CoolDown 经济学人阅读(8) - The tower and the anger

The tower and the anger

文章选自2017/6/24的The Economist。 这里对文章进行生词释义和句子分析，仅供学习使用，欢迎交流。

导读： 英国继续不平静。 伦敦的Grenfell Tower大火，再次引起公众的不满。 对Theresa May政府的紧缩政策产生了深深的质疑。 监管不严，救灾不力。 英国究竟怎么了？

• 很押韵的标题， 指代前一段时间发生的伦敦Grenfell Tower的大火, 以及因为这场大火，更加愤怒的民众

A horrific London fire raises more questions for Theresa May’s embattled government

一场骇人听闻的大火对艰难的Theresa政权提出了更多问题

• horrific(adj.): 令人恐惧的，骇人的
• embattled(adj.): 处于困境的

It feels as if Britain has been visited by a battalion of sorrows. Deadly attacks by, and this week against, Muslims have shattered the belief that the security services can shield Britain from the terrorism afflicting the continent. A minority government has taken office under a prime minister who has no authority, ushering in chronic instability. And, as if to symbolise it all, an inferno at the Grenfell Tower in London’s richest borough claimed at least 79 lives of its poorest residents. Britons are searching for a moral that measures up to the catastrophe.

英国似乎正在经历一连串的考验。 恐怖袭击， 穆斯林彻底粉碎了大家对英国安全服务的信心。 少数党执政， 政局严重不稳定。 Grenfell Tower的大火。

• a battalion of: 一大群，一大批。 一般指一群有组织， 高效率， 有特定目的的人。 这里指代麻烦不断(sorrow)
• shatter the belief: 使信念粉碎
• shield from: 保护，掩护，庇护
• afflict(v.): 折磨，使痛苦
• chronic instability: 严重的不稳定。'chronic'用于形容政局势态严峻
• inferno(n.): 熊熊烈火
• borough(n.): 自治镇，行政区
• Briton(n.): 英国公民
• moral(n.): (由事件引出的)道德训诫，寓意

Many possible morals have been overblown, sometimes to the point of exploitation. Capitalism has not failed. Britain’s tall buildings should not, as some say, be branded unfit for human habitation-but be made safer instead (see page 50). The fire at Grenfell Tower was not the fault of European Union regulation: other countries ban the exterior cladding that is thought to have spread it, as Britain claims to for tall buildings. This was not an indictment of private property or a justification for expropriating nearby houses, however rich their owners. It was a moment for people to take care of grieving neighbours made homeless. Nor was it an argument against deregulation. Having too many rules leads to a culture of non-compliance that is every bit as lethal as having too few. And it does not mean that public works should never be put out to tender. Run well, contracts use competition to raise standards.

很多指摘是夸大其词的， 有些是过度挖掘。 资本主义还没失败。 英国的高层建筑不应被谴责为是不适合居住的， 只是需要更安全。Grenfell Tower大火不是欧盟条例导致的。人们现在需要给予无家可归的人更多关注。 并且相信招标是有利于提升水准的

• overblown(adj.): 夸大其词的，过分的
• brand(v.): 加污名于，谴责
  e.g. I was instantly branded as a rebel. 转眼间我被污蔑为叛徒
• unfit for human habitation: 不适合人居住
• exterior cladding: 外部镀层
• indictment(n.): 控诉，谴责
• expropriate(v.): 征用
• put out to tender: 招标
• raise standards: 提升水准

The most important lesson of the past few weeks is less far-reaching. Britons are tired of austerity (see page 47). In the election campaign, Labour’s promise of greatly increased public spending appealed to voters who have felt Tory cuts begin to bite. When Jeremy Corbyn, Labour’s leader, blamed terrorism on police cuts, many people agreed with him. And the complaints that hit home most deeply after Grenfell Tower were that the building had been clad on the cheap, that the local council had no capacity to respond to the disaster and that austerity has been imposed for longer and more harshly on the poor—the very people who lived in the tower.

过去几周以来最重要的教训远没有那么深远的影响。 英国人已经厌倦了紧缩政策。 Grenfell Tower救灾不力，正印证了削减公共支出，特别是警力削减带来的危害

• far-reaching(adj.): 影响深远的，意义重大的
  e.g. The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险
• austerity(n.): 紧缩政策
• public spending: 公共开支
• begin to bite: 开始产生不良的影响
• hit home: 击中要害，触及痛处

That has two implications. The first is how a focus on paying for public services will affect the issue that will dominate this parliament. In setting out her aims for the Brexit negotiations, which got under way this week, Theresa May made controlling immigration a priority. Everything flowed from her insistence that Britain had to get immigration down to 100,000 or fewer, ideally within the next five years. Yet, if limiting austerity is now the aim, immigration must fall right down the list. Instead, Brexit should be about doing the best for the economy—as the chancellor, Philip Hammond, said this week (see Bagehot). Being open to immigration makes a compromise over access to EU markets easier and boosts growth directly.

这有两层含义。 其一就是如何将重点放在公共服务上，将会成为国会的主导问题。Theresa May将控制移民的数量作为了工作重点。她正在极可能地限制移民的数量。 但是Hammon认为， 放开移民政策作为妥协是接入欧盟市场的好方法，可以直接促进经济增长。

• set out: 陈述(主意，主张，原因)
• get under way: 开始进行
• make sth a priority: 将...作为重点
• flow from: 由...产生
  e.g. Many benefits will flow from this discovery. 这项发现将带来许多好处
• fall right down: 出现在，落在

A time for honesty
The second implication is that Britain needs a debate about the balance between public services and taxes. At the moment, voters demand standards of health care, education and local government for which they seem unwilling to pay. Mr Corbyn promised that someone else will do so: the very rich and companies. But the very rich will leave the country and companies will pass taxes on to citizens. An honest debate would focus not only on tax rates but also on value for money. It might involve more efficient regulation and outsourcing services that can be better supplied by private firms—the things the rushers-to-judgment condemned after Grenfell.

第二层含义则是英国需要针对公共服务支出与税收平衡进行辩论。 选举人期望得到高水平的医疗和教育， 但政府似乎不愿意为这些需求买单。 Corbyn许诺他会让那部分富人和大公司来偿付。 但事实是这两个群体会将这些费用转嫁到公民身上。

• honest debate: 坦诚的辩论
• value for money: 物有所值， 性价比高
  e.g. They have to be part of a process that delivers quality and value for money.
• efficient regulation: 有效的调整
• outsourcing services: 外包服务

Do not imagine that this debate will be easy or civilised. It will be fought on the picket line and in the street as well as in Parliament. But it must take place, and its outcome will determine Britain’s path for years to come.

这注定将会是艰难的辩论。 但是是必须的，并且结果将会左右英国接下来几年的道路

• picket line: 纠察线， 抗议的人墙