中国货币政策从“稳健”转为“从紧”
中国政府宣布，已将货币政策由“稳健”调整为“从紧”。这再度表明，政府担心目前两位数的经济增长会进一步加速。
China has announced it has shifted its monetary policy stance from “prudent” to “tightening” in another sign that Beijing is concerned about the acceleration of an economy already growing at double-digit rates.
本周在北京召开的中央经济工作会议正式作出了这一决定。它表明，中央政府越来越担心，在建筑业热潮升温的背景下，作为经济增长的主要推动力，投资也在再度升温。 The decision, formally taken at an annual economic conference in Beijing this week, signals growing concern that investment, the prime driver of growth, is picking up pace again on the back of rising construction.
政府还担心，目前仅限于食品的通货膨胀将会扩大到其它领域。中央政策表述的变化体现了这方面的担忧，也将给包括央行在内的政策制定者以更大的行动空间，以指导地方金融机构的贷款业务。
The government is also concerned that inflation, which has so far been confined to food, could spill over into other sectors. The change in language symbolises such concerns and will give policymakers, including the central bank, greater leeway to dictate the lending practices of local financial institutions.
北京咨询公司龙洲经讯(Dragonomics)的数据显示，在2004至2006年间，因信贷紧缩和限制性土地政策，建筑业的增长略显萎缩，但在2007年和2008年，势将再次呈现25%的年增速。在政府发展经济适用房的决心推动下，出现了新一轮的繁荣。发展经济适用房是中国政府更广泛政策的一部分，目的是更为平均地分配经济增长所带来的好处。
Construction growth sagged slightly between 2004 and 2006 on credit tightening and restrictive land policies, but is now on track to grow 25 per cent year on year in 2007 and 2008, according to Dragonomics, a Beijing consultancy. The new boom has been driven by the government’s determination to boost low-cost housing as part of its broader policy to distribute the benefits of economic growth more evenly.
瑞银(UBS)驻香港的乔纳森?安德森(Jonathan Anderson)表示：“我不认为(中国央行)想要降低内需。央行只是想要避免任何形式的过快增长。” “I don’t think the [central bank] wants to slow down dom?estic demand. It just wants to avoid any acceleration in growth,” said Jonathan Anderson, of UBS, in Hong Kong.
中国经济在今年前三个季度的增速为11.5%。根据路透社(Reuters)昨天发布的一份投行经济学家调查报告，所有受调查者都认为，中国2008年的经济增速将会再次超过10%。
The economy grew 11.5 per cent in the first three quarters of this year. In a poll of investment bank economists published by Reuters yesterday, all said they expected growth to exceed 10 per cent again in 2008.
持久的通货膨胀尤其令人担心。由于食品价格持续走强，11月份的通胀率料将突破8月份和10月份的6.5%，再创新高。最新月度统计数据将于下周发布。
Persistent inflation is of particular concern, with new monthly figures for November, due to be released next week, on track to break the highs of August and October of 6.5 per cent, because of continued strong food prices.
本次经济工作会议之后发表的一份声明指出：“政府要采取有力措施抑制价格总水平过快上涨，加强……基本生活必需品和其他紧缺商品的生产。”
“The government should take powerful measures to restrain the general level of prices from increasing too fast, and strengthen the production of life necessities...” a statement released after the conference said.
上海拟斥资10亿美元在海内外投资
上海市政府正在组建一家金融投资公司，计划拿出大约10亿美元在海内外进行投资。
Shanghai’s city government is setting up a financial investment company with about $1bn to spend on investments in China and overseas.
这个新投资机构将被命名为“上海金融控股集团”(Shanghai Financial Holdings)。在此之前，中国中央政府采取了一系列举措，通过新成立的中国国家投资公司(China Investment Corporation)和全国社保基金(National Social Security Fund)，大力促进海外投资。
The new agency, to be called Shanghai Financial Holdings, follows moves by the central government in Beijing to promote overseas investment through the newly established China Investment Corporation and the National Social Security Fund.
上海金融控股还将接管上海国际集团(Shanghai International Group)的金融资产。上海国际集团是上海市政府现有的控股公司，将被一分为二。
The agency will also manage financial assets transferred from Shanghai International Group, the provincial government’s existing holding company, which is being split into two.
这些资产包括上海浦东发展银行(Shanghai Pudong Development Bank)等银行，以及申银万国(Shenyin Wanguo)等证券公司。
These assets include banks such as Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and securities firms such as Shenyin Wanguo.
有关官员表示，上海金融控股还将承担一个职责，就是支持上海企业走出国门。预计浦发银行董事长吉晓辉将受命执掌上海金融控股。
Officials said Shanghai Financial Holdings, which is expected to be headed by Ji Xiaohui, chairman of Shanghai Pudong, would have a role in supporting Shanghai companies as they go abroad.
