金融时报:大洋彼岸的教训
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    大洋彼岸的教训

    2016美国总统候选人大热门、前驻华大使和犹他州州长洪培博指出,欧洲亟需解决“民主赤字”的挑战。他对卡梅伦首相建议:第一,英国留在欧盟对两者都非常重要,英国应担起责任,用撒切尔革命推动欧盟摆脱危机;第二,保守党需从共和党去年的失利中吸取教训,应当打造平易近人和蔼可亲的形象,否则的话人们连了解你政策的兴趣都没有。

    测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识:

    Jon Huntsman 同米特·罗姆尼类似,洪博培也来自摩门教派,当过CEO,当过州长,寻求过总统候选人提名。在担任美国副贸易代表时,洪博培在接受中国加入WTO的谈判中发挥了重要作用。他是2016年总统候选人的热门人选。

    ramification [,ræmɪfɪ'keɪʃ(ə)n 分叉,分支

    Eurosceptic[ˈjʊərəʊˌskɛptɪk] 欧洲怀疑主义的

    red tape 繁文缛节。欧盟国家的繁文缛节常常达到不可思议的程度,比如,英国认证的雪橇师到法国开雪橇店(如果没有法国雪橇师资格证)会被逮捕。

    TTIP 《跨大西洋贸易与投资伙伴协定》Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership,之前欧盟委员会与美国政府谈判的《反假冒贸易协定》曾被欧洲议会否决。

    wobbly ['wɒblɪ] 不稳定的;摆动的

    down rabbit hole 你记得《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》中的情节吗?

    inanity [ɪ'nænətɪ] 空虚,浅薄

    British Tories can learn from Republican mistakes(698 words)

    Jon Huntsman

    David Cameron faces tough decisions on Europe – most with lasting implications for Conservative party unity and all with long-term ramifications for Britain's prosperity. The UK prime minister must keep his country an active member of the EU while keeping hold of an increasingly eurosceptic Tory party.

    It is hard to see how the UK can thrive without remaining inside the EU's vast internal market – a local free-trade block that can preserve and reward British innovation and entrepreneurship. Membership is good not only for Britain, but for the EU too. The UK has consistently been the main defender of EU competition policy as well as the home of its financial capital. Both are essential to drive prosperity in a continent smothered in red tape.

    And Britain will only become more important to the EU: European growth depends on the outcome of upcoming free-trade negotiations between the US and the EU – the transatlantic trade and investment partnership. The most enthusiastic proponents in Europe are Germany and the UK, both of whom also want to spread the deregulatory successes of Gerhard Schröder and Margaret Thatcher to the rest of the EU.

    So a UK exit could be fatal not just to the TTIP but also to the battle for free markets against state-run capitalism, which encourages cronyism. Some have dismissed Germany's recent success, claiming it is either not a result of its regulatory reforms or is inapplicable to the EU's southern rim. But where reforms have been successfully implemented, there have been signs of renewed economic life. As Thatcher once said, now is not the time to go “wobbly”.

    There is no one as well suited as the modern Tories to maintaining and extending the rules-based economic miracle of the past two centuries. The UK cannot do it alone – and the US and EU are unlikely to do it without the UK. The British are the bridge. And, since growth is the cornerstone of independence, the TTIP could do more to preserve the UK's sovereignty than the abandonment of its historic partners.

    But the necessity of Britain's EU engagement does not mean ignoring eurosceptics. Political dysfunction and economic stasis have increased the trust deficit between Europe's citizens and their politicians. This democratic deficit is as important as our fiscal and trade deficits.

    Closing it will be delicate. Economic initiatives such as the TTIP will be unsustainable without greater support for the EU. It will also be hard to make the economic case for the tough structural reforms that the EU needs if it is to compete in this new century without more trust. Euroscepticism speaks to this issue – a real and messy problem.

    But the Conservative party must learn from the failure of the Republicans in the last US election. The GOP based its strategy on the next news cycle instead of the next generation. My party's emphasis on tactics and personalities served only to disconnect it further from voters. Today's Republican party should be focused not only on tax reform, energy policy and rebuilding the opportunity ladder but also on institutional change – such as cleaning up a system of campaign finance that has become a national embarrassment.

