英语时事翻译: 中美有关人民币的货币之争

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2020980,00.html

 

请教各位的问题
1/这里的facto peg 是什么意思? Beijing ended a two-year de facto peg between the yuan and the dollar in June

2/这里的agenda 是什么意思? That beggar-thy-neighbor agenda encourages others to pursue similar policies

 

Once again the U.S. and China find themselves in a spat over the Chinese currency, the yuan. Many politicians and economists in the U.S. believe that Beijing manipulates the yuan's value to keep it artificially cheap to give Chinese exports an unfair price advantage in international markets, thus holding back America's economic recovery. In a sign of growing frustration in Washington, a bill in the House of Representatives would direct the U.S. government to slap punitive duties on goods from countries that keep their currencies undervalued. The bill is clearly targeted at China. One of its authors, Congressman Tim Ryan, recently warned that the U.S. "cannot continue to look the other way as China's currency policies slowly but steadily smother what remains of our American manufacturing." An adviser to China's central bank shot back that Beijing "will not appreciate the yuan solely because of external pressure."

中美又开始因中国货币人民币的问题争吵. 美国的许多政客和经济学家认为北京操纵人民币，人为地贬值使得中国出口商在国际市场上得到不公正的价格优势，从而遏制了美国的经济复苏.  华盛顿的恼怒不断上升迹象是:众议院的一项议案要求政府对来自低估本币汇率国家的货物征收惩罚性关税.  此议案矛头直指中国. 发起人之一的议员TIM RYAN近来警告美国政府"不能继续左顾而言他，而中国的货币政策正在慢慢地但是稳定地窒息我们美国剩下的生产业." 一中国央行顾问回击说北京"不会仅仅因为外界的压力而使人民币升值".

Beijing ended a two-year de facto peg between the yuan and the dollar in June. Since then, the yuan has appreciated less than 2% against the dollar, with much of that change suspiciously coming in the days surrounding congressional testimony by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on China's yuan policy. Geithner said China intervenes in currency markets "on a very substantial scale to limit the upward pressure of market forces" on the yuan. How much the yuan is undervalued is a matter of speculation and debate. But clearly it is undervalued. We know this because it tends to get stronger when Beijing does allow its value to change.

六月份，北京结束了为期两年的人民币和美元挂钩. 从那以来，人民币相对于美元升值了不到百分之二，被疑为仅为在美国财政秘书TIMOTHY GEIGHNER在国会听证前后的日子作出的变化. GEIGHNER说中国干涉货币市场，大幅度抑制市场人民币上扬的压力. 人民币在多大程度上被贬值只是个需要推测和辩论的问题. 但是很清楚人民币是被贬值了的. 我们知道这个因为北京在同意人民币改变价值的时候，人民币倾向于更坚挺.

 

Nevertheless, a stronger yuan is no cure-all for America's economic ills. Sure, if Beijing allowed the yuan to appreciate, China's giant trade surplus with the U.S. — the main target of Washington's ire — could shrink. Imports would become cheaper for Chinese consumers and companies, stimulating American exports to China and creating badly needed jobs in the U.S. But a stronger yuan would not automatically balance trade between the U.S. and China. Between 2005 and 2008, when the yuan appreciated about 21% against the dollar, America's trade deficit with China increased. China simply produces too many of the basic consumer goods Americans need to buy, from toys to PCs. That's why fixing the imbalances between the two countries will take much more than currency movements. It requires major structural reforms in both economies. Americans have to save more and spend less; Chinese have to spend more and save less.

无论如何，人民币升值并非是解决美国经济问题的万能药.  肯定的是，如果北京同意人民币升值，中国相对于美国的巨额贸易顺差(华盛顿怒气冲冲的主要目标)就会减缩. 进口货对于中国消费者和公司会更便宜，会刺激美国对华出口，增加美国急需的就业岗位. 但是人民币升值不会自动平衡中美贸易. 在2005年到2008年间，人民币相对于美元升值百分之二十一，而美国对华贸易赤字却增长了. 中国只是生产了过多的美国人需要购买的从玩具到电脑的基本消费产品. 鉴于此，要解决双方的不平衡，需要做出比货币进展更多的事情.  双方经济上都要作出重要的结构性改革. 美国必须增加储存减少消费，而中国需要增加消费减少储存.

