经济学人精读第二季教材.docx

1、经济学人精读第二季教材Passage 1: Seize the day Jan 17th 2015 | From the print edition The fall in the price of oil and gas provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix bad energy policies. MOST of the time, economic policymaking is about tinkering at the edges. Politicians argue furiously about modest ch

2、anges to taxes or spending. Once in a while, however, momentous shifts are possible. From Deng Xiaoping s market opening in 1978 to Poland s adoption of “shock therapy” in 1990, bold politicians have seized propitious circumstances to push through reforms that transformed their countries. Such a onc

3、e-in-a-generation opportunity exists today. The plunging price of oil, coupled with advances in clean energy and conservation, offers politicians around the world the chance to rationalise energy policy. They can get rid of billions of dollars of distorting subsidies, especially for dirty fuels, whi

4、lst shifting taxes towards carbon use. A cheaper, greener and more reliable energy future could be within reach. The most obvious reason for optimism is the plunge in energy costs. Not only has the price of oil halved in the past six months, but natural gas is the cheapest it has been in a decade, b

5、ar a few panicked months after Lehman Brothers collapsed, when the world economy appeared to be imploding. There are growing signs that low prices are here to stay: the rising chatter of megamergers in the oil industry is a sure sign that oilmen are bracing for a shake-out. Less noticed, the price o

6、f cleaner forms of energy is also falling, as our special report this week explains. And new technology is allowing better management of the consumption of energy, especially electricity. That should help cut waste and thus lower costs still further. For decades the big question about energy was whe

7、ther the world could produce enough of it, in any form and at any cost. Now, suddenly, the challenge should be one of managing abundance. Clean up a dirty business That abundance provides the potential for reform. Far too many economies are littered with the detritus of daft energy policies, based o

8、n fears about supply. Even though fracking has boosted America s oil output by two-thirds in just four years, the country still bans the export of oil and restricts exports of natural gas, a legacy of the oil shocks of the 1970sand a boondoggle for American refiners and petrochemical firms. Congress

9、 also keeps handing out money to Iowa s already coddled corn farmers to produce ethanol and has not reviewed generous subsidies for nuclear power despite the Fukushima disaster and ruinous cost over-runs at new Western plants. Instead, it has spent four long years bickering about whether to allow th

10、e proposed Keystone XL pipeline to Canada s tar sands. In Europe the giveaways are a little differentbillions have gone to wind and solar projectsbut the same madness often prevails: Germany s rushed exit from nuclear power ended up helping boost American coal and Russian gas. The most straightforwa

11、rd piece of reform, pretty much everywhere, is simply to remove all the subsidies for producing or consuming fossil fuels. Last year governments around the world threw $550 billion down that ratholeon everything from holding down the price of petrol in poor countries to encouraging companies to sear

12、ch for oil. By one count, such handouts led to extra consumption that was responsible for 36% of global carbon emissions in. Falling prices provide an opportunity to rethink this nonsense. Cash-strapped developing countries such as India and Indonesia have bravely begun to cut fuel subsidies, freein

13、g up money to spend on hospitals and schools. But the big oil exporters in the poor world, which tend to be the most egregious subsidisers of domestic fuel prices, have not followed their lead. Venezuela is close to default, yet petrol still costs a few cents a litre in Caracas. And rich countries s

14、till underwrite the production of oil and gas. Why should American taxpayers pay for Exxon to find hydrocarbons? All these subsidies should be binned. What a better policy would look like That should be just the beginning. Politicians, for the most part, have refused to raise taxes on fossil fuels i

15、n recent years, on the grounds that making driving or heating homes more expensive would not only annoy voters but also hurt the economy. With petrol and natural gas getting cheaper by the day, that excuse has gone. Higher taxes would encourage conservation, dampen future price swings and provide a

16、more sensible way for governments to raise money. An obvious starting point is to target petrol. America s federal government levies a tax of just 18 cents a gallon (five cents a litre)a figure that it has not dared change since 1993. Even better would be a tax on carbon. Burning fossil fuels harms

17、the health of both the planet and its inhabitants. Taxing carbon would nudge energy firms and consumers towards using cleaner fuels. As fuel prices fall, a carbon tax is becoming less politically daunting. That points to the biggest blessing cheaper energy brings: the chance to inject some coherence

