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Lexington


The underworked American
偷懒的美国人
Jun 11th 2009
2009年6月11日
From The Economist print edition
译自经济学人印刷版
Children are exceptions to the country’s work ethic
孩子们是美国工作伦理的例外

AMERICANS like to think of themselves as martyrs to work. They delight in telling stories about their punishing hours, snatched holidays and ever-intrusive BlackBerrys. At this time of the year they marvel at the laziness of their European cousins, particularly the French. Did you know that the French take the whole of August off to recover from their 35-hour work weeks? Have you heard that they are so addicted to their holidays that they leave the sick to die and the dead to moulder?

美国人总喜欢自诩自己为工作奉献一切。他们对自己饱受折磨的工作时间、被挤榨的假期以及时不时打扰黑莓手机津津乐道。在今年的这个时候，他们就开始对他们欧洲特别是法国的表兄弟们的懒散表示惊讶。“你知道吗，法国人是把整个八月份都用来休假，以作为对他们‘每周35小时’工作的疗养？你听说吗，他们沉醉于假期，而把病的放到死，死的放到腐烂？”
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Cities and their deficits
城市及其赤字

Staring into the abyss
滑入深渊
May 28th 2009 | CHICAGO AND PITTSBURGH
From The Economist print edition

Lay off 4,000 workers, or let the mayor cut the grass?
解雇4,000名工人，或者让市长除草？

Getty Images

CHICAGO’S skyline may be glorious (see above), but the city’s big shoulders are slumped. In November the city passed a budget to close a $469m shortfall. But in the first four months of 2009 a gap opened again, of $96m. By the end of the year, the city expects it to be about $300m.

芝加哥的外表依旧辉煌（见上图），但是这座城市的大梁却已坍塌。去年11月，芝加哥通过一项预算方案，旨在弥补4.69亿美元的预算缺口。但是截止09年前四个月，整个城市又面临9600万美元的差额，预计到今年年底总额将达到3亿美元。
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Detroit’s new mayor
底特律新市长

Baptism by five-alarm fire
五级火警洗礼

May 28th 2009 | DETROIT
From The Economist print edition

An ex-basketball player tries to get to grips
前篮球运动员掌控底特律

WHEN Detroit’s new mayor took the stage at a recent breakfast forum, the audience left their eggs and bacon to give him a standing ovation. “You’ve got nowhere to go but down from here,” the forum’s moderator said dryly.

Bing能否扭转乾坤？底特律新市长在最近的早餐会上露面，现场观众暂停进餐起立热烈欢迎市长。“没地方可去只好下来”，参会主持人冷淡的说。
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China, America and the yuan

Time for a Beijing bargain
轮到中国说话了
May 28th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Sino-American economic policy needs a new start. Tim Geithner’s visit to China provides an opportunity
中美经济政策需新起点 盖特纳访华提供契机

HOW times change. When George Bush’s treasury secretaries first visited China, Wall Street was booming, America’s economy was growing and the president’s emissaries routinely lectured their Chinese hosts on the need for freer financial markets and a more flexible yuan. But as Tim Geithner, the current treasury secretary, prepares to make his maiden trip to Beijing on May 31st, Wall Street is synonymous with greed and failure, America’s economy is on its knees and it is the Chinese who have been doing the lecturing. With America’s budget deficit soaring and the Fed’s printing presses running at full speed, China is complaining loudly of the risks that inflation and depreciation pose to its huge stash of dollars, and arguing for an alternative to the greenback as the world’s reserve currency.
时过境迁。当年，前总统布什的财长们首次访华的时候，华尔街还是一派繁华景象，美国经济持续增长，作为总统的使节，财长们总是一如既往的对中国进行指导，要求中国提供更为自由的金融市场以及更为灵活的人民币汇率。如今，待到现任财长盖特纳准备于5月31日进行其首次访华时，华尔街却几乎等同于贪婪或失败的代名词，美国的经济陷入低谷，现在轮到中国给美国上课了。美国的预算赤字激增，美联储又全力印钞，这使得中国持有的大量美元资产面临通货膨胀或贬值的危险，中国对此大加指责并呼呼用一种新的替代货币取代美元作为世界存储货币。
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Lexington
列克星敦

Read it and weep
异想天开
May 21st 2009
From The Economist print edition

Comedians have yet to figure out how to mock Barack Obama. The only exception is a newspaper founded in 1421
时政嘲讽砖手多数还未摸到取笑奥巴马的窍门，唯有一家1421年创办的老报鹤立鸡群

