FT社評：政壇“高盛幫”地位難撼

Consider just this very partial list: Henry Fowler, Robert Rubin, and Hank Paulson, former US Treasury secretaries. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England. Mario Draghi, European Central Bank president. Malcolm Turnbull, prime minister of Australia. Bill Dudley, president of the New York Federal Reserve bank. Romano Prodi, former Italian prime minister. Josh Bolten, former White House chief of staff. Robert Zoellick, former president of the World Bank.

看看這份僅列舉出一小部分人的名單吧：美國前財長亨利•福勒(Henry Fowler)、羅伯特•魯賓(Robert Rubin)和漢克•保爾森(Hank Paulson);英國央行(BoE)行長馬克•卡尼(Mark Carney);歐洲央行(ECB)行長馬里奧•德拉吉(Mario Draghi);澳大利亞總理馬爾科姆•特恩布爾(Malcolm Turnbull);紐約聯(lián)儲主席比爾•達德利(Bill Dudley);意大利前總理羅馬諾•普羅迪(Romano Prodi);前白宮幕僚長喬希•博爾頓(Josh Bolten);世界銀行(World Bank)前行長羅伯特•佐立克(Robert Zoellick)。

Before or after these men had their turn with the levers of power, they worked for Goldman Sachs. No other company can boast such an alumni network with anywhere near this level of influence on world affairs. It seems the pattern will be not be broken under a Trump administration. The president-elect has tapped Steven Mnuchin, a former partner at the investment bank, to be his Treasury secretary.

這些人在掌權(quán)前后都曾在高盛(Goldman Sachs)工作過。其他任何一家公司都不具備在國際事務上擁有這種層次的影響力的同事關系網(wǎng)絡。這種模式在特朗普執(zhí)政期間似乎也不會被打破。特朗普有意讓高盛前合伙人史蒂芬•姆欽(Steven Mnuchin)出任美國財政部長。

Put aside, for a moment, the political implications of Mr Trump’s choice. There are good reasons why Goldman has the network it does, and there are reasons to be glad a Goldmanite will be in the cabinet. It is very hard to succeed at Goldman. Those who do tend to be hard working and competent, and to have a good understanding of financial markets.

暫且不提特朗普選擇姆欽的政治含義。高盛擁有這種關系網(wǎng)絡有充分理由，人們也有理由對一個高盛人加入內(nèi)閣感到高興。在高盛很難取得成功。那些成功的人士往往勤奮而有能力，對金融市場有著很好的理解。

Goldman Sachs is also, in a broad sense, moderate. Its alumni take roles in parties of the right and left. Its economists tend to be Keynesian and respectable. Goldman people take care to understand how the system works, and try to keep it working. Doing anything else would be a serious obstacle to profit. All of these characteristics make them useful to the executive branch.

總的來說，高盛也很溫和。高盛人在左、右翼黨派均擔任職務。它的經(jīng)濟學家往往信奉凱恩斯主義，而且受人尊敬。高盛人小心翼翼地理解體制的運行方式，并努力保持其運轉(zhuǎn)。其他行事作風都將是盈利的嚴重障礙。所有這些特點讓他們成為行政部門的有用之才。

Mr Mnuchin is not, it must be said, a Goldmanite of anywhere near the rank of Mr Rubin or Mr Paulson, who were co-chair and chief executive of the firm, respectively. Mr Mnuchin rose to chief information officer before striking out on his own as an investor in banks and films. But he is a natural choice for Mr Trump, who in selecting deputies has overwhelmingly favoured people he trusts and who were vocal supporters of his campaign — starting with his strategist Stephen Bannon, another Goldman alumnus. Mr Trump is a property developer and reality TV star. A New York banker turned movie producer fits perfectly.

必須承認，姆欽并非是魯賓或保爾森那種級別的高盛人，后兩者分別擔任過高盛的聯(lián)合主席和首席執(zhí)行官。姆欽當過高盛的首席信息官，后來自己干，投資于銀行和電影行業(yè)。但他是特朗普的自然之選。特朗普在選擇副手時青睞自己信任也公開支持其競選的人——首先是其策略師、另一名高盛前員工斯蒂芬•班農(nóng)(Stephen Bannon)。特朗普是一位房地產(chǎn)開發(fā)商，同時還是一名真人秀明星。一位由紐約銀行家轉(zhuǎn)型的電影制片人是非常適合的人選。

The president-elect’s opponents on the left argue that Mr Trump’s embrace of Mr Mnuchin and assorted other billionaires is a betrayal of the working-class voters who gave him the presidency. On the campaign trail Mr Trump took aim at hedge funds and bankers “getting away with murder” and criticised Hillary Clinton for giving speeches for Goldman Sachs. His actions make nonsense of his rhetoric.

特朗普的左翼對手辯稱，特朗普青睞姆欽以及其他億萬富翁是對把他選上臺的工人階級選民的背叛。在競選期間，特朗普把矛頭對準“逍遙法外的”對沖基金和銀行家，并批評希拉里•克林頓(Hillary Clinton)為高盛發(fā)表演講。他的行動讓自己的話變得很荒謬。

This liberal indignation fundamentally misunderstands the Trump phenomenon. If working class Trump voters had a problem with billionaires, or with the president-elect’s casual approach to facts, they would not have voted as they did.

這種自由主義的義憤從根本上誤解了特朗普現(xiàn)象。如果支持特朗普的工人階級選民對億萬富翁有意見或者不認可特朗普罔顧事實的做法，他們就不會像那樣投票了。

They heard Mr Trump’s fundamental promise on growth and jobs, and his withering disdain for the niceties of the liberal elite. That was enough. That his tough talk about the financial elite was empty posturing will cost him nothing politically.

他們聽到了特朗普在增長和就業(yè)方面的基本承諾，目睹他對自由主義精英階層極盡嘲諷之能事。這就夠了。他對金融精英人士言辭強硬雖然只是故作姿態(tài)，但他不會為此在政治上付出代價。

That does not mean Mr Trump and Mr Mnuchin will have a free ride. They will have to deliver the growth and the jobs. Although they will be handed a US economy in rude health, the goals they set out remain ambitious. The Goldman reputation for hard work and competence will be tested. If things go wrong this time, though, the world’s most powerful professional network will, without any doubt, have another chance in the next administration.

這并不意味著特朗普和姆欽什么也不用做，他們將不得不推動增長和創(chuàng)造就業(yè)。盡管他們接手的美國經(jīng)濟相當健康，但他們依然制定了雄心勃勃的目標。高盛勤奮而能干的名聲將經(jīng)受考驗。然而，如果這次出了問題，這個全球最具影響力的專業(yè)人士網(wǎng)絡毫無疑問在下屆政府還有機會。