知情人士表示，上海市政府把这个机构视为其推动上海成为国际金融中心战略的一部分。然而，有关官员承认，如果中央政府不取消资本控制并允许人民币自由兑换，这一愿望就不太可能成真。
People familiar with the matter say the provincial government sees the agency as part of its strategy of promoting Shanghai as an international financial centre. However, officials concede that is unlikely to happen until the central government removes capital controls and allows the renminbi to trade freely.
其它地方政府也在寻求国务院(State Council)批准成立专业投资基金。
Other regional governments are also seeking approval from the State Council to establish specialised investment funds.
山西和广东都在成立能源基金，而四川希望成立一只科技基金。天津已经成立了一只投资基金。
Both Shanxi and Guangdong are launching energy funds while Sichuan hopes to establish a technology fund. Tianjin has launched an investment fund.
上世纪八九十年代，中国曾批准成立了一些有“窗口”之称的信托投资公司，但它们进行的海外投资大多不成功。
China allowed so-called window or trust and investment companies in the 1980s and 1990s, but they made largely unproductive investments abroad.
一些熟知中国情况的外国银行家表示，不知道这些新的投资机构是否有正规制度，以防止投资不善。
Some foreign bankers with China expertise say it is not clear whether the new investment agencies have formal systems in place to prevent poor investments.
“它们缺乏透明度、缺乏责任制、缺乏治理，”一家大型国际银行的高管指出。“现在还不知道它们将会怎样披露关联交易。”
“They lack transparency, and accountability and governance,” said a senior executive at one major international bank. “It isn’t clear how they will disclose related party transactions.”
然而，其他专家表示，这一阶段的海外投资可能会得到更加专业的管理。
However, other experts say this phase of overseas investment is likely to be more professionally managed.
纳斯达克开设北京代表处
随着各方吸引迅速增长的中国公司赴海外上市的争夺战愈演愈烈，纳斯达克(Nasdaq)昨日成为最新一个在北京开设代表处的全球证交所。
Nasdaq yesterday became the latest global exchange to open a representative office in Beijing, as the battle to lure fast-growing Chinese companies to list on overseas markets intensifies.
中国政府最近修改了有关规定，允许国外证交所在中国内地设立营销办事处。侧重科技行业的纳斯达克以及纽约证交所(NYSE)率先抓住了这一机会。
The technology-focused US exchange and the New York Stock Exchange are the first foreign groups to exploit a recent change of rules that permits non-Chinese bourses to establish marketing offices on the mainland.
纳斯达克副董事长、前美国国会议员迈克尔?奥克斯利(Michael Oxley)称，通过北京代表处，纳斯达克可以向那些希望进入这个“大联盟”的中国企业宣传美国的资本市场。
The office will allow Nasdaq to publicise US capital markets to Chinese companies wishing to enter the “big league”, according to Michael Oxley, the vice-chairman and a former US lawmaker.
近年来，已有几百家中国企业蜂拥至香港上市。而今年，在上海和深圳上市的内地企业也越来越多。
In recent years, several hundred Chinese companies have flocked to list in Hong Kong. This year, an increasing number of mainland companies have listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen.
相比之下，国际证交所很难吸引到中国公司前往上市，尤其是美国的证交所，原因是很多公司高管认为，自己的公司会受到繁重的监管，还要面临美国的诉讼环境。
International exchanges have, by comparison, struggled to attract Chinese issuers, with those in the US in particular hit by perceptions among business executives that their companies would be subject to onerous regulation as well as the country’s litigious environment.
奥克斯利否认，对过度监管的恐惧会损害纳斯达克魅力攻势。他是美国2002年颁布的《萨班斯-奥克斯利法》(Sarbanes-Oxley Act)的联合提案人。
Mr Oxley, co-author of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US in 2002, rebuffed concerns that fears of over-regulation would hurt Nasdaq’s charm offensive.
“你可以看到，自从实行《萨班斯-奥克斯利法》以来，全球的监管标准都有所提高，”他说道。“通过在美国上市，公司会达到最高监管标准。好的治理有益于公司。”
“You have seen an increase in regulatory standards worldwide since the introduction of Sarbanes-Oxley,” he said. “By listing in the US, companies reach the highest regulatory standards. Good governance is good for business.”
纳斯达克今年吸引了19家中国公司进行首次公开发行(IPO)，数目比去年提高一倍，也使得在纳斯达克上市的中国企业总数达到52家。
Nasdaq has attracted 19 initial public offerings of Chinese companies this year, double that of last year, raising the total to 52.
以前，纳斯达克吸引了相当一部分内地科技公司前去上市。不过，投资银行家们认为，上个月，中国领先的“BtoB”电子商务网站阿里巴巴(Alibaba.com)在香港的上市取得了极大的成功，有助于香港吸引类似的IPO，对这家美国证交所构成了挑战。
It has traditionally at-tracted a significant proportion of mainland technology companies, although investment bankers believe last month’s hugely successful listing in Hong Kong of Alibaba.com, China’s leading business-to-business website, could help the city attract similar IPOs at the expense of the US exchange.
