【经济学人】最困难的政策 | 2016.11.26 | 总第756期

WHEN Americans elected a businessman as president they created a problem: the risk of conflicts between his business interests and his political role. Already, red lights are flashing.Chinahas just resolved a long-standing legal dispute in Mr Trump’s favour. A developer inIndiahas been marketing a new Trump-branded 75-storey skyscraper under the slogan: “Congratulations Mr President-Elect”.

当美国人民选了一位商人来当他们的总统的时候，出现了一个问题：总统在追逐商业利益的同时能否扮演好他的政治角色。现在问题已经发生了。特朗普在与中国的一个长期纠纷（一桩拖了十年之久的商标纠纷）中胜诉。印度房地产开发商的特朗普冠名的75层摩天大楼开盘，广告语是“恭喜特朗普当选总统”。

• developer [dɪ'veləpə(r)]：（房地产）开发商

• storey ['stɔːrɪ]：楼层

The danger of the White House becoming a subsidiary of the Trump Organisation is real. Some are demanding that Mr Trump liquidate his business. Mr Trump’s allies say he can do what he likes under the law. Both sides want to shred the conventions governing the Oval Office. Instead, Mr Trump should be treated like every American president. He must ring-fence his private interests and put them under independent supervision. It is the only fix that is both principled and practical. If Mr Trump wants to govern without being dogged by second-guessing about how his businesses are contaminating his policies, it is in his own interests, too.

白宫变成特朗普集团子公司的危险已经成为现实。一些人要求特朗普结束他的生意，但特朗普的盟友表示，按照法律规定来看，特朗普可以做他想做的事。双方都想打破以往管理美国的规矩，特朗普先生应该享有和每一位美国总统一样的待遇。他必须限制自己的私人利益，并将其独立管理。这是唯一兼具原则性和实用性的解决方法了。如果特朗普先生打算治理国家的同时不受到人们指指点点说他的生意会影响他的决策，这也只是他自己的利益问题。

川普大厦

America is not about to become UkraineorRussia, where politicians own the commanding heights of the economy. The Trump Organisation is too small and parochial for that (see article). About 70% of its value resides in ten domestic properties. Worth some $4bn, it would beAmerica’s 833rd-largest firm if it was listed. But it is easy to see how abuses might occur given the slipperiness of Mr Trump and his attempts to franchise his brand abroad. He might take decisions about rules that help his firm, or give perks to those he wants to do deals with. Officials, rivals and foreign governments might treat the company differently so as to curry favour with the president.

美国将不会变成像乌克兰或俄罗斯一样，政客控制着国家的经济制高点。因为特朗普集团势力过于弱小还达不到这个程度。集团财产的70%分散在国内十家公司之中。如果进行排名的话，市值40亿美元的特朗普集团大概能在全国排名第833位。但是鉴于特朗普的狡猾特性，以及她试图将自己的集团推向国际，他很可能会出现职权滥用的情况。他也许会出台一系列有利于其集团发展的政策，或者给他想合作的企业一些额外好处。官员、竞争者、国外政府可能为了讨好总统而区别对待他的公司。

• curry favour with：讨好；阿谀奉承；巴结

• commanding heights：制高点; 命脉;

• parochial [pə'rəʊkɪəl]：范围有限的;狭小的;狭隘的

The law is frustratingly silent on how to avoid such dangers. The president and vice-president are exempt from laws stopping members of the executive from directly owning firms. Mr Trump’s proposed solution is to pass control to his three eldest children—Donald, Ivanka and Eric. But they do not enjoy separate business identities from their father, having always been subordinate to him. They have also been involved in his campaign and preparations for the White House. To pass them the keys to the organisation would not create sufficient distance between the president and his business affairs.