    The need for an inclusive manifesto holds true for the Tories as well. But it is difficult to get people, including members of your own party, to consider your reforms if they think – sometimes with good reason – that you do not like or respect them. The Conservative leadership must be careful not to be dismissive of those with deeply held beliefs, making sure to include them without letting them lead the party down rabbit holes in pursuit of cultural (or European) battles.

    When a party stops solving problems, people move away from it. The Republican party's decay – from Iraq to our tolerance for inanity – is grounded in real policy failures. Our historic successes were in solving big problems. How Mr Cameron proceeds could prove to be valuable well beyond just the economics and the UK. Conservatives everywhere are looking for courageous leadership. If he succeeds, he could have a profound transatlantic impact.

    The writer was formerly governor of Utah, US ambassador to China and a candidate for the Republican party nomination for president

    请根据你所读到的文章内容,完成以下自测题目:

    1.Mr. Huntsman uses the word “democratic deficit”, what is it?

    A.America's democratic system is becoming insolvent.

    B.America's citizens and their politicians do not trust each other.

    C.Europe's citizens and their politicians do not trust each other.

    D.The democratic deficit is the reason for fiscal and trade deficits.

    答案(1)

    2.Ukip Party underlines that UK is a net contributor to EU budget, “losing £120 billion a year”.

    But why Mr. Huntsman believes UK's EU membership is profitable?

    A.UK can get access to EU's vast internal market.

    B.UK can use EU trade block to protect its national industries.

    C.US-EU trade agreement needs UK's effort.

    D.UK is smothered in red tape, thus it needs EU competition.

    答案(2)

    3.“Our historic successes were in solving big problems.” --PM Cameron should do what?

    A.Help EU complete the transatlantic trade and investment partnership with US.

    B.Spread Schröder and Thatcher's deregulatory successes to the rest of EU with Germany.

    C.Show courageous leadership and build trust among the British peopke.

    D.All of above.

    答案(3)

    4.What do we know about Huntsman's political stance?

    A.He believes that focusing on tax reform and energy policy is a mistake.

    B.He does not like Republican party's dealing with the Iraq war.

    C.He claims that GOP's defeat is because it did not pay enough attention to the next generation.

    D.He thinks that conservatives everywhere are looking for courageous leadership.

    答案(4)

    * * *

    (1)答案:C.Europe's citizens and their politicians do not trust each other.

    解释:首先这个概念描述的是欧洲,Political dysfunction and economic stasis have increased the trust deficit… 其次,政客们无力解决经济难题让欧洲的民众对主流政党越来越失望,从而一些民粹思潮开始涌现。洪培博认为,这是一种信任的赤字,解决民主赤字和解决财政和贸易赤字一样重要。D并未提到。

    (2)答案:A.UK can get access to EU's vast internal market.

    解释:A是最大的好处,洪博培指出,由于英国的创新能力和企业家精神比较出色,可以依托欧盟巨大的市场来发展。如果脱离欧盟,各种内部成员才享有的好处和优惠就都没有了。B不正确,欧盟的自由贸易关税同盟can preserve and reward British innovation and entrepreneurship,A的好处是自由贸易而非保护主义。事实上,英美一直是西方国家中自贸传统最深厚的。C正确,这是美国支持英国留下的原因,“英国能从美欧贸易协定中获利”,才是问题的答案。D说的是欧陆国家,而非英国。

    (3)答案:D.All of above.

    解释:ABC都是正确的。

    洪博培的建议可以总结为这三个方面,当然了,没有一件事是容易做的。面对陷入欧洲怀疑主义的本党同僚,卡梅伦被迫制定了英国“脱欧公投”计划。

    (4)答案:C

    解释stance立场的意思是对某个或某些议题支持与否、赞成与否,也就是二选一式的。A不正确是因为他认为,仅仅关注这些问题是不够的,还需要想办法改革选举募资制度。CD都是他的观点和主张,但这是开放式的,不是二选一式的。

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