18、 into the worlds energy policies. Governments have a legitimate role in making sure that energy is abundant, clean and secure. But they need to learn the difference between picking goals and deciding how to reach them. Broad incentives are fine; second-guessing scientists and investors is not. A car

19、bon tax, in other words, is a much better way to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases than subsidies for windmills and nuclear plants. By the same token, in the name of security of supply, governments should be encouraging the growth of seamless global energy markets. Scrapping unfair obstacles to e

20、nergy investments is just as important as dispensing with subsidies. The more cross-border pipelines and power cables the better. America should approve Keystone XL and lift its export restrictions, while European politicians should make it much easier to exploit the oil and gas in the shale beneath

21、 their feet. This ambitious to-do list will drive regiments of energy lobbyists potty. But for the first time in years it is within the realm of the politically possible. And it would plainly lead to a more efficient and greener energy future. So our message to politicians is a simple one. Seize the

22、 day. 中文翻译第一篇：抓住现在 石油和天然气价格的下跌为修正差劲的能源政策提供了一代人只有一次的机遇。 在大多数时间中，经济方面的决策无非就是在做些修修补补的工作。政客们会为了税收或开支方面的些许变动而激烈争吵。然而，重大的转变，有时也是可能的。从邓小平在 1978 年提出市场开放到波兰在 1990 年接受“休克疗法”，大胆的政客始终能够抓住合适的时机推进变革，而这些变革也改变了他们的国家。如今，像这种一代人只有一次的机会已经出现。 油价的暴跌以及清洁能源和节能方面的技术进步，为世界各国的政客理顺能源政策提供了机遇。他们一方面能够甩掉数千亿美元的各类扭曲补贴，尤其是针对肮脏燃料补贴，另一

23、方面还能转而对碳排放行为征税。一个更加便宜、更加清洁、更加可靠的能源未来已经触手可即。 乐观的最明显理由是能源成本的大幅下降。不仅油价在过去的 6 个月中跌去了一半，天然气的价格也是十年中最便宜的时候，而这种情况只在雷曼兄弟倒闭后人心惶惶的那几个月中出现过。当时，全球经济似乎就要在劫难逃。如今，越来越多的迹象表明，当前的低价情况将持续下去。石油行业有关超级并购的传言正在日见增多，而这正是石油大鳄们为行业大洗牌做准备的明确信号。正如本报在本周的专题报道中所言，一个较为不受关注的事实是，各种清洁能源的价格也在下跌。与此同时，新技术正在允许人们对能源消费，尤其是电力消费，实施更好的管理。这应当有助于

24、减少浪费，从而进一步降低成本。几十年来，涉及能源的一大问题是：世界各国能否生产出足够的能源，不管何种能源，也不管其成本如何。如今，突然之间，挑战应当是管理充裕能源的问题。 清除重污染产业 充裕性为改革提供了契机。太多的经济体遍布着各种愚蠢能源政策的残余，而这些愚蠢的政策无不是基于对能源供应的担忧而制定的。纵然压裂革命已经让美国石油产量仅在过去4 年中就大涨了三分之二，但是他们仍然禁止石油出口，仍然限制天然气出口。这是上世纪 70 年代石油危机的遗产，也是对炼化企业的一项无效投资。 国会仍旧在给艾奥瓦州早已享受特殊待遇的玉米种植者提供资金来生产乙醇，并且始终未对各种大手大脚的核能补贴进行再评估，

25、尽管已经有福岛核灾难和西部核电站因超期服役而陷入运营成本高昂这样的事实存在。相反，国会把过去 4 年都花在了是否应该批准拟议中的通往加拿大油砂产地的基石 XL 管道项目上面。欧洲各国的大手大脚与美国稍有不同。他们是把上百亿的资金都投入了风能和太阳能项目。但是，双方在不疯魔不成活这一点上却如出一辙：德国放弃核能的仓促之举造就了美国煤炭行业和俄罗斯天然气行业的繁荣。 对大多数国家来说，最直接的改革之举就是简单地废除为生产和消费各种化石燃料而提供的所有补贴。去年，各国政府为填补这个无底洞扔进了 5500 亿美元，这其中既包括穷国为保持汽油价格低廉而发放的补贴，也有为鼓励企业去寻找石油而投入的资金。据

