The speculator, George Soros, whose assault on sterling1 ejected Britain from the European exchange rate mechanism that September of 10 years ago has a mission — to use his estimated ￡5 billion fortune and his fame to help tackle what he sees as the failures of globalisation. The idea that a man who made billions betting on the financial markets sides with the anti-globalisation movement might strike some as ironic . Soros is clearly genuinely appalled at the damage wrought on vulnerable economies by the vast sums of money which flow across national borders every day.
“The US governs the international system to protect its own economy. It is not in charge of protecting other economies, ”he says.“ So when America goes into recession, you have antirecessionary policies. When other countries are in recession, they don't have the ability to engage in antirecessionary policies because they can't have a permissive monetary policy, because money would flee . ”In person , he has the air of a philosophy professor rather than a gimlet-eyed financier. In a soft voice which bears the traces of his native Hungary, he argues that it is time to rewrite the so-called Washington consensus — the cocktail of liberalisation, privatisation and fiscal rectitude which the IMF2 has been preaching for 15 years. Developing countries no longer have the freedom to run their own economies, he argues, even when they follow perfectly sound policies. He cites Brazil, which although it has a floating currency and manageable public debt was paying ten times over the odds to borrow from capital markets.
Soros, who at one stage after the fall of the Berlin Wall3 was providing more assistance to Russia than the US government, believes in practising what he preaches. His Open Society Institute has been pivotal in helping eastern European countries develop democratic societies and market economies. Soros has the advantage of an insider's knowledge of the workings of global capitalism, so his criticism is particularly pointed. Last year, the Soros foundation's network spent nearly half a billion dollars on projects in education, public health and promoting democracy, making it one of the world's largest private donors.
Soros credits the anti-globalisation movement for having made companies more sensitive to their wider responsibilities.“ I think [ the protesters] have made an important con tribution by making people aware of the flaws of the system, ”he says. “ People on the street had an impact on public opinion and corporations which sell to the public responded to that. ”Because the IMF has abandoned billion dollar bailouts for troubled economies, he thinks a repeat of the Asian crisis is unlikely. The fund's new“ tough love ”policy — for which Argentina is the guinea pig — has other consequences. The bailouts were a welfare system for Wall Street, with western taxpayers rescuing the banks from the consequences of unwise lending to emerging economies. Now the IMF has drawn a line in the sand, credit to poor countries is drying up. “ It has created a new problem — the inadequacy of the flow of capital from centre to the periphery, ”he says.
The one economy Soros is not losing any sleep about is the U. S.“ I am much more positive about the underlying economy than I am about the market, because we are waging war not only terrorism but also on recession, ”he says.“Although we don't admit it, we are actually applying Keynesian4 remedies, and I am a confirmed Keynesian. I have not yet seen an economy in recession when you are gearing up for war. ”He worries that the world's largest economic power is not living up to its responsibilities. “ I would like the United States to live up to the responsibilities of its hegemonic power because it is not going to give up its hegemonic power, ”he says.“The only thing that is realistic is for the United States to become aware that it is in its enlightened self-interest to ensure that the rest of the world benefits from their role . ”
練習題：
?、? Plea se pick out sente nces from th e p assa ge e xp ress in g the following mea nings:
1. 就算發(fā)展中國家實行很完善的機制, 它們的經(jīng)濟也有可能被國際游資打擊。
2. 索羅斯在冷戰(zhàn)結(jié)束后向俄羅斯提供的資助比美國政府給的要多。
3. 索羅斯是國際資本運作的行家里手, 所以他的觀點總是切中要害。
4. 只要打仗, 國民經(jīng)濟就會景氣。
?、? Question :
Where is Soros'motherland?
答案：
Ⅰ. 1. Developing countries no longer have the freedom to run their own economies, he argues, even when they follow perfectly sound policies.
2. Soros, who at one stage after the fall of the Berlin Wall was providing more assistance to Russia than the US government.
3. Soros has the advantage of an insider’s knowledge of the workings of global capitalism, so his criticism is particularly pointed.
4. I have not yet seen an economy in recession when you are gearing up for war.
?、? Hungary.
