法蘭克福——中國在經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣之際,削減了購置采礦機(jī)械的費(fèi)用。阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長國等中東國家的石油收入不再數(shù)不勝數(shù),令豪車品牌前景堪憂。俄羅斯仍舊面臨西方的制裁,無法購買多少高科技能源設(shè)備。
The downshift in the emerging markets is leaving Germany vulnerable — and, by extension,Europe.
新興市場增長放緩讓德國乃至整個(gè)歐洲都變得很脆弱。
As many businesses in the region struggled just to tread water in recent years, Germancompanies prospered by selling the goods and technology that emerging countries needed tobecome more modern economies. As they did, Germany’s strength served as a counterweight tothe economic malaise, financial turmoil and Greek debt drama that dragged down manyEuropean countries.
近年間,歐洲的很多企業(yè)都在掙扎求存,德國企業(yè)卻通過出售新興國家發(fā)展成為更現(xiàn)代化的經(jīng)濟(jì)體所必須的產(chǎn)品和技術(shù)而興旺發(fā)達(dá)。由于德企的興旺發(fā)達(dá),德國經(jīng)濟(jì)在很多歐洲國家都被經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退、金融風(fēng)暴和希臘債務(wù)危機(jī)拖住腳步之際穩(wěn)住了局勢。
Now, Germany, which accounts for the largest share of the European economy, is looking likethe laggard. Compared with the economies of other countries in the region, Germany’s has beenmore deeply tethered to emerging markets. And the political climate is only adding to theuncertainty, as Germany deals with a wave of migrants and a potential exit of Britain fromthe European Union.
如今,德國作為歐洲最大的經(jīng)濟(jì)體,似乎正在成為拖后腿的那一方。與該地區(qū)的其他國家相比,德國經(jīng)濟(jì)和新興市場的聯(lián)系最為緊密。此外,德國正在應(yīng)對移民潮和英國退出歐盟的可能性,這種政治氛圍只會(huì)讓不確定性有增無減。
Against that backdrop, the country’s export engine is sputtering, while business confidence iseroding.
在上述背景下,德國的商業(yè)信心受到了損害,其出口引擎在重壓下開始發(fā)出喘息之聲。
During the good times, the German manufacturer Eickhoff Bergbautechnik sold 20 machines ayear as China dug ever more coal mines to feed its energy-hungry factories. The machines,shearer loaders that use giant spinning claws to scrape coal or potash from underground seams,sell for up to 4 million euros, or about $4.6 million apiece.
經(jīng)濟(jì)景氣的時(shí)候,中國為了滿足那些能源緊缺的工廠的需求,所開采的煤礦越來越多,德國制造商艾柯夫采礦技術(shù)有限公司(Eickhoff Bergbautechnik)一年能賣出20套機(jī)械設(shè)備。每套設(shè)備——即采煤機(jī),可以利用旋轉(zhuǎn)的巨爪把煤或者鉀鹽從地下礦層中開采出來——售價(jià)高達(dá)400萬歐元,約合460萬美元。
Last year, the company sold just eight. With profit dropping, Eickhoff laid off about 10 percentof its local work force of 300.
去年,該公司只賣出了8套設(shè)備。由于利潤下滑,艾柯夫裁掉了300名本地雇員中的10%。
“We are going from an unbelievable boom to a down phase,” said Karl-Heinz Rieser, themanaging director of Eickhoff.
“我們正從令人難以置信的繁榮期過渡到蕭條期,”艾柯夫的董事總經(jīng)理卡爾-海因茨·里澤(Karl-Heinz Rieser)說。
Less torrid sales at Eickhoff and hundreds of other midsize German exporters translate intoslower overall economic growth. Suppliers of mining equipment generated exports of