pays them much attention.”
······
▷ meddle [ˈmɛdl:]
v. 干涉，干预，插手
He had no right to meddle in her affairs.
他无权干涉她的事情。
▷ chuckle [ˈtʃʌkəl]
vi. 轻声地笑; 咯咯笑
n. 轻笑声
He gave a little chuckle.
他轻声一笑。
······
厉以宁，著名经济学家，中国经济学界泰斗。1951年考入北京大学经济学系，1955年毕业后留校工作、任教至今。因论证倡导我国股份制改革，被尊称厉股份。
——百度百科
Getting heard is less of a problem these days for Li Yining, who has spent his entire academic career at Peking University. His former pupils include Li Keqiang, China’s prime minister. His big idea in the 1980s was that selling partial stakes[出售部分股权] in state-owned companies[国企] to the public would improve their performance—hence[因此] his nickname, Mr Shareholding. The party eventually took his advice, though the companies remain hugely inefficient[效率极低].
In diagnosing the problems of today, Li Yining is blunt: the previous few years of ultra-high-speed growth[超高速增长] “did not accord with economic laws[不符合经济规律]”. China wasted natural resources, damaged its environment, piled up excess capacity[超额(生产)能力;过剩设备] and missed opportunities to fix its economic model. Yet perhaps because of his connections to those in power, Mr Li is by far the most sanguine of the old guard[保守派，保守势力] of reformers. “The new normal[新常态]”—President Xi Jinping’s favourite economic slogan[标语，口号]—is shifting the economy in the right direction, by aiming for lower growth and structural changes.
······
▷ blunt [blʌnt]
adj. 直率的；不客气的；直言不讳的
vt. 使迟钝; 使钝
The blunt comment made Richard laugh in spite of himself.
这番率直的话让理查德不由自主地大笑起来。
▷ sanguine [ˈsæŋɡwɪn]
adj. 乐观的，充满希望的; 面色红润的; 血红色的;
n. 血红色; 自信，乐观;
They have begun to take a more sanguine view.
他们的看法已经开始变得乐观起来。
······
茅于轼，生于南京。经济学者，美日民间经济学者的重要代表。原北京天则经济研究所理事长，民间学术机构“人文经济学会”的理事长。
——百度百科
Mao Yushi disagrees. And unlike many economists cowed by a frostier[霜冻的, 严寒的, 冷淡的] political climate, he is unafraid to say so. Mr Mao started his career in the railway system, including a spell driving trains, before retraining as an economist in the 1970s. Always on the margins of Chinese academia[中国学术界], he founded the Beijing-based Unirule Institute of Economics[北京天则经济研究所] in 1993, an independent think-tank[智囊团;智库] (a rarity[稀有，罕见] in China). He champions deregulation and courts controversy[招致非议] in his criticism of Mao Zedong’s disastrous rule. Some diehard Maoists call the softly spoken economist “Mao Yu-shit” online, playing on a homonym[同形同音异义词;谐音] of his name.
······
▷ cow [kaʊ]
vt. 恐吓;威胁;把…吓住
n. 奶牛，乳牛
...cowing them into submission.
胁迫他们顺从
▷ champion ['tʃæmpɪən]
vt. 为…而斗争;捍卫;支持;拥护
n. 冠军; 捍卫者
He passionately championed the poor...
他满腔热情地捍卫穷人的利益。
▷ court [kɔ:rt]
vt. 招致，酿成，导致(不愉快的事)
If he thinks he can remain in power by force he is courting disaster.
如果他认为可以通过武力继续掌权，那他就是在自寻死路。
▷ diehard [ˈdaɪhɑ:rd]
n. 顽固分子;
adj. 顽固的，死硬的
diehard supporters of the exiled king
顽固支持流亡国王的人
······
In Mr Mao’s view it is already too late for the economy. China has too many empty homes and its banks have too much bad debt. “A crisis cannot be averted[防止，避免],” he says. Mr Mao allows himself some optimism, however. The young generation is educated and open-minded. The waste of capital and resources of recent years implies that China still has good potential for growth, if it can operate more efficiently. But he believes that Mr Xi, while espousing reform, is strengthening the state’s economic grip[经济掌控]. “He has the power and the determination to fix problems, but in many cases he does not properly understand the problems,” says Mr Mao.
······
▷ espouse [ɪˈspaʊz]
vt. 拥护; 赞助; 嫁娶
espouse the cause of socialism
拥护社会主义事业
······
Such unvarnished[无掩饰的;质朴的; 原样的], open criticism of Mr Xi is rare in China these days. Speaking in the living room of his apartment, its walls stacked[堆] high with books and yellowing newspapers, Mr Mao says that his age and experience give him, and the other elderly reformists, a bit of leeway[一点余地]. “If it was someone else speaking, they would probably be arrested. But to me, the government is polite.” If only[但愿，真希望] it would pay more heed[注意，留心] to the elders’ advice, too.
经济学人系列阅读