Illustration by KAL

REAL reporting is easy. Making the news up is much harder. So the weekly editorial meeting at the Onion, a spoof newspaper based in New York, is intense. One writer clutches a human skull. Another wields a threatening stick. Yet another walks in late, looking scruffy and eating a chocolate cereal bar. Alert readers would recognise him as the cover model for a feature in 2006 on “Heterosexual Men’s Fashion”.
真新闻好做，假新闻难造。固此，在驻守纽约的幽默讽刺报《洋葱》所召集的每周编辑碰头会上，气氛紧张而刺激。一名写手紧抓着一付骷髅头骨，另一位挥动着一根吓人的棍子。还有一人姗姗来迟。他衣衫不整，一边啃着一块巧克力干压谷条。有心的读者不难认出，他曾是06年某期《异性恋男人时尚》杂志上的封面模特。

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The Supreme Court
美国最高法院

Following Souter
跟随苏特的脚步

May 7th 2009 | WASHINGTON, DC
From The Economist print edition

Barack Obama has a chance to rejuvenate the Supreme Court’s liberal wing
贝拉克•奥巴马有机会复兴最高法院的自由派。

AP

DAVID SOUTER (second from right, above) is a singular character. Though wealthy, he lives the life of Diogenes. He lunches frugally at his desk, typically on yogurt and an apple, which he eats to the core. He seldom goes out. He has no time for modern distractions such as television. But most unusually of all, despite having life tenure as a judge on the Supreme Court, he is planning to retire at the tender age of 69.

大卫•苏特 (图上方从右边数起第二位)是个非凡的人物。尽管他很富有，却过着如第欧根尼（古希腊哲学家，犬儒学派的代表人物，据说第欧根尼住在一个木桶里，所拥有的所有财产包括这个木桶、一件斗篷、一支棍子、一个面包袋——译者注）般的生活。他中午就在办公桌旁简单地吃点东西，通常是酸奶和一只苹果，而且他会把苹果吃得只剩果核，一点也不愿浪费。他极少出门，从不把时间浪费在诸如电视等现代社会中令人分心的事物上。但是最不寻常的是，尽管拥有最高法院法官这一终生职位，他还是计划在69岁这个相对较轻的年龄卸甲归田（读者也许会问，69岁还年轻吗？不妨来看看现任首席法官罗伯茨之前的三任美最高法院首席法官离职时的年龄：威廉•伦奎斯特，81岁，任上病死；沃伦•伯格，79岁，主动退休；厄尔•沃伦，78岁，主动退休——译者注）。
继续阅读“”

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The Supreme Court
美国最高法院

Following Souter
跟随苏特的脚步

 

May 7th 2009 | WASHINGTON, DC
From The Economist print edition

Barack Obama has a chance to rejuvenate the Supreme Court’s liberal wing
贝拉克•奥巴马有机会复兴最高法院的自由派。

AP

DAVID SOUTER (second from right, above) is a singular character. Though wealthy, he lives the life of Diogenes. He lunches frugally at his desk, typically on yogurt and an apple, which he eats to the core. He seldom goes out. He has no time for modern distractions such as television. But most unusually of all, despite having life tenure as a judge on the Supreme Court, he is planning to retire at the tender age of 69.

大卫•苏特 (图上方从右边数起第二位)是个非凡的人物。尽管他很富有，却过着如第欧根尼（古希腊哲学家，犬儒学派的代表人物，据说第欧根尼住在一个木桶里，所拥有的所有财产包括这个木桶、一件斗篷、一支棍子、一个面包袋——译者注）般的生活。他中午就在办公桌旁简单地吃点东西，通常是酸奶和一只苹果，而且他会把苹果吃得只剩果核，一点也不愿浪费。他极少出门，从不把时间浪费在诸如电视等现代社会中令人分心的事物上。但是最不寻常的是，尽管拥有最高法院法官这一终生职位，他还是计划在69岁这个相对较轻的年龄卸甲归田（读者也许会问，69岁还年轻吗？不妨来看看现任首席法官罗伯茨之前的三任美最高法院首席法官离职时的年龄：威廉•伦奎斯特，81岁，任上病死；沃伦•伯格，79岁，主动退休；厄尔•沃伦，78岁，主动退休——译者注）。
继续阅读“”