(1). Books and Arts; Book Review;Paul Volcker;Tall tale;
文艺;书评;保罗·沃尔克;伟人传奇;
(2). Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence. By William Silber.
《沃尔克:金石为开》威廉· 希尔伯著。
(3). 1: Alan Greenspan may be the most famous central banker of the modern era, but Paul Volcker has been the most influential.
2: He played a crucial diplomatic role during the death of the Bretton Woods financial system in the early 1970s, which severed the link between money and gold and ushered in floating exchange rates.
3: As head of the Federal Reserve from 1979, Mr Volcker then tamed the inflation that ensued, bringing monetary stability in the face of political opposition to the very high interest rates required.
4: In doing so, he set the template for modern economic management, built around an independent central bank with an implicit, or explicit, inflation target.
1: 历任当代央行行长中,或许最知名的是艾伦·格林斯潘(ALAN GREENSPAN),但最有影响力的则是保罗.沃尔克。
2:他于二十世纪七十年代初扮演着至关重要的外交角色,期间货币与黄金脱钩、浮动汇率制被引入、布雷顿森林体系走向瓦解。
3:1979年,沃尔克出任美联储主席。为了控制随之而来的通货膨胀,沃尔克不顾来自政治方面的反对声音,大幅提高利率,带来了货币稳定。
4:借此,他构建了当代经济管理模式,设立了具有明确/隐含通胀目标的一家独立央行。
(4). 1:This long record of public service earns the admiration of William Silber, his new biographer.
2:Mr Volcker could have earned much more on Wall Street.
3:Upon becoming head of the Fed, his salary was halved.
4:To balance their domestic budget, his wife,took a part-time job as a book-keeper and let a room in their flat.
5:He smoked cheap (and smelly) cigars because he could not imagine spending as much as $2 on a stogie.
6:In later life, when he chaired investigations into the UN oil-for-food programme or Arthur Andersen, an accountancy firm, he charged only a token $1 fee.
1:沃尔克的新自传撰写人威廉· 希尔伯(William Silber)对其在公共服务的长期贡献深表敬佩。
2:沃尔克本可在华尔街赚得更多。
3:他的薪水在其出任美联储主席时缩减了一半。
4:为了平衡家庭收支,妻子芭芭拉(Barbara)当时从事着一份记账员的兼职工作,并对外出租了他们公寓里的一个房间。
5:沃尔克则抽着廉价(还有点难闻)的雪茄,原因是他最多肯为每支廉价雪茄支付2美元。
6:后来,不论是在他负责联合国有关 “石油换食品”计划受贿案的调查项目时、还是出任安达信(一家咨询公司)独立监察委员会主席时,沃尔克都仅象征性地收取1美元作为薪酬。
(5). 1:Perhaps the most remarkable fact about Mr Volcker is that he has spent much of his career dealing with Wall Street without being captured by its influence.
2:Mr Silber highlights his subject’s commitment to financial reform, but fails to mention one of his more pointed bon mots—that the only useful modern financial innovation has been the automated teller machine.
3:Such robust cynicism about Wall Street, along with his links to the current president, may explain why Mr Volcker is not a hero of the conservative movement, despite his anti-inflationary credentials.
1:沃尔克未受到华尔街影响,毕其大半精力与之斡旋, 这或许是他最杰出的功绩。
2:希尔伯强调了沃尔克对金融改革所做的贡献,却未提及他更为尖锐的箴——即当代唯一有用的金融创新就是自动提款机。
3:对华尔街如此口出恶言,加之其与现任总统的关系,沃尔克即便有过多么光荣的反通胀传奇也无法成为保守主义运动中的伟人了吧。