譯文：
金融大鱷喬治·索羅斯
在十年前的那個9 月份狙擊英鎊迫使英國退出歐洲匯率機制的投機商喬治· 索羅斯有一項使命——— 利用他大約五十億英鎊的財產(chǎn)和他的名聲來幫助解決他所認為的全球化失敗問題。一個在全球金融市場上的投機大賺幾十億的人會支持反全球化運動, 這對許多人來說極具諷刺意味。很明顯, 對于每天在各國之間流動的大量資金給經(jīng)濟脆弱國家造成的傷害, 索羅斯從心底感到震驚。
索羅斯說:“ 美國管理國際經(jīng)濟體系是為了保護本國利益, 它并不負責保護其他國家的經(jīng)濟。因此, 當美國陷入衰退后, 美國會出臺反衰退政策。而其他國家陷入衰退時, 卻無力這樣做, 因為一旦這些國家實行自由開放的金融政策, 資金就會外流。”索羅斯本人并不像一個目光敏銳的金融家, 他更具有哲學教授的氣質(zhì)。帶著匈牙利母語口音, 他用柔和的嗓音提出主張: 現(xiàn)在是修改所謂的“ 華盛頓共識”的時候了。那是國際貨幣基金組織十五年來宣揚的自由化、私有化和財政透明的一種混合機制。他認為, 發(fā)展中國家即使執(zhí)行非常合理的政策, 也不能再自由地控制本國經(jīng)濟。他援引巴西的例子說, 盡管巴西實行了浮動匯率制和可控國債, 但它向資本市場借款還是付出了比正常條件下高出十倍的成本。
索羅斯在柏林墻倒塌后一段時間內(nèi)向俄羅斯提供的援助曾一度超過美國政府的援助。他堅定地實施自己宣揚的觀點。他的“ 開放社會研究所”在幫助東歐國家發(fā)展民主社會和市場經(jīng)濟方面發(fā)揮了重要作用。索羅斯具有業(yè)內(nèi)人士的優(yōu)勢, 了解全球資本主義的運行,因此他的批評會受到特別關(guān)注。去年索羅斯基金網(wǎng)絡在教育、公共衛(wèi)生、促進民主項目上花費了近五億美元, 使索羅斯基金成為世界上最大的私人捐助集團之一。
索羅斯贊揚反全球化運動使各公司更加認識到自己更廣泛的責任。他說:“ 我認為( 反對者們) 做出的重要貢獻是使大眾意識到這個體系的缺陷。大街上的人們對輿論會有所影響, 而向公眾推銷商品的公司也會與輿論保持一致。”由于國際貨幣基金組織已經(jīng)拒絕向經(jīng)濟困難的國家提供數(shù)十億美元的救濟, 索羅斯認為亞洲經(jīng)濟危機不會重演。國際貨幣基金組織首次在阿根廷試驗的“ 既愛又嚴”的新政策帶來了其他后果。國際貨幣基金組織用西方納稅人的錢承擔了銀行因不理智地向新興國家提供貸款造成的惡果, 從而使那些救濟金給華爾街帶去豐厚福利?，F(xiàn)在國際貨幣基金組織對貧困國家的貸款正在枯竭。索羅斯說:“ 這就產(chǎn)生了一個新問題——— 資金從中心向周邊流動不足。”
索羅斯最不擔心的就是美國經(jīng)濟。他說:“ 我對美國的經(jīng)濟潛力比對現(xiàn)在的市場更有信心, 因為我們正在進行的戰(zhàn)爭不僅是對付恐怖主義, 而且也是在向經(jīng)濟衰退開戰(zhàn)。盡管我們不承認, 但我們實際是在使用凱恩斯主義藥方, 我是一個堅定的凱恩斯主義者。我從來沒見過哪個國家在準備戰(zhàn)事時還會陷入經(jīng)濟衰退。”他擔心這個世界上最大的經(jīng)濟大國不 能承擔起自己的責任。他說:“ 我希望美國能夠承擔起作為霸權(quán)國家的職責, 因為美國不會放棄自己的霸權(quán)地位。惟一現(xiàn)實的是, 美國應意識到, 保證世界上其他國家能從他們自己所承擔的角色中受益, 顯然是符合美國自身利益的。”