沙特组建特种部队保护石油设施
沙特阿拉伯已开始新建一支逾35000人的特种安全部队，以保护其石油设施免受可能发生的袭击。
Saudi Arabia has begun setting up a new 35,000-strong specialised security force to protect its oil facilities from potential attacks.
此举凸显出基地组织(al-Qaeda)袭击海湾地区石油设施的威胁，以及伊朗与美国之间的紧张局势不断升级的局面，沙特对其石油设施安全的担忧不断加剧。
The move underlines the kingdom’s growing concern about the security of its installations in the face of threats from al-Qaeda to attack oil facilities in the Gulf, and rising tensions between Iran and the US.
以前曾有人担心，美国和伊朗之间的军事对抗可能导致伊朗针对海湾地区的美国利益采取报复行动，其中包括美国在沙特的利益。
There have been fears that military confrontation between Iran and Washington could provoke Tehran to retaliate against US interests across the Gulf, including in Saudi Arabia.
上述安全部队的招募工作数月前开始。一位沙特战略事务顾问昨日表示，目前已有逾5,000人正接受训练，学习使用新型监控设备和危机管理知识，该项目是由美国防务集团洛克希德-马丁(Lockheed Martin)管理的。总部位于尼科西亚的中东经济调查(MEES)表示，上述培训是一个美国政府合同的一部分。MESS首先披露洛克希德-马丁涉足了上述安全部队的培训工作。
Recruitment for the security force began several months ago. It already has more than 5,000 personnel, who are being trained in the use of new surveillance equipment and crisis management under a programme managed by US defence group Lockheed Martin, a Saudi strategic affairs adviser said yesterday. The training is part of a US government contract, according to the Nicosia-based Middle East Economic Survey, which first revealed that Lockheed was involved in training the force.
昨日记者未能立即联系到洛克希德以获取置评。
Lockheed was not immediately available to comment yesterday.
上述顾问补充称，估计沙特将在新装备和部队上投入约40亿-50亿美元。沙特是全球最大的石油输出国，拥有全球25%的已探明石油储量。
The kingdom, which is the world’s biggest oil exporter and has 25 per cent of the world’s proven oil reserves, is investing an estimated $4bn-$5bn in the new equipment and the force, the adviser added.
沙特已拥有逾75000人的陆军，18000人的空军，15500人的海军以及一支16000人的防空军。
Saudi Arabia already has a 75,000-strong army, an air force of 18,000, a navy of 15,500 and an air defence force of 16,000.
美国政府7月份宣布了一笔拟议中的交易，估计价值为200亿美元，合同方是海湾合作委员会(Gulf Cooperation Council)的6个国家，其中包括沙特，以提升该地区的安全。
Washington announced a proposed arms deal in July, estimated to be worth $20bn, with the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, to boost security in the region.
自2003年发生一系列针对西方居住区的袭击以来，沙特加大了对伊斯兰武装分子的打击力度。
Saudi Arabia has stepped up its crackdown against Islamist militants since a series of attacks against western residential compounds in 2003.
中国成为第二大风险投资目的国
昨日公布的一项调查显示，尽管去年英国初创企业的融资额增长了27%，达到约14亿英镑，但中国仍取代英国，成为世界第二大风险投资目的国。
China overtook the UK as the world’s second-biggest destination for venture capital investments last year, in spite of a 27 per cent rise in British early-stage company funding to about ￡1.4bn, a survey revealed yesterday.
总部位于剑桥的创业研究中心Library House表示，如果印度的风险资本投资延续2006年90%的增速，到2009年，印度的排名也将超过英国。
Library House, the Cambridge-based entrepreneurship research centre, said India was also due to overtake the UK by 2009 if Indian venture capital investments continued to grow at the 90 per cent rate seen in 2006.
这项调查是由瑞银财富管理(UBS Wealth Management)委托进行的。调查预计，英国今年的风险资本投资可能降至10亿至12亿英镑，相当于2003年的水平。
The report, commissioned by UBS Wealth Management, forecast that UK venture capital could decline to ￡1bn-￡1.2bn this year, equivalent to 2003 levels.
培育创业文化一直是“新工党(New Labour)”的宏伟蓝图之一，但此项调查将引发人们担忧英国的创业活动不仅落后于美国，还落后于以更快速度增长的亚洲经济体。
Fostering an entrepreneurial culture has been one of New Labour’s main ambitions and the report will raise concerns that the country is falling behind not only the US but also faster growing Asian economies.
调查报告指出，中国和印度的崛起分流了英国初创企业的资金。这与英国风险投资家所谓该领域正在强劲复苏的说法大相径庭。
By arguing that funding for British start-up companies is being cannibalised by the rise of China and India, the report clashes with claims from British venture capitalists that their sector is recovering strongly.
