经济学人:政局未定 企业保守发展易造就恶性循环

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　　尽管如此，全球政局还是发生了不小的变化。

　　For the past 30 years multinationals¹ in developed markets have mostly operated in a benign² environment.

　　过去三十年里，成熟市场的跨国企业大多都在有利环境下经营。

　　Political parties worked within relatively³ narrow parameters⁴, and pro-business policies, such as the liberalisation of trade and of rules on immigration, rolled forward.

　　有限的政治党派干预以及持续实施的亲商政策，例如贸易和移民规则自由化等。

　　Shocks were few. No longer.

　　然而，这种风平浪静的日子算是到头了。

　　The political spectrum⁵ is widening.

　　政治影响范围正在扩大。

　　In Britain, Jeremy Corbyn, an old-fashioned leftist, controls the Labour Party, which was once the apogee⁶ of pro-business leftism.

　　一度站在亲商政策顶峰的英国左派政党——工党，如今由传统左翼分子杰里米·科尔宾领导。

　　In France, Marine⁷ Le Pen, the leader of the National Front, who boasts that she wants to add “Frexit” to “Brexit”, is almost certain to be one of the final two candidates for the French presidency⁸ next year.

　　而在法国，国民阵线领导人马琳·勒庞，几乎能肯定会成为明年竞选总统的两名候选人之一，她吹嘘要追随英国的脚步，带领法国脱欧。

　　Unprecedented⁹ shocks are almost routine.

　　这些前所未见的惊讶几乎已经变得司空见惯了。

　　In 2011 Standard & Poor’s downgraded America’s sovereign-debt rating for the first time.

　　2011年，标准普尔首次降低了美国主权债评级。

　　Greece’s default in 2015 to the International Monetary¹⁰ Fund was the first by a rich-world country.

　　2015年希腊对国际货币基金组织的债务违约成为发达国家首例。

　　Donald Trump¹¹ upends political convention on a daily basis.

　　而唐纳德川普更是每天都在颠覆政治惯例。

　　Companies need to recognise that many developed countries are becoming high-risk markets that do not compensate¹² for those risks by delivering higher returns.

　　企业需要认识到许多发达国家正在转变成高风险市场，但高风险并没有带来高收益。

　　They may need to import risk-management practices that they already apply to emerging markets: making sure not to concentrate their investments in too few countries; developing “emergency response plans” in the event of a sudden crisis; and planning how they will cut their losses and move, or slim, their businesses if a populist seizes power.

　　这些企业们可能需要引进运用在新兴市场的风险管理机制：比如确保不把鸡蛋放在一个篓子里；针对突发危机制定 “紧急应对方案”；以及规划如果民粹主义者掌权，如何止损，如何转移或裁减企业资产等方案。

　　Firms are already wary¹³ of long-term investments given slow growth.

　　在慢增长的局势下，众多企业已经对长期投资慎之又慎。

　　Political risk could reinforce such hesitancy.

　　政治风险可能使企业持观望态度。

　　For the time being they may prefer shorter-term bets.

　　暂时选择短期投资项目。

　　There is evidence that companies are stashing¹⁴ cash in safe securities as they wait to see what “Brexit means Brexit” actually means.

　　有迹象表明企业正在把钱投到安全的证券里，看看 “脱欧是玩儿真的” 到底会带来什么样的影响。

　　In August sterling-denominated money-market funds held ￡180 billion ($240 billion) in assets, up by almost a fifth since the start of the year.

　　八月，英镑货币市场基金持有1800亿英镑 (2400亿美元) 资产，较今年年初增长近20%.

　　Yet if businesses pull back on long-term investments, they may only encourage more instability.

　　然而，如果企业退出长期投资市场，只会导致更加不稳定的局面。

　　A vicious cycle, of low corporate¹⁵ spending that encourages stagnation¹⁶ that in turn produces popular discontent and more political turmoil¹⁷, may spin faster.

　　企业缩减开销促使经济停滞，而经济停滞引起群众不满，导致政治更加动乱，最终加快整个恶性循环。

　　Companies need to supplement prudence¹⁸ with something more proactive.

　　企业不应抱着小心驶得万年船心态，而应采取更加积极的措施。

　　Defusing popular anger at corporate excesses is a business priority as well as a political one.

　　缓解公众对企业财富过剩产生的愤怒是企业经营的头等大事，同时也是其首要政治策略。

　　Over the past 30 years companies got into the habit of thinking about things like executive pay in purely¹⁹ market terms.

　　过去30年间，企业习惯性地纯粹从市场角度考虑，诸如高管薪资的问题。

　　For example, they devoted²⁰ a great deal of thought to making managers behave like owners rather than employees, by granting stock options.

　　他们潜心研究如何通过给予管理者股权而使他们对企业怀有主人翁意识。

　　But public perception matters as much as complex calculations.

　　然而公众的看法跟这般深思熟虑的盘算同等重要。

　　Firms’ efforts to grapple with such issues can easily backfire.

　　企业在这些问题上付出了心血，结果却很有可能事与愿违。

　　Conclaves²¹ of the super-rich meeting together to talk about the ills of inequality reek²² of aristocrats²³ debating whether to share some crumbs²⁴ from their tables.

　　富豪们秘密聚首讨论不平等的弊病，俨然像自命不凡的贵族探讨是否向穷人施舍桌边的残羹剩饭。

　　The World Economic Forum’s decision to make “responsive leadership” the theme of its next annual meeting in Davos is almost an invitation for ridicule²⁵.

　　世界经济论坛决定以“积极响应型领导” 作为明年达沃斯峰会的主题，这一举措毫无悬念的沦为笑柄。

　　But that is an argument for thinking harder rather than giving up.

　　其实这正说明企业们应该更努力反思，而不是撂下担子一走了之。

　　By-invitation chinwags do not cut it.

　　仅靠组织会谈并不能解决问题。

　　Companies need to be conscious of political—indeed, populist—considerations in their day-to-day operations, from how they set the pay of their executives to who they appoint to their boards to how much they spend on corporate entertainment.

　　企业要有意识的把政治因素尤其是民粹主义考虑到日常运营中，上到设定董事会管理层的薪资，下到计算企业娱乐的开销等。

　　The price of freedom to do business in the rich world today is eternal vigilance.

　　当下，想在发达国家自由经营企业，必须保持时刻警惕的状态。

　　1.No longer 不再

　　例句:After about three months, I was no longer addicted²⁶ to nicotine²⁷.

　　大约3个月后，我就不再对尼古丁上瘾了。

　　2.day-to-day 日常的；逐日的

　　例句:I am a vegetarian²⁸ and use a lot of lentils in my day-to-day cooking.

　　我是个素食主义者，日常烹饪时会用到很多小扁豆。

　　3.appoint to 任命；指派

　　例句:Be careful whom you appoint to the position of manager.

　　你该当心你所任命的那个经理。

　　4.a great deal of 大量的

　　例句:I also had friends who gave me a great deal of encouragement.

　　我还有些朋友给了我很多鼓励。

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