pbs高端访谈:欧盟及其成员国的经济前途

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN: And to another NewsHour correspondent overseas, Ray Suarez in Davos, Switzerland. He's moderating panels at the World Economic Forum¹, where there's been talk about the future of the European Union.

　　We spoke² earlier this evening.

　　Ray, let's start with the news this week. The U.K. is making some noises about backing away in some parts from the European Union. What is the reaction there, where all these European leaders are?

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　　RAY SUAREZ: Well, here in Davos, the week was heavily dominated by news of the health of the joint³ European currency, the euro, and whether, in fact, the European Union as it has come to be known would remain with one of its largest members.

　　Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this week dropped a bomb, that he was going to later in this parliamentary term in a couple of years put Britain's continued membership in the European Union to a vote. And right now, the Union is not very popular among British politicians. So perhaps, feeling the heat at home, Cameron is responding this way.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: And what about the relationship with Angela Merkel of Germany, who put a tremendous amount of her own personal credibility on the line to help prop⁴ up the currency?

　　RAY SUAREZ: Well, you know, Britain has long bridled⁵ under the rules that accompany its membership in the European Union. And David Cameron has been hinting that the price of staying might be negotiating a better deal for his country in some of the areas that the European Union governs.

　　Well, Angela Merkel and other European politicians in response have said, wait a minute, Britain can't work out its own special deal. There's long been grumbling⁶ on the continent about Britain's trying to tug⁷ against the reins⁸ that hold it to the continent. Angela Merkel is being credited this week in Davos with saving the joint European currency.

　　Some of the economists⁹ who predicted last year during last year's conference that the euro wasn't long for the world and that Greece would certainly be out of the currency are now conceding that Greece is probably in to stay and that the euro is probably in to stay as well. But it is at no small cost to Angela Merkel and her party.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Help put this in perspective. In your blog post yesterday, you were writing about the sentiment response from George Soros, big-time investor¹⁰, as well as Mohamed El-Erian, who runs a large investment fund.

　　RAY SUAREZ:George Soros was one of the people who earlier early on said that the European Union had designed the currency badly and that its weaknesses would probably become evident.

　　So, he felt that he had been vindicated¹¹ when the economic crisis hit both North America and Europe, and suddenly the governments of European countries in the Eurozone had to step in and guarantee all kinds of loans, weakening the currency.

　　Soros says that Angela Merkel's efforts in the intervening 14 months have probably saved the euro. He gives her a lot of credit, but he still isn't high on the future of the currency. He says that while Germany has done very well by the currency—it's brought down the prices of its goods and made its exports affordable¹² in many more places in the world—there is still serious problems with the euro that have to be taken into account.

　　Tonight, I went to a high school here in this Swiss alpine¹³ town where they invited all comers, both people attending the conference and locals, to come hear European finance ministers talk about the future of the euro. And it's like discussing a patient that you thought was going to die and is now merely in intensive care.

　　Nobody likes to use the word austerity. The Italian finance minister, Vittorio Grilli, calls it responsibility.

　　The German finance minister, Guido Westerwelle, said, oh, I don't like the sound of the word austerity. It sounds so harsh in English. I prefer the word discipline, which probably he jokes is a good German word.

　　And earlier this week, the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, called it consolidation¹⁴.

　　Either way, it's painful. Europe has 18 million unemployed¹⁵, and these measures are going to have to stay in place for a long time to come.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Finally, Ray, if you can give us a slice of the atmosphere—in one of your posts, you said it has been described by its critics, the entire conference and meeting, as Woodstock for gasbags.

　　Have they changed? Are they trying to be more inclusive? Is the agenda of the meeting any different?

　　RAY SUAREZ: Absolutely.

　　In the years since 9/11, and then even reinforced in the years since the global financial meltdown, there's been a real attempt to bring in the critics of capitalism¹⁶, bring in the critics of the World Economic Forum itself into the conference to be able to confront the leaders of industry and the leaders of government who come here year in and year out to deliver their critique.

　　So not only is the crowd more diverse than it was a dozen years ago when I came for the first time, but also the matters under consideration are more diverse.

　　There is far more talk about global climate change, far more talk about inequality in wages inside countries and then across different economic zones, a lot of worry about the poor, not necessarily out of altruism¹⁷, but out of the understanding that if you can make the poor less poor, they will be better customers and transnational business will prosper¹⁸.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: All right, thanks, Ray.

　　And you can read Ray's daily dispatches from Davos on the Rundown.

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

5 bridled   

给…套龙头( bridle的过去式和过去分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气

参考例句：

• She bridled at the suggestion that she was lying. 她对暗示她在说谎的言论嗤之以鼻。
• He bridled his horse. 他给他的马套上笼头。

6 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

7 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

8 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

9 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

11 vindicated   

v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的过去式和过去分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护

参考例句：

• I have every confidence that this decision will be fully vindicated. 我完全相信这一决定的正确性将得到充分证明。
• Subsequent events vindicated the policy. 后来的事实证明那政策是对的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

13 alpine   

adj.高山的；n.高山植物

参考例句：

• Alpine flowers are abundant there.那里有很多高山地带的花。
• Its main attractions are alpine lakes and waterfalls .它以高山湖泊和瀑布群为主要特色。

14 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

15 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

16 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

17 altruism   

n.利他主义，不自私

参考例句：

• An important feature of moral behaviour is altruism.道德行为一个重要特点就是利他主义。
• Altruism is crucial for social cohesion.利他主义对社会的凝聚是至关重要的。

18 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。