英国领先风险投资公司DFJ Esprit的首席执行官西蒙?库克(Simon Cook)表示：“风险资本已走向全球。美国资金向印度和中国进行了大量投资，我预计欧洲资金明年也将出现类似情况。”
Simon Cook, chief executive of DFJ Esprit, a leading UK-based venture capitalist, said: "Venture capital has gone global. There has been a lot of capital invested in India and China by US funds and I expect that to come to Europe next year."
近年来，大规模杠杆收购基金的快速兴起令风险资本相形见绌。英国风险投资家在互联网泡沫破裂后遭受严重亏损，他们一直未能摆脱人们的这种观念：他们的回报比大型杠杆收购基金低。
Venture capital has been overshadowed in recent years by the rapid rise of big leveraged buy-out funds. Haunted by losses suffered after the bursting of the dotcom bubble, venture capitalists in Britain have struggled to escape the idea they make lower returns than their bigger LBO cousins.
Library House高级分析师罗杰?弗兰克林(Roger Franklin)表示，从今年上半年的风险资本投资水平推断，英国2007年的风险资本投资可能会减少10%至20%。这可能直接源自中国和印度风险投资活动的快速增长。中国去年的风险资本投资增长了50%至60%。
Roger Franklin, senior analyst at Library House, said extrapolations from venture capital investment levels in the first half of 2007 suggested the UK was on track to see a decline of 10 to 20 per cent this year. This could be a direct result of the rapid growth in Chinese and Indian venture capitalist activity. Chinese VC investments rose by 50 to 60 per cent last year.
弗兰克林表示：“中国和印度的增长水平如此之高，可能会从更成熟的市场吸引部分资金。特别是美国的风险投资，也许已经将资金从欧洲转向了亚洲。”
"With that high level of growth in China and India it is possible that they could be sucking some money out of more mature markets," said Mr Franklin. "US venture capital funds, in particular, may have been moving money from Europe to Asia."
中国的“钢铁公主”
作为中国最富有的女性之一，陈宁宁(Diana Chen)并不是人们印象中典型的钢铁大王。
Diana Chen, one of China’s richest women, is not your typical iron industry baron.
陈宁宁今年36岁，是受过西方教育的“高干子弟”她已故的外祖父吕东曾于上世纪60年代和70年代担任原冶金工业部部长。
Ms Chen, 36, is a Western-educated “princeling”, as the children and grandchildren of China’s communist elite are known. Her late grandfather, Lu Dong, was China’s metallurgy minister in the 1960s and 1970s.
今年夏天，陈宁宁对香港上市的中国东方集团(China Oriental Group)发起了敌意收购。此前，她与持有东方集团45%股权的主席韩敬远闹翻。东方集团控制着湖北省一座中等规模的钢铁厂。
This summer, Ms Chen launched a hostile takeover for Hong Kong-listed China Oriental Group, which controls a mid-sized steel mill in Hebei province. Her bid came after a falling out with Han Jingyuan, Oriental’s chairman, who controls 45 per cent of the company.
在由陈宁宁外祖父等保守派中央计划官员打造出的钢铁产业中，这种举动颇不寻常。但这位中国“钢铁公主”的职业路径就颇不寻常。 Such manoeuvres are unusual in an industry forged by conservative central planners such as Ms Chen’s grandfather. But then so is the career path of China’s “iron princess”.
上世纪90年代早期，陈宁宁到纽约理工学院(New York Institute of Technology)攻读MBA学位，毕业后回香港与母亲一同创办了嘉鑫钢铁集团有限公司(Pioneer Iron & Steel Group)。她的母亲在大学期间曾学习冶金专业，但此前从未涉足该行业。在此后短短10年时间，嘉鑫钢铁成为中国最大的铁矿石民营进口商。去年，《福布斯》杂志(Forbes)估计，陈宁宁个人财富高达2.16亿美元。
In the early 1990s, Ms Chen studied for an MBA degree at the New York Institute of Technology before returning to Hong Kong to start Pioneer Iron & Steel Group with her mother, who had studied metallurgy in university but was not previously involved in the industry. In little more than a decade since, Pioneer has become one of the largest private importers of iron ore into China. Last year Forbes magazine estimated Ms Chen’s wealth at $216m.
“这其实就是通过非传统手段进入一个传统行业，”陈宁宁表示，“从前，所有人都从事简单的贸易。我们利用无形资产和技术帮助(武汉钢铁集团和鞍钢新轧等国有企业)获得贷款，并对其进行改造，准备进行首次公开发行(IPO)。”
“It was a matter of using non-traditional means to approach a traditional industry,” Ms Chen says. “Before, everyone just did simple trading. We used intangible assets and skills to help [state-owned companies such as Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, and Angang New Steel Company] get loans and to reform themselves to prepare for IPOs.”