但法律对如何避免这类威胁缄默不言。总统和副总统不受该法律的阻碍，这表示执政部门的人员可以直接掌管公司。特朗普先生的提议解决方案是将集团的经营管理权转交给他的三个小孩——唐纳德，伊万卡和艾瑞克。但是他们并不享有独立法人身份，必须一直服从他们父亲的命令。他们也同样参加了总统竞选以及白宫入住的准备工作。因此，将集团管理权转移到他们身上，这并不能有效撇清总统和私人商业事务的关系。

• exempt from [ɪg'zem(p)t]：免除；豁免

An alternative is for Mr Trump to liquidate his assets. But that is impractical. His inauguration is less than 60 days away. To prepare an initial public offering for a well-run firm takes a year. Given its poor disclosure, obscure legal structure and lack of professional management, no reputable investor would buy the Trump Organisation outright. Some of its best properties could be sold quickly, but the dross might take years to offload. The precedent set by a liquidation would also be bad for America, because it would mean that anyone who had built a company would be less likely to run for high office.

另一个备选方案就是清算资产。但这样的可能性几乎为零。他的就职典礼距现在已经不到60天了。对于一个经营良好的企业来说，首次公开募股需要一年的准备时间。鉴于其透明度低，法律结构模糊和专业管理缺乏，不会有声誉良好的投资者愿意直接收购特朗普集团。有些前景好的房地产可以很快被售出，但那些残次品要等上数年时间才能够脱手。开创这样清算资产的先例对于美国来说也毫无益处，因为这就意味着创立公司的人们很难谋求政坛高职。

• Liquidate ['lɪkwɪdeɪt]：n.清算，变卖

• Inauguration [ɪ,nɔːgjʊ'reɪʃ(ə)n] 

• n.就职典礼，开张，总统就职典礼

• Dross [drɒs] : n.残渣，残次品，废料

The best solution is for Mr. Trump to follow precedent and put his assets at arm’s length. The business should also be transparent to Congress and the public. Three steps are required. First, the firm must aggregate its legal entities under one holding company and publish consolidated accounts that capture its entire scope of activity. Second, an independent board of directors must be appointed, and it must appoint an external chief executive. Lastly, this board must be given a mandate that allows it to sell, but not buy, assets; and that requires it to distribute all profits as dividends and to refrain from new foreign investments. The effect would be to turn the Trump Organization into a mature portfolio of domestic property assets which generate rental payments for the Trumps.

对特朗普先生来说，最好的解决办法就是开个先例，让其与其资产保持相对独立。其商业事务也应该对国会和民众保持透明。具体的步骤如下：第一步，特朗普集团必须合计每个控股公司的法人代表，且发布涉及整个集团活动领域的合并账目。第二步，集团需要任命独立的理事会和对外总裁。最后一步，就是必须授予这个理事会出售（但不可买进）资产的权利，这也就需要将总利润分成小部分收益，并且拒绝外国投资。谨遵这些步骤，特朗普集团就会变成一个能够给特朗普带来定期收益的成熟的国内房地产投资产品。

• at arm’s length: 在手臂伸的到的地方，疏远，保留各自主张

• aggregate ['ægrɪgət] : v.合计，总计

• legal entities: 法人

• holding company: 控股公司

• mandate ['mændeɪt] : n.授权，任期，授权令

• portfolio [pɔːt'fəʊlɪəʊ] :

• n.文件夹，作品，投资组合，系列产品

Don’t blemish the brand

不要玷污品牌

If ethical concerns do not persuade Mr. Trump, commercial and political ones might.Already some worry that he may breach a clause in the constitution designed to prevent foreign countries from buying influence. If his conflicts led to disgrace, it would deter reputable firms from doing business with the Trump Organization. High politics, hard cash and close families can be a toxic mix for voters, as the Clintons found after Bill Clinton made $49m from speeches while his wife was secretary of state. This week Mr. Trump said he would “like to do something” to deal with conflicts of interest. Ring-fencing his business and ceding control to independent overseers would do the job.

如果伦理关怀不能说服特朗普，那么商业和政治问题可能打动他。已经有些人开始担心特朗普会违反宪法中为了杜绝外国势力“购买”权利而设置的条款。如果特朗普的利益冲突让他变得进退两难，那么那些声名卓著的投资者将不会再和特朗普集团合作。期待您的翻译，您可以将翻译留言到文章底部，第二天会有详细解析哦。本周，特朗普先生表示他将会“采取一些措施”以应对利益冲突。这意味着，他可能会进行资产隔离，同时把经营管理权让给独立的监管人。

• Blemish ['blemɪʃ] : v.破坏完美，玷污

• Deter [dɪ'tɜː] : v.阻止，威慑

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