2019年经济学人 一周要闻 特朗普提名下任世行行长 欧盟否决西门子阿尔斯通合并案 德国低成本航空公司破产

 

The world this week

本周要闻

Business

商业

Donald Trump¹ nominated David Malpass to become the World Bank’s next president, a job that is by tradition filled by the American government. Mr Malpass currently heads international affairs at the Treasury². A controversial choice, he has voiced concerns about the spreading power of multilateral and global institutions and of Chinese influence. He was part of the negotiating team that agreed to a capital increase in the World Bank in return for restraint on staff wages and benefits.

特朗普提名戴维·马尔帕斯(David Malpass)为世界银行(World Bank)下一任行长，按照传统，该职位通常由美国政府任命。马尔帕斯目前在财政部负责国际事务。作为一名有争议的人选，他曾表达过对多边国际机构以及中国影响力不断扩大的担忧。他是同意世界银行增加资本来限制员工工资和福利的谈判小组的一员。

Europe’s competition commissioner³ blocked the merger⁴ of Alstom with the rail operations of Siemens, reasoning that the combination of the French and German companies would lead to higher prices in the markets for signalling systems and high-speed trains. Supporters of the deal, such as Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, said it was a mistake because such mega-mergers are vital to take on the might of Chinese companies. However, in some markets a combined Alstom-Siemens would have been three times bigger than its largest rival.

欧盟竞争专员阻止了阿尔斯通与西门子铁路业务的合并，理由是法国与德国公司的合并将导致信号系统和高速列车市场价格上涨。法国财政部长布鲁诺·勒梅尔(Bruno Le Maire)和支持该交易的其他人表示，这是一个错误，因为此类大型合并对于挑战中国企业的实力至关重要。然而，在某些市场，合并后的阿尔斯通-西门子将是其最大竞争对手的三倍规模。

Nissan’s reversal of a promise to build the X-Trail suv at its factory in Sunderland, a city in the north of England, was blamed by Remainers on Britain’s commitment to leave the European Union. The carmaker said that Brexit was a concern. But its decision was also driven by the collapse⁵ in demand for diesel⁶ and the lower costs of making the vehicle in Japan.

日产汽车放弃了在其位于英格兰北部城市桑德兰(Sunderland)的工厂生产X-Trail运动型多功能车(suv)的承诺，留欧派将此变故归咎于英国退出欧盟的承诺。这家汽车制造商表示，英国退欧的形势令人担忧。但该公司做出决定的另一个原因是，市场对柴油的需求锐减，以及日本汽车制造成本的降低。

Ryanair reported its first quarterly loss since 2014. Europe’s biggest low-cost airline said that although passenger numbers had grown, the average fare it was able to charge had fallen to less than 30 euros ($34) because of excess short-haul capacity in Europe. In a nod to shareholder⁷ discontent, the airline is replacing its chairman, who has been in the job for over 20 years. It is also moving to set up a group structure which will be overseen⁸ by Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s ebullient⁹ chief executive.

瑞安航空自2014年以来首次出现季度亏损。这家欧洲最大的低成本航空公司表示，尽管乘客的数量有所增长，但由于欧洲的短途航线运力过剩，该公司能够收取的平均票价已降至不足30欧元(合34美元)。考虑到股东的不满，这家航空公司将换掉其任职20多年的董事长。该公司还在着手建立一个由干劲十足的瑞安航空首席执行官迈克尔·奥利里监督的集团结构。

Underlining the turbulence¹⁰ in Europe’s discount-flight market, Germania became the latest in a long list of low-cost carriers to declare bankruptcy¹¹. The Berlin-based airline flew 4m passengers last year.

日耳曼航空成为最新一家宣布破产的低成本航空公司，这突显出欧洲廉价航班市场的动荡。这家总部位于柏林的航空公司去年的客运量为400万人次。

Turkey’s inflation rate crept up to 20.4% in January. Floods in Antalya province, the centre of Turkey’s greenhouse production of vegetables and fruits, helped push food inflation up to 31%, the highest reading since 2004 and up from 25% in December. Although it is under political pressure to reduce interest rates, the central bank recently committed itself to maintain its tight monetary¹² stance until price pressures weaken. Happily, it also forecast that inflation will fall by the end of the year.

土耳其1月份的通胀率攀升至20.4%。土耳其大棚种植蔬菜和水果生产中心安塔利亚省发生洪灾，导致食品价格上涨31%，创2004年以来的最高水平，高于去年12月的25%。尽管面临着降息的政治压力，不过土耳其央行最近承诺，将维持紧缩的货币政策直到价格压力减弱。令人高兴的是，它还预测到年底通货膨胀率将会下降。

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

3 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

4 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

7 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

8 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

9 ebullient   

adj.兴高采烈的，奔放的

参考例句：

• He was ebullient over the reception of his novel.他因小说获好评而兴高采烈。
• She wrote the ebullient letter when she got back to her flat.她一回到自己的寓所,就写了那封热情洋溢的信。

10 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

11 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

12 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。