陈宁宁表示，这些服务都是免费提供的，但它们有助于建立关系，并使她对这些公司有了深入了解。到世纪交替之际，钢铁行业开始在中国经济发展的推动下复苏，当时，嘉鑫处在将中国钢铁制造商与外国铁矿企业结合的良好位置。她表示：“到2003年，中国大约15%至20%的铁矿石由我们进口。”
Those services were provided free of charge, says Ms Chen, but they helped build relationships and gave her an in-depth knowledge of the companies. By the turn of the century, when the steel industry revived on the back of China’s economic growth, Pioneer was well-positioned to bring together China’s steel makers and foreign iron miners. “By 2003, we were importing about 15-20 per cent of China’s iron ore,” she says.
陈宁宁承认，作为中国共产党高层官员的后代，身份对她有所帮助，“但只是人们知道你来自一个有名望的家庭。我的外祖父从没贪污过，我母亲经常教导我不要令我外祖父的名声蒙羞……我有关系，但我从没用过。”
Ms Chen admits that being the descendant of a top communist official has helped, “but only in the sense that people knew you came from a respectable family. My grandfather was never corrupt, and my mother always told me not to shame my grandfather’s name?.?.?.?I had the guanxi [connections], but I never used them.”
陈宁宁表示，她向中国东方集团股东提出的竞价，代表着复兴这家公司的“最后努力”。她声称，该集团是为数不多的完全不受国家控制的上市钢铁公司之一，但它没能充分利用其作为一家香港上市公司，可以进入现代金融市场的渠道。
Ms Chen says her offer to China Oriental’s shareholders represents a “final effort” to revitalise the company. She claims the group, one of China’s few publicly listed steel companies that is completely free of state ownership, failed to make full use of its access to modern financial markets as a Hong Kong-listed company.
极少有人尝试在香港进行敌意收购，在香港许多规模较小的上市公司，都是最大的股东持有控股权。但陈宁宁表示，如果她获得成功，就计划进行大举筹资，并收购规模较小的竞争对手。
Hostile takeover attempts are extremely rare in Hong Kong, where in many smaller listed companies the largest shareholder owns a controlling stake. But if she succeeds, Ms Chen says she plans to aggressively raise funds and acquire smaller rivals.
“如果失败，我将退出该公司。我还有其它计划，比如收购另一家工厂，但我还没傻到在没做最后努力之前就放弃的地步。”
“If I fail, I will exit the company. I have other plans such as buying another mill, but I am not so silly as to give up before this one last try.”
中国东方集团董事会(除陈宁宁以外)已表示，她对该公司的竞购是主动进行的，而且“没有得到董事会的支持”。上周，董事会建议股东拒绝此次收购。目前未能联系到韩敬远予以置评。 China Oriental’s board, excluding Ms Chen, has said her bid for the company was unsolicited and “did not have the support of the board”. Last week, it advised shareholders to reject the offer. Mr Han could not be reached for comment.
陈宁宁的出价相当于每股3港元，远低于该股上周五3.59港元的收盘价。在今年2月首次宣布此次收购交易时，中国东方集团的股价为2.24港元，陈宁宁声称，最近的涨幅“与(她的)报价有关，不会持续下去”。
Ms Chen’s offer price amounts to HK$3 per share, well below Friday’s closing price of HK$3.59. China Oriental shares traded at HK$2.24 when the takeover was first announced in February, and Ms Chen claims the recent gains were “related to [her] offer and not sustainable”.
陈宁宁的竞购被称作是私营行业对中国政府的首次回应之一，中国政府正努力将全国260家钢铁公司整合成规模更大、更具竞争力的集团。国有控股的武汉钢铁(Wuhan Iron & Steel)和鞍钢(Angang)等公司已开始着手进行并购交易。 Ms Chen’s bid has been billed as one of the first private-sector responses to Beijing’s efforts to consolidate the nation’s 260 iron and steel companies into larger, more competitive groups. State-controlled Wuhan Iron & Steel and Angang, among others, have already embarked on mergers and acquisition deals.
陈宁宁表示：“5年内，中国钢铁业将进行整合，并出现超大型钢铁公司。”
“In five years’ time there will be consolidation and mega steel companies in China.” Ms Chen says.
“如果你不收购其它公司，你就会被别人收购。”
“If you don’t acquire others, you will be acquired.”
英国最低工资减少工资差别
牛津大学(Oxford University)的一份报告显示，引入最低工资已导致薪资级别受到挤压，这“在消除工资差别，同时在影响对高技能的奖赏和激励。”
The introduction of the minimum wage has led to pay levels being compressed, “destroying differentials and removing rewards and incentives for improving skills”, according to a report by Oxford University.
英国零售商协会(British Retail Consortium)委托进行的这项研究显示，接待行业96%的员工以及零售和批发行业75%的员工拿到的都是最低工资，今年10月，英国最低工资将升至时薪5.35英镑至5.52英镑。
The study, commissioned by the British Retail Consortium, found that 96 per cent of workers in the hospitality industry and 75 per cent of retail and wholesale workers earned the minimum wage, which is due to rise from ￡5.35 to ￡5.52 an hour in October.
