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今日主题：如何拯救欧元（节选）

Europe's currency crisis-How to save the euro

It requires urgent action on a huge scale. Unless Germany rises to the challenge, disaster looms

Sep 17th 2011 SO GRAVE, so menacing, so unstoppable has the euro crisis become that even rescue talk only fuels ever-rising panic. Investors have sniffed out that Europe’s leaders seem unwilling ever to do enough. Yet unless politicians act fast to persuade the world that their desire to preserve the euro is greater than the markets’ ability to bet against it, the single currency faces ruin. As credit lines gum up and outsiders plead for action, it is not just the euro that is at risk, but the future of the European Union and the health of the world economy.

 新航道小编注解：sniff out  发现；寻找；嗅出   bet against  打赌；打赌断定（某事）一定不会发生

credit line  信用额度；  gum up  搞乱；把事情弄糟  plead for  请求；为……辩护

欧元危机如此严重，如此险恶，甚至无法阻挡，以至于拯救会谈反而使恐慌更加蔓延。投资者们已经意识到欧洲领导人不愿意做出巨大努力（来拯救这场危机）。除非政治家们马上以行动告诉世界——他们保护欧元的意愿大大超过了市场做空的能力。因为信用额度崩坏，外界都在号召行动，现在不仅仅是欧元命悬，整个欧盟和世界经济都遭受着严重危机。

 It is a sobering thought that so much depends on the leadership of squabbling European politicians who still consistently underestimate what confronts them. But the only way to stop the downward spiral now is an act of supreme collective will by euro-zone governments to erect a barrage of financial measures to stave off the crisis and put the governance of the euro on a sounder footing.

 新航道小编注解：an act of supreme collective  高度统一的行动  a barrage of  大量的  

stave off 避开，延缓  the governance of  对于……的管理

必须清醒地认识到过分依赖争吵不休的欧洲领导人是不明智的，他们一直低估了所面临的危机。现在能阻止危机的方式是欧元区各国统一采取行动，制定一系列财政措施来延缓危机，并在更合理的基础上管理欧元。

 The costs will be large. Few people, least of all this newspaper, want either vast intervention in financial markets or a big shift of national sovereignty to Europe. Nor do many welcome a bigger divide between the 17 countries of the euro zone and the EU’s remaining ten. It is just that the alternatives are far worse. That is the blunt truth that Germany’s Angela Merkel, in particular, urgently needs to explain to her people.

 新航道小编注解：least of all  尤其，最不  far worse  更糟糕

这么做的代价将会很大。现在摆在德国总理默克尔面前的就只有两个选择，要么是对金融市场的大规模干预，并动用欧洲国家的主权；要么将欧元区的17个国家和剩余的欧盟10国分离开来。只是，第二种方法更糟糕。不管是哪一个，她都必须尽快和德国人阐明其中的利害关系。

 The failure of austerity and pretence

财政紧缩政策的失败和掩盖事实真相

A rescue must do four things fast. First, it must make clear which of Europe’s governments are deemed illiquid and which are insolvent, giving unlimited backing to the solvent governments but restructuring the debt of those that can never repay it. Second, it has to shore up Europe’s banks to ensure they can withstand a sovereign default. Third, it needs to shift the euro zone’s macroeconomic policy from its obsession with budget-cutting towards an agenda for growth. And finally, it must start the process of designing a new system to stop such a mess ever being created again.

 新航道小编注解：make clear  解释清楚；讲明   be deemed  被视为，被认为  

shore up  支持；支撑；加固  shift…from…to/towards  从……转变为……

拯救行动必须尽快做四件事。首先必须明确欧洲各国那些缺乏流动性，哪些即将破产，对有偿还能力的政府提供全力援助，对美有常怀能力的政府进行债务重组。其次，大力支持欧元区银行，确保他们经受住主权债务违约危机。第三，complete改变欧元区的宏观经济政策，停止削减财政预算，将精力转到经济增长上来。，必须开始着手设计新的体系，以防止类似危机再次发生。

 The fourth part will take a long time to complete: it will involve new treaties and approval by parliaments and voters. The others need to be decided on speedily (say over a weekend, when the markets are shut) with the clear aim that European governments and the European Central Bank (ECB) act together to end today’s vicious circle of panic, in which the weakness of government finances, the fragility of banks and worries about low growth all feed on each other.

 第四步是一个长期过程，它包括签署新的条约，并得到各国议会和选民的批准。而其它三项则必须尽快完成（假定市场关闭时一个多星期），欧洲各国和欧洲中央银行（ECB）必须明确目标，一致行动来终结这种恐慌恶性循环：政府财政状况疲软，银行体系脆弱和市场对经济低增长的担忧互相影响。

 So far the euro zone’s response has relied too much on two things: austerity and pretence. Sharply cutting budget deficits has been the priority—hence the tax rises and spending cuts. But this collectively huge fiscal contraction is self-defeating. By driving enfeebled economies into recession it only increases worries about both government debts and European banks. And mere budget-cutting does not deal with the real cause of the mess, which is a loss of credibility.

 迄今为止，欧元区政府对危机的反应太依赖于两件事情：财政紧缩政策和掩盖事实真相。大幅削减财政赤字是很多政府的措施，而因此税收上涨，政府支出下降。但这种大规模集体财政紧缩就会弄巧成拙，它使本来就疲软的经济更加每况愈下，加深了人们对政府债务和欧洲银行的担忧。而在不考虑危机真正原因下实施的财政减缩政策反而会降低公信度。