经济学人:学生贷款 迅速赚大钱

 　　Britain 英国

　　Students Loans: A Quick Buck¹ 学生贷款：迅速赚大钱

　　The government plans to sell out part of the student loan book. 英国政府计划廉价处理部分学生贷款账单

　　Disposing of government assets is a risky² business. 处理政府资产是一笔有风险的买卖。

　　Despite his claim to have “saved the world” in 2008 by averting³ the collapse⁴ of the British banking⁵ industry,  即使戈登-布朗声称在2008年通过避免英国银行业的崩溃来拯救世界，

　　many voters instead remember Gordon Brown as the dupe who flogged Britain’s gold when prices were at a historical low. 许多选民反而把他看成当金价于历史最低点时把英国黄金抛售的骗子。

　　Now Jo Johnson, the universities minister, must hope for better luck. 如今，教育部长乔-约翰逊一定期望好运。

　　On February 6th he set out a plan to sell a slice of the student debt held by the government. 在2月6日，他开始计划卖掉一部份政府持有的学生贷款。

　　It is a pioneering move: Britain is the first country to hawk⁶ income-contingent student loans to private investors⁷. 这是一次创新之举：英国成为第一个将按收入比例还款型的学生贷款兜售给私人投资者的国家。

　　The proposed sale has been a decade in the making. 这次兜售提议在过去十年间不断完善。

　　In 2008 the Labour government passed the Sale of Student Loans Act, which laid the legal groundwork. 在2008年，工党政府递交了学生贷款出手的法案，这奠定了合法的基础。

　　The deal’s complexity⁸ is the main reason for the delay. 这个提案的复杂程度是其被推迟的主要原因。

　　It would involve around ￡4bn ($5bn) of loans made to nearly half a million students, who began making repayments¹⁰ between 2002 and 2006. 因为这将会涉及近乎的40亿英镑（约50亿美元）贷款——由50名万学生产生并且在2002年到2006年之间就已经开始进行还贷工作。

　　There is little certainty about the repayment⁹ schedule: graduates pay money back only when they cross an earnings¹¹ threshold, currently ￡17,495. 有一点不确定的就是还款计划：大学毕业生只有当他们的收入超过17,495英镑的门槛时才需要还款。

　　They pay 9% of their earnings above the level; interest is the lower of inflation or the base rate plus one percentage point. 他们一般支付超过收入门槛以上的9%的额度，并且利率为通货膨胀率或基本利率的较低值再加上1%。

　　All this makes it hard to work out what the loans are worth. 这一切让人们很难算出这些贷款的价值。

　　The deal would involve slightly less than 10% of the student debt the government holds from before the tuition-fee system was changed in 2012. 这项提案将涉及稍低于10%在学费体系于2012年改革之前政府所持有的学生贷款。

　　If all goes well it is expected to sell further tranches of the debt. 如果一切顺利的话，预计会进一步处理这些贷款。

　　Selling it gradually is sensible, says Nicholas Barr of the London School of Economics, since nobody has much idea how it will work out. 伦敦政经学院的尼古拉斯-巴尔表示，一步步处理这些贷款是很明智的，因为没有人知道这一切会如何演变。

　　Opposition¹² to the sale has been building for some time. 反对出售学生贷款的呼声已经兴起了一段时间。

　　In 2014 the National Union of Students warned the government against flogging the debt to “some unscrupulous, bowler¹³ hatted, fat-cat profiteers.” 在2014年，全国学生联合会警告政府不要贩售这些学生贷款给那些不择手段、冠冕堂皇、一夜暴富、唯利是图的人。

　　More recently, critics have worried that graduates may lose out if the purchaser of the debt decided¹⁴ to tinker with the terms of their loans. 最近，批评家担心，如果学生贷款的卖家决定去利用贷款中的条款胡作为非，那么这些大学毕业生可能会赔个精光。

　　The government has promised that there will be no such changes. 政府已经做出承诺，人们所担心的变化不会发生。

　　That means graduates may in fact benefit from the sale. 这表示，实际上大学毕业生可能从交易中获益。

　　If the terms of the loans are fixed¹⁵, the government would no longer be able to fiddle¹⁶ with them, as George Osborne,  如果贷款中的条款定下，政府将不再能够恣意修改，

　　then chancellor¹⁷, did with a different generation of student loans in 2015. 因为原财政大臣乔治-奥斯本在2015年推行了新一代的学生贷款。

　　But, notes Nick Hillman of the Higher Education Policy Institute, it would also be harder for a future government to relax the conditions, perhaps as part of a pre-election giveaway. 但是，高等教育政策研究所的尼克-希尔曼提到，未来政府也许会更难以缓解这种情况，这可能会成为预选提问过程中的一环。

　　A bigger worry is that the taxpayer¹⁸ will get a bad deal. 更令人担忧的是纳税人会得到不公平的待遇。

　　When a previous government sold a more straightforward¹⁹ form of student debt from the 1990s, the hope was that the buyer would be more tenacious²⁰ when chasing delinquent²¹ graduates. 前任政府从20世纪90年代开始以更直接的形式卖出学生债务的时候，期望的是买家在向欠债学生讨债时更坚决。

　　Since repayment is now deducted²² straight from pay-packets, there is no obvious way for investors to whip the regime into better shape. 因为现在还款直接从薪水账户扣除，投资者没有明确办法来完善此种体制。

　　And buyers are likely to be leery of income-contingent loans because of the difficulty in assessing their value and because they are an unfamiliar²³ form of debt, says Mr Barr. 另外，巴尔表示，买家可能对按收入比例回报的贷款心存疑虑，因为很难去评估其中的价值以及这些是不常见的贷款。

　　The government is simply swapping²⁴ a future flow of income for cash today, and will probably pay to do so. 府仅仅就是用未来收入流动来交换今天的现金，他们很可能为其买单。

1 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

2 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

3 averting   

防止，避免( avert的现在分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• The margin of time for averting crisis was melting away. 可以用来消弥这一危机的些许时光正在逝去。
• These results underscore the value of rescue medications in averting psychotic relapse. 这些结果显示了救护性治疗对避免精神病复发的价值。

4 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。

5 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

6 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

9 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

10 repayments   

偿还，报答，偿付的钱物( repayment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The repayments of the loan are spread over 10 years. 贷款可在十年内分期偿还。
• The repayments of the loan are spread over 25 years. 这笔贷款分摊二十五年偿还。

11 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 bowler   

n.打保龄球的人，（板球的）投（球）手

参考例句：

• The bowler judged it well,timing the ball to perfection.投球手判断准确，对球速的掌握恰到好处。
• The captain decided to take Snow off and try a slower bowler.队长决定把斯诺撤下，换一个动作慢一点的投球手试一试。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

16 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

17 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

18 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

19 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

20 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

21 delinquent   

adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者

参考例句：

• Most delinquent children have deprived backgrounds.多数少年犯都有未受教育的背景。
• He is delinquent in paying his rent.他拖欠房租。

22 deducted   

v.扣除，减去( deduct的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cost of your uniform will be deducted from your wages. 制服费将从你的工资中扣除。
• The cost of the breakages will be deducted from your pay. 损坏东西的费用将从你的工资中扣除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

24 swapping   

交换，交换技术

参考例句：

• The slow swapping and buying of horses went on. 马匹的买卖和交换就是这样慢慢地进行着。
• He was quite keen on swapping books with friends. 他非常热衷于和朋友们交换书籍。