自1999年实行最低工资标准以来，英国最低工资已提高46%，为逾100万员工提供了经济安全保障。欧盟(EU)统计机构欧盟统计局(Eurostat)的一份报告显示，在20个欧盟成员国中，英国最低工资水平排名第三，几乎是美国联邦标准的两倍。
Britain’s minimum wage, which has risen by 46 per cent since it was introduced in 1999, provides a financial safety net for more than 1m workers. It is the third highest out of 20 European Union nations and almost twice the US federal level according to a report from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical arm.
英国零售商协会表示，低收入委员会(Low Pay Commission)确定最低工资水平的方法，应考虑到一个事实：即最低工资已成为数十万员工的工资标准，而非基本工资基数。
The BRC says the way rates are set by the Low Pay Commission should take into the account the fact that the minimum wage has become the norm rather than a basic pay floor for hundreds of thousands of workers.
英国零售商协会会长凯文?霍金斯(Kevin Hawkins)表示，遏制通胀因素的最低工资涨幅已开始影响到雇主创造新就业岗位的能力。英国零售商协会表示，低收入委员会不应“试图成为雇主和工会不同出价之间的裁判”，而是应以各行业薪资中值和生产率的变化为指引。
Inflation-busting rises have begun to undermine the ability of employers to create new jobs, says Kevin Hawkins, BRC director-general. The Low Pay Commission instead of “trying to act as a referee between conflicting bids from employers and unions” should be guided by movements in median wages and productivity in individual sectors, says BRC.
英国零售商协会警告称：“许多雇主，特别是那些在零售业等竞争激烈、普遍处于通缩市场上经营的雇主，发现他们的薪资结构受到了挤压。因此，那些出钱培训员工、支持员工再教育、并希望能够认可并奖励员工新增技能和技能提高的企业，无力做到这些。”
It warns: “Many employers, particularly those who operate in fiercely competitive and generally deflationary markets such as retailing, have seen their pay structures compressed. As a result, those who invest in training their staff and supporting further education and who want to be able to recognise and reward new and enhanced skills are un-able to do so.”
薪资福利专业机构IDS 2005年年底进行的一项研究显示，在引入最低工资制后，超市已削减了薪资等级的数量，在一家超市，已“引入了单一的副主管薪资等级”。
A study at the end of 2005 by IDS, the pay and benefits specialists, reported that supermarkets had reduced the number of pay grades and in one case had “introduced a single sub-supervisor grade” following the introduction of the minimum wage.
英国零售商协会表示：“如果最低工资继续以近来的平均速度增长，那么就业率将下降，雇主也会发现自己无力奖励技能高超的员工、保持薪资差距并提供宝贵的非薪资福利。包括零售业在内的多个行业已感受到这些影响。”
The BRC said: “If the minimum wage continues to grow at its recent average rate, employment will fall and employers will find themselves unable to reward skills, preserve wage differentials and provide valued non-wage benefits. These effects are already being felt in several sectors, including retail.”
然而，英国职工大会(TUC)秘书长弗朗西斯?奥格拉迪(Frances O’Grady)表示：“最低工资标准已发挥了作用，因为这个标准由低收入委员会确定，该委员会将雇主和工会代表组织在一起，讨论对英国经济最为有利的政策。用机械的指数来替代这一成功的合作过程，将是愚蠢的。”
Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, however, said: “The minimum wage has worked because the rate has been determined by the Low Pay Commission, which brings employer and trade union representatives to-gether to discuss what will work best for the UK economy. It would be foolish to replace this successful partnership process with a mere mechanical index.
“英国零售商协会一贯认为，对于零售业而言，最低工资标准的每一次提高都是一场灾难。而事实是，零售业的就业率已升至创纪录的水平。”
“The BRC has consistently predicted that every increase in the minimum wage will be a disaster for the retail sector. The truth is that employment in retailing has grown to record levels.”
幸福不能靠政府
有关政府政策应更明确地聚焦于"增进幸福"的主张，近来正获得支持。支持此种观点的人指出，基于所谓幸福感调查的幸福指标，已停滞了几十年。一个重要的原因是，各国政府着眼于提高一个定义狭隘、以物质为本的经济福利衡量指标，即国民生产总值(GNP)，而非一个更全面的基于幸福的福利指标。
The idea that government policy should be focused more explicitly on promoting happiness has been gaining support. Proponents of this view argue that happiness indicators, based on surveys that purport to measure how happy people feel, have stagnated over decades. An important reason is that governments have aimed to maximise a narrowly defined materially based measure of economic welfare, gross national product, rather than a more holistic indicator of welfare based on happiness.
