George Soros -- the financial crocodile
George Soros wants to be the Bono of the financial world. The speculator whose assault on sterling1 ejected Britain from the European exchange rate mechanism2 that September of 10 years ago has a mission－－to use his esti－mated ￡5 bn fortune and his fame to help tackle what he sees as the failures of globalisation. The idea that a man who made billions betting on the financial markets sides with the anti－globalisation movement might strike some as ironic3. Soros is clearly genuinely appalled4 at the damage wrought5 on vulnerable economies by the vast sums of money which flow across national borders every day.
金融大鳄乔治索罗斯
乔治索罗斯想成为金融界的博诺（U２乐队主唱）。这位在10年前的那个９月份攻击英镑迫使英国退出欧洲汇率机制的投机商有一项使命---借助他大约50亿英镑的财产和他的声名来帮助解决他所觉得的全球化失败问题。一个靠在全球金融市场上的投机赚了几十亿的人会支持反全球化运动，这对很多人来讲是具备讽刺意义的。非常明显，对于天天在各国之间流动的很多资金给经济脆弱国家导致的伤害，索罗斯从心底感到震撼。
The US governs the international system to protect its own economy. It is not in charge of protecting other economies, he says. So when America goes into recession, you have anti－recessionary policies. When other countries are in recession, they don't have the ability to engage in anti－recessionary policies because they can't have a permissive monetary6 policy, because money would flee. In person, he has the air of a philosophy professor rather than a gimlet－eyed financier. In a soft voice which bears the traces of his native Hungary, he argues that it is time to rewrite the so－called Washington consensus－－the cocktail7 of liberalisation, privatisation and fiscal8 rectitude which the IMF has been preaching for 15 years. Developing countries no longer have the freedom to run their own economies, he argues, even when they follow perfectly9 sound policies. He cites Brazil, which although it has a floating currency and manageable public debt was paying ten times over the odds10 to borrow from capital markets.
索罗斯说：美国管理国际经济体系是为了保护本国利益，它并不负责保护其它国家的经济。因此，当美国陷入衰退后，美国会颁布反衰退政策。而其他国家陷入衰退时，却无力如此做，由于这类国家不可以实行自由开放的金融政策，不然资金就会外流?索罗斯本人并不像一个目光敏锐的金融家，他更具备哲学教授的风韵。携带匈牙利母语口音，他轻声地说，目前是修改所谓的华盛顿共识的时侯了。他指的是国际货币基金组织15年来宣扬的自由化、私有化和财政透明的综合体制。他说，进步中国家即便实行很适当的政策，也不可以再自由地控制本国经济。他援引巴西的例子说，尽管巴西实行了浮动汇率制和可控国债，但它向资本市场借款还是付出了比正常条件下高出１０倍的本钱。
Soros, who at one stage after the fall of the Berlin Wall was providing more assistance to Russia than the US government, believes in practising what he preaches.His Open Society Institute has been pivotal in helping11 eastern European countries develop democratic societies and market economies. Soros has the advantage of an insider's knowledge of the workings of global capitalism12, so his criticism is particularly pointed13. Last year, the Soros foundation's network spent nearly half a billion dollars on projects in education, public health and promoting democracy, making it one of the world's largest private donors14.
索罗斯在柏林墙倒塌后一段时间内向俄罗斯提供的援助曾一度超越美国政府的援助。他坚定地推行自己宣扬的看法。他的开放社会研究所在帮助东欧国家进步民主社会和市场经济方面发挥了要紧用途。索罗斯具备业内人士的优势，知道全球资本主义的运行，因此他的批评会遭到特别关注。去年索罗斯基金互联网在教育、公共卫生、促进民主项目上花费了近５亿USD，使索罗斯基金成为世界上最大的私人捐助集团之一。
Soros credits the anti－globalisation movement for having made companies more sensitive to their wider responsibilities.I think [the protesters] have made an important contribution by making people aware of the flaws of the system, he says.People on the street had an impact on public opinion and corporations which sell to the public responded to that.Because the IMF has abandoned billion dollar bailouts for troubled economies, he thinks a repeat of the Asian crisis is unlikely.The fund's newtough lovepolicy－－for which Argentina is the guinea pig －－ has other consequences. The bailouts were a welfare system for Wall Street, with western taxpayers15 rescuing the banks from the consequences of unwise lending to emerging economies. Now the IMF has drawn16 a line in the sand, credit to poor countries is drying up.It has created a new problem－－the inadequacy17 of the flow of capital from centre to the periphery18, he says.
索罗斯赞扬反全球化运动使各公司愈加认识到自己更广泛的责任。他说：我觉得（反对者们）作出了要紧贡献，使大众意识到这个体系的缺点。大街上的大家对舆论会有所影响，而向公众营销推广产品的公司也会对舆论作出反应?因为国际货币基金组织已经拒绝向经济困难的国家提供数十亿USD的救济，索罗斯觉得亚洲经济危机不会重演。国际货币基金组织既爱又严的新政策---阿根廷是该政策的试验品---带来了其他后果。西方纳税人挽救了银行因不理智地向新兴国家提供贷款导致的恶果，而国际货币基金组织的那些救济金则成了华尔街的福利规范。目前国际货币基金组织对贫困国家的贷款正在枯竭。索罗斯说：这就产生了一个新问题---资金从中心向周围流动不足。
The one economy Soros is not losing any sleep about is the US.I am much more positive about the underlying19 economy than I am about the market, because we are waging war not only terrorism but also on recession, he says.Although we don't admit it, we are actually applying Keynesian remedies, and I am a confirmed Keynesian. I have not yet seen an economy in recession when you are gearing up for war.He worries that the world's largest economic power is not living up to its responsibilities.I would like the United States to live up to the responsibilities of its hegemonic power because it is not going to give up its hegemonic power, he says.The only thing that is realistic is for the United States to become aware that it is in its enlightened self－interest to ensure that the rest of the world benefits from their role.
索罗斯最不担忧的就是美国经济。他说：我对美国的经济潜力比对目前的市场更有信心，由于大家正在进行的战争不止是应对恐怖主义，而且也是在向经济衰退开战。尽管大家否认，但大家实质是在奉行凯恩斯主义药方，我是一个坚定的凯恩斯主义者。我从来没见过什么国家在筹备战事时还会陷入经济衰退。他担忧这个世界上最大的经济大国不可以承担起我们的责任。他说：我期望美国可以承担起作为霸权国家的职责，由于美国不会舍弃我们的霸权地位。惟一现实的是，美国应意识到，保证世界上其他国家能从他们自己所承担的角色中受益，显然是符合美国自己利益的。By Charlotte Denny
