The chancellor wants to rein in government spending, but not yet
财政大臣想要控制政府开支，但还不是时候
图片来自经济学人杂志
The chancellor wants to rein in government spending, but not yet
财政大臣想要控制政府开支，但还不是时候
Britain had a particularly bad bout of covid-19 and took an especially large economic hit as a result. In response the government provided more fiscal stimulus than almost any other in the world, paying millions of people s wages and bailing out businesses to the tune of 16% of GDP. As Britain slowly lifts its lockdown the conversation has turned to balancing the books, and ahead of the budget on March 3rd the Treasury briefed that fiscal austerity was in store. Yet Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the exchequer, will wait to turn the screws. He delivered a surprisingly generous budget, and has postponed tax rises. Like a fiscal St Augustine, he wants continence but not yet.
英国经历了一场特别严重的新冠肺炎疫情，并因此遭受了特别大的经济打击。作为回应，政府提供了比世界上任何一个国家都多的财政刺激，支付了数百万人的工资，救助了占GDP 16%的企业。随着英国慢慢解除*锁封**，话题已转向平衡账目上，在3月3日预算公布前，财政部简要通报了财政紧缩的计划。然而，财政大臣里希•苏纳克将等待扭转局面断的时机。他提供了一个非常的慷慨的预算，并推迟了增税。就像财政大臣圣奥古斯丁一样，他想要节制，但不是现在。
注：
1.fiscal adj. 会计的，财政的；国库的
2.bail out 跳伞；保释；放弃，退出；舀出；帮助......摆脱困境
3.austerity n. 紧缩；朴素；苦行；严厉
4.chancellor n. 总理（德、奥等的）；（英）大臣；校长（美国某些大学的）；（英）*法大**官；（美）首席法官
5.exchequer n. 财源；国库；财政部
6.postpone vt. 使……延期；把……放在次要地位；把……放在后面
vi. 延缓，延迟；延缓发作
7.continence n. 自制，克制；节欲（尤指禁欲）
The budget represents the synthesis of two opposing forces. On the one hand Mr Sunak wants to placate a range of hawkish constituencies, such as Thatcherite backbench Tory MPS who would rather the government keep taxes low and bond traders who in recent weeks have sold their investments in sovereign debt. On the other hand he is rightly concerned not to repeat the mistake of his predecessor-but-two: after the financial crisis in 2007-09 George Osborne cut spending and raised taxes too soon, thereby delaying the recovery.
预算是两种对立力量的综合。一方面，苏纳克先生想要安抚一系列的鹰派选民，比如宁愿政府保持低税率的撒切尔主义保守*党**后座议员，以及最近几周出售主权债务投资的债券交易员。另一方面，他有理由担心不会重蹈前任的两个错误:在2007-09年金融危机之后，乔治•奥斯本过早地削减开支和增税，从而推迟了经济复苏
注：
1. placte vt. 抚慰；怀柔；使和解
2. sovereign n. 君主；独立国；金磅
adj. 至高无上的；有主权的；拥有最高统治权的；不折不扣的；有效的
Policies in this budget are designed to help Britain out of its deep economic hole (see Britain section). The extension of the furlough scheme from April to September will put money in people’s pockets, helping power a recovery in household spending. A highly unusual proposal to allow firms to write off 130% of investment expenses against their tax bills is designed to super charge Britain’s perennially low rate of business investment.
预算案中的政策旨在帮助英国走出经济的深洞(见杂志中英国部分)。将休假计划从4月延长到9月将使人们的口袋里有钱，有助于推动家庭支出的复苏。一项非常不寻常的提议，允许企业从税单中扣除130%的投资费用，旨在向英国长期低的商业投资率收取高额费用。
注：
1.furlough n. 休假；暂时解雇；放假
vt. 准假；暂时解雇注：
3. write off 勾销；取消；很快地写好
At the same time, the budget has blind spots. Extending the furlough is better than nothing, but it would have been wiser to focus resources on boosting working-age welfare, currently at its least generous level ever. This would have helped workers move from dying sectors to up-and-coming ones without seeing a sharp drop in their take home income. And a government that likes to trumpet its green credentials should not be buying off voters by freezing taxes on fuel.