这一前提显然是错误的。古往今来，政界人士想实现的许多目标，并非旨在提高GNP。例如，最近在英国财政部网站公布的公共服务协议，阐明了政府的承诺，要增加中小学的体育课，鼓励人们参与艺术活动，并减少羊搔痒症的发病率。想必，这并非"曲线"推动经济增长的方式。
This premise is clearly false. Politicians have always sought to achieve many things that are not designed to increase GNP. The most recent public service agreements on the British Treasury website, for example, spell out government commitments to make schoolchildren do more physical education, increase participation in the arts and reduce scrapie in sheep. Presumably these are not just oblique ways of boosting the economy.
幸福趋势几十年停滞不前，也许正说明政府政策总体上是失败的，说明过去50年来，通过zz进程来"改善人类"的努力是徒劳的。但这将是一个令人沮丧的结论。因此，幸福感倡导者把GNP当作替罪羊，主张经济增长与幸福无关，甚至有害。
A decades-long flat happiness trend could be showing that government policies in general fail; that efforts to improve the human lot through the political process over the past 50 years have proved futile. But this would be a depressing conclusion. Instead, happiness advocates make a scapegoat out of GNP and argue that economic growth is irrelevant or detrimental to happiness.
另一种观点是，长期的幸福感数据包含的真正信息很少，甚至完全没有。我们根本不能依赖此类数据作为有用的指标。的确，这些数据并未显示出与一系列显然有望增进幸福的因素具有相关性，例如大幅增加休闲时间，预期寿命更长，以及性别不平等的缩小。
The alternative view is that the happiness data over time contain little or no genuine information. We simply cannot rely on such data as an indicator of anything useful. Indeed, they show no correlation with a whole range of factors that might reasonably be thought to improve well-being, such as a massive increase in leisure time, a tendency to live longer and a decline in gender inequality.
人们往往主张，收入不平等是幸福与否的重要决定因素，而这一"事实"被用作增加累进税收的理由。然而，在收入不平等加剧或减缓期间，我们没有发现幸福感数据有任何变化。我们还被告知，近数十年来，忧郁症发病率大幅上升，但幸福指标并未出现与之对应的下降。
Income inequality is often claimed to be a strong determinant of happiness, and this "fact" used to argue for more progressive taxation. Yet we do not see any change in recorded happiness when inequality goes up or down. We are also told there has been a large rise in depression in recent decades, but this is not reflected by a downturn in measured happiness.
有时候，我们被告知，幸福程度之所以没有上升，是因为家庭和邻里关系破裂在抵消经济增长的益处。但是，按照这种说法的逻辑，决策者应该无动于衷，因为以这种"全面"的幸福指标来衡量，我们并没有比以前变得更糟。就连最阴沉的正统经济学家也不会声称，物质财富可以替代亲情。
Sometimes we are told that happiness has failed to increase because the benefits of economic growth have been offset by a breakdown in family and community relationships. But the normative implication of this argument is that policymakers should be indifferent because, by this supposedly all- encompassing measure of welfare, we are no worse off than we were before. Not even the most dismal orthodox economist would claim that material wealth is a substitute for kinship.
政府试图提高幸福指标，而非提高我们的生活水平，这种做法很可能适得其反：设立武断的目标，分散了公务员的核心职能;向许多人传递一个信息：幸福来自国家政策，而非我们自己的努力;以及为政府制造压力，要求政府提高一个指标，而这个指标以往从未对任何政策或社会经济变化做出系统性反应。这些正是一切瞄准目标的心态的错误所在，这种心态正弥漫英国公共领域。我们应该从这些错误中吸取教训，而非重复它们。
Government attempts to increase measured happiness, rather than making life better for us, may well do the opposite: create arbitrary objectives that divert civil service energies from core responsibilities; give many people the message that happiness emanates from national policy rather than our own efforts; and create pressure for government to appear to increase an indicator that has never before shifted systematically in response to any policy or socioeconomic change. These are exactly the mistakes of the target-driven mentality that now pervades the British public sector. We should learn from these rather than replicate them.
从更阴暗的角度看，这个世界的幸福观具有内在的反民主倾向。拿着笔记板、掌握统计知识的专家比普通人更清楚是什么让他们"幸福"。因此，他们能够"理直气壮"地推翻当地民主决策或个人决策。因为从表面上看，增进幸福是一个无可辩驳的目标，它可以压倒对某些政策的反对，而实际上，这些政策构成zz上永远存在的非常真实的艰难选择。
More sinisterly, the happiness view of the world has tendencies that are inherently anti-democratic. The expert with his or her clipboard and regressions knows better than ordinary people themselves what makes them happy. So local democratic or individual decisions can be overridden with a clean conscience. Because, at face value, promoting happiness is an incontestable aim, it would be ideal for steamrolling opposition to policies that, on closer inspection, pose the same very real tough choices that are a continual presence in politics.