A more expensive yuan can hurt Americans as well. It means heftier price tags on Chinese-made goods on Walmart shelves, taxing American consumers already stretched by unemployment and debt. Nor would a stronger yuan encourage factories and jobs to return to the U.S. from across the Pacific. Yes, yuan appreciation would make many export factories in China less competitive. But those factories would more likely relocate to the many other developing nations — India, Indonesia and so on — where costs are significantly lower than America's.

人民币价值过高也会损害美国利益. 这意味着在沃尔玛货架上中国制造的产品会大幅度涨价，让饱受失业和债务压力的美国消费者增加负担. 人民币升值也不会鼓励工厂和工作岗位跨过太平洋回到美国来. 确实，人民币升值会让中国出口工厂减少竞争力. 但是这些工厂可能会外迁到许多别的发展中国家: 印度，印尼等等，这些地方的成本比美国低得多.

 

Still, by strictly controlling the value of its currency, China's signal to the world is: We want to export to you for the good of our own recovery, not yours. That beggar-thy-neighbor agenda encourages others to pursue similar policies. On Sept. 15, Japan intervened in currency markets for the first time in six years to depress the value of a rising yen, hoping to help its exporters compete with those from China and elsewhere. That raises the specter of a round of competitive devaluations — just the kind of mercantilist nightmare that could derail the already shaky recovery from the Great Recession. By maintaining an undervalued yuan, moreover, Beijing is hurting poorer countries. The cheap yuan stunts their export sectors by keeping Chinese manufactured goods competitive vs. rival products from emerging economies with lower costs.

还有，通过严格控制其货币的价值，中国发给世界的信号是: 我们想出口给你们是为了我们的复苏，不是为了你们. 这种损人利己的做法会鼓励其他国家采取类似政策.  9月15日，日本六年来首次干涉货币市场以便贬低正在升值的日元，希望借此来帮助其出口商增加与中国和其他国家的竞争力. 此举引发了轮番竞争性贬值的幽灵 正如那种恶性营利的噩梦，可以使得复苏脱轨，这种在大萧条中的复苏，本来就极其脆弱.

Most of all, China should reform its yuan policy for its own good. Policymakers fret that a sharp increase in the yuan's value would undercut the nation's export machine and cost valuable jobs. Yet China's past experience with yuan appreciation shows that its exporters can survive, and even thrive, not least because imported components and raw materials cost less. Beijing dreams of the yuan becoming a force in global trade and finance; that will never materialize unless the government loosens its grip. A stronger yuan would also pressure Chinese companies to become more efficient and high tech, which is a major goal of Beijing's. And it would help with the crucial transformation of China's invest-and-export growth engine to one based more on domestic consumption. That would make the economy less reliant on global demand, state spending and debt-driven investment.

A stronger yuan is good for just about everybody. Until Beijing awakes to that reality, China's controversial currency will remain a flash point in the country's relations with the rest of the world and an impediment to global economic progress.

最重要的是，中国应该为了自己的利益改革人民币政策. 决策人担心人民币大幅度升值会减弱国家的出口机器，工作成本上涨. 然而中国过去的人民币升值经验显示，由于进口元件和原材料成本降低，其出口商至少可以生存下去，甚至蓬勃发展. 北京梦想人民币在全球贸易和金融中成为一个重要力量. 这永远不会实现除非政府松绑. 人民币升值也会促使中国公司提高效率，转向高科技，这些都是北京的主要目标. 这也会帮助中国从投资出口的发展引擎转向到更多建立在内需的发展模式上. 这会使经济更少依赖全球需求，政府支出和债务驱动下的投资. 人民币升值对每个人都有好处. 北京在意识到这个现实之前，中国有争议的货币一直会成为中国和世界其他国家关系中的爆炸点，会阻碍全球经济的进步.