26、估算，这些慷慨之举带来了应为全球在 1980 年2010 年间 36的二氧化碳排放量负责的额外消费。 不断下跌的价格为反思这种浪费提供了机会。像印度和印尼这样为现金所困的发展中国家，已经勇敢地开启了削减各种燃料补贴的改革，由此而节省下来的钱将用于医疗和教育。但是，穷国中的某些石油输出大国他们同时往往也是在燃油补贴方面最为臭名昭著的国家并没有效仿这些先行者。委内瑞拉已经接近违约，但是加拉加斯的汽油仍然只卖几美分一升。 与此同时，富裕国家仍在包销石油和天然气产品。美国纳税人凭什么要为美孚寻找碳氢化合物买单呢？这些补贴理应被全部废除。 更好的政策会是什么样 这应当只是开始。从很大程度上来说，近年来是

27、政客在拒绝提高化石燃料税。他们这样做是基于以下这种考虑：提高对化石燃料的征税会让驾车出行和取暖变得更加昂贵，这不仅会惹恼选民，还会伤害经济。鉴于汽油和天然气价格一天比一天便宜，这种借口已经不存在了。提高征税会鼓励环保，抑制未来的价格波动，并为政府筹集资金提供一种更加合理的方式。 第一步明显应当把目标对准汽油。美国联邦政府对汽油的征税标准只有每加仑 18 美分（合每公升 5 美分），这是一个自 1993 年以来无人敢去改变的数字。相比之下，征收二氧化碳税会是一个更好的选择。燃烧化石燃料既有害于这个星球，也有害于生活在这个星球上的居民。征收二氧化碳征税会推动能源企业和消费者转而使用更加清洁的燃料。

28、随着燃料价格的下跌，从政治层面来讲，征收二氧化碳税正在变得不再那么令人畏手畏脚了。 征收二氧化碳税指向更加便宜的能源所能够带来的最大好处：将某中连贯性注入世界能源政策的机遇。各国政府在确保能源充裕、清洁和安全方面拥有合法的角色。但是，他们需要了解选择目标与决定如何达成目标之间的不同。广泛的激励是对的；对科学家和投资者评头论足就不对了。换言之，相比为风能和核能提供补贴，征收二氧化碳税是一种更好的降低温室气体排放的方式。 同理，各国政府应当以供应安全为名，鼓励全球能源市场向一体化方向发展。废除对能源投资的各种不公平障碍恰如废除各种补贴一样重要。跨国管道越多，能源网络越好。美国应当通过基石 XL 项

29、目，取消对能源出口的种种限制。欧洲政客应当让开发自己脚下的页岩油和页岩气变得更加易行。 这个野心勃勃的待办清单会令能源说客们坐卧不安。但是，这是这个清单多年来第一次有可能在政治方面获得成功。它会带来一个更加高效、更加清洁的能源未来。我们对政客们传递的信息简单明了。那就是：抓住今天。 Passage 2: Planet of the phones Feb 28th 2015 | From the print edition The smartphone is ubiquitous, addictive and transformative. THE dawn of the planet of t

30、he smartphones came in January 2007, when Steve Jobs, Apples chief executive, in front of a rapt audience of Apple acolytes, brandished a slab of plastic, metal and silicon not much bigger than a Kit Kat. “This will change everything,” he promised. For once there was no hyperbole. Just eight years l

31、ater Apples iPhone exemplifies the early 21st centurys defining technology. Smartphones matter partly because of their ubiquity. They have become the fastest-selling gadgets in history, outstripping the growth of the simple mobile phones that preceded them. They outsell personal computers four to on

32、e. Today about half the adult population owns a smartphone; by 2020, 80% will. Smartphones have also penetrated every aspect of daily life. The average American is buried in one for over two hours every day. Asked which media they would miss most, British teenagers pick mobile devices over TV sets, PCs and games consoles. Nearly 80% of smartphone-owners check messages, news or other services within 15 minutes of getting up. About 10% admit to having used the gadget during sex. The bedroom is just the beginning. Smartphones are more than a convenient route online, rathe