与此同时，预算也存在盲点。延长休假总比什么都不做要好，但把资源集中在提高劳动年龄福利上会更明智，目前的福利水平是有史以来最低的。这将帮助工人从垂死的行业转移到蒸蒸日上的行业，而不会看到他们的收入大幅下降。而且，一个喜欢吹嘘自己环保理念的政府不应该通过冻结燃油税来收买选民。
注：
1. trumpet n. 喇叭；喇叭声
vt. 吹喇叭；吹嘘
vi. 吹喇叭；发出喇叭般的声音注：
2.credentials n. 证书；凭据；国书
A bigger difficulty is that there is no credible strategy for righting the fiscal ship. True, Mr Sunak promised to raise corporation tax in 2023 from 19% to 25%. Politically that is astute. It puts the opposition Labour Party into a tricky position, forcing it to decide whether it wants to support the rise (and thus implicitly back austerity) or oppose it (and thus appear to be taking the side of Britain s corporate fat cats).
一个更大的困难是，没有一个可靠的策略来使这艘财政大船调整航线。诚然，苏纳克先生承诺在2023年将企业所得税从19%提高到25%。这在政治上是精明的。这让反对*党**工*党**陷入了一个棘手的境地，迫使它决定是支持加息(从而暗示支持紧缩)还是反对加息(这似乎站在英国有钱的大公司一边)。
注：
1. astute adj. 机敏的；狡猾的，诡计多端的
In economic terms, however, Mr Sunak is being evasive. The yield from even large rises in corporation tax is low. Moreover, will he actually impose such a tax rise just when the 130% investment write off ends and when an election is likely to be just around the corner? It is more probable that the chancellor hopes the coming investment boom is so large that he can cancel most of the tax increase and that he will be able to pass a smaller rise as, in effect, a cut .
然而，在经济方面，苏纳克却在回避问题。公司税即使大幅提高，收益也很低。此外，他真的会在130%的投资冲销结束、大选即将来临之时征收这样的增税吗?更有可能的情况是，这位财政大臣希望即将到来的投资热潮如此之大，以至于他可以取消大部分的增税，并能够通过一项规模较小的增税，实际上是一项削减。
注：
1. evasive adj. 逃避的；托辞的；推托的
At some point, however, politics will catch up with him. That is in part because of Britain’s rapidly ageing population, and in part because the government has bizarrely made no provision whatsoever for virus related costs beyond next year. Britain is on an inexorable trend towards higher budget deficits. It is hard to find much waste in the public sector, which limits the scope to cut spending. The chancellor will have to fall back on higher taxes. He will have to consider slaying sacred Tory cows, including a pledge not to increase income tax. He should consider reform of property and value added taxes. Hawkish rhetoric is all very well, but eventually Mr Sunak will have to follow St Augustine onto the path of fiscal virtue.
然而，在某一时刻，政治情况将会赶上他的预想。部分原因是英国人口迅速老龄化，另一部分原因是政府奇怪地没有为明年以后的病毒相关费用做任何准备。英国正处于预算赤字增加的不可阻挡的趋势中。在公共部门很难找到许多浪费开支的地方，这限制了削减开支的范围。财政大臣将不得不依靠提高税收。他将不得不考虑消灭保守*党**的“神圣牛”，包括保证不增加所得税。他应该考虑改革财产税和增值税。鹰派的言辞固然很好，但最终苏纳克将不得不追随圣奥古斯丁走上财政美德的道路。
注：
1. whatsoever adj/adv/pron. 无论怎样；丝毫
2. provision n. 规定；条款；准备；[经] 供应品
vt. 供给…食物及必需品
3. inexorable adj. 无情的；不屈不挠的；不可阻挡的；无法改变的
4.slay v. 杀，杀死，*杀屠**；谋杀；（非正式）给某人深刻印象，逗笑
n. （纺织）筘座（同 sley）
5. sacred adj. 神的；神圣的；宗教的；庄严的
6. rhetoric n. 修辞，修辞学；华丽的词藻
adj. 花言巧语的
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