国民生产总值并不是包含一切的福利指标;它只是衡量经济的规模。它还没有纳入许多对我们的幸福颇为重要的因素。这些因素的维系，要依靠一个强大的公民社会，以及有民主监督的责任制度、运行良好的政府。如果，在没有"科学证据"的情况下，我们就不能令人信服地证明这些因素使人们幸福，那么我们在道德上就陷于不确定状态。政府不会因为没有衡量幸福而失败，但是，当政府以劣质信息为依据，在资源配置方面失误时，它就会失败。
GNP is not an all-encompassing measure of welfare; it simply measures the size of the economy. There are many things important to our wellbeing that are not captured by it. Those things need to be sustained by a strong civil society and democratically accountable, well-run government. If we cannot make convincing cases for them without "scientific proof" that they make people happy, we are morally adrift. Government does not fail because it does not measure happiness; it fails when its energies are misdirected on the basis of poor quality information.
退休年龄到了，退还是不退?
7月18日公布的官方数字显示，在英国，超过法定领取养老金年龄但仍在工作的人口比例，已达到创纪录水平。
The proportion of people working past the state pension age in UK is running at record levels, according to official figures published on the 18th July.
英国国家统计局(Office of National Statistics)的数据显示，在截至今年5月底的12个月中，英国就业人数增加了18万，达到2907万，在新增就业人口中，65岁以上男性和60岁以上女性的比例仅略低于50%。
Men above 65 and women above 60 accounted for just under half of the 180,000 rise in employment to 29.07m during the 12 months to the end of May according to the Office for National Statistics in UK.
自上世纪90年代中期以来，超过领取养老金年龄的就业人口比例已上升逾3个百分点，达到11%，因为人们愈加担心，寿命在不断延长，而私营行业养老金供应情况却在不断恶化。
The proportion of people above pension age with jobs has risen by more than 3 percentage points to 11 per cent since the mid 1990s, as concerns over rising longevity and worsening private sector pension provision have mounted.
自1992年以来，超过领取养老金年龄的在职人口数量，已增加40万人，达到120万，其中三分之二为女性。
Since 1992, the number of people above pensionable age in work has risen by 400,000 to 1.2m - two thirds of them women.
年龄与就业网络(The Age and Employment Network)首席执行官克里斯o鲍尔(Chris Ball)表示："我们的感觉是，往往出于经济需要，许多人都在接受低于他们资历和能力的工作。这是对重要资源的浪费，而且是在公然贬低长者。"
Chris Ball, chief executive of The Age and Employment Network, said: "Our impression is that many people are accepting jobs below their qualifications and capacities, often out of economic necessity. This remains a waste of important resources and is frankly demeaning to older people.
"许多人在超过法定退休年龄后仍继续工作，因为来自养老金界定供款计划(defined contribution scheme)的收入有所下降。另外，由于界定利益计划(defined benefit scheme)遇到困难，在临退休前提出自愿提前退休以获得’丰厚遣散费’(golden handshake)的雇员减少了。"
"Many stay in work beyond state retirement age because of the decline in incomes from defined contributions pension schemes. Also, with defined benefits schemes hitting difficulty, fewer employers are offering voluntary early retirement as a ’golden handshake’ leading up to retirement."
然而，经济学家表示，老龄和移民工人人数的增加，帮助填补了职位空缺，并抑制了紧张劳动力市场上薪金的上涨。
Increased availability of older people and migrant workers, however, has helped fill vacancies and restrain inflationary pay rises in a tight labour market, say economists.
在截至5月底的3个月中，扣除奖金的平均年收入增幅(被视为衡量薪资上涨的最佳指标)下降了0.1个百分点，至3.5%。引人注目的收入增幅下降更快，达到0.6个百分点，也为3.5%。
Average annual earnings growth excluding bonuses - regarded as the best measure of pay inflation - dipped by 0.1 of a percentage point to 3.5 per cent during the three months to the end of May. The headline earnings figure fell even faster by 0.6 of a percentage point, also to 3.5 per cent.
汇丰(HSBC)英国经济学家卡伦o沃德(Karen Ward)表示，可用劳动力的增长"正是(英国央行(Bank of England))行长所要求的"。她将当前的趋势描述为"金发劳动力市场"(Goldilocks labour market)--一切都"刚刚好"，年长者和移民数量的增加满足了对工人需求的增长。
Karen Ward, UK economist at HSBC, said the rise in labour availability was "just what the Governor [of the Bank of England] ordered". She described current trends as a "Goldilocks labour market" where everything was "just right" with rising demand for workers being met by increasing numbers of older people and migrants.
年龄问题雇主论坛(The Employers Forum on Age)首席执行官萨姆o默瑟(Sam Mercer)表示，雇主愿意雇用年长的员工，特别是在去年10月引入新的年龄歧视法之后更是如此，这反映了人们态度的可喜转变。
Sam Mercer, chief executive of The Employers Forum on Age, said willingness by employers to take on older workers, particularly following the introduction of new age discrimination laws last October, reflected a welcome change in attitudes.
她表示："年龄问题雇主论坛的成员发现，许多人即使过了可以领取养老金的年纪，但如果可以选择，他们确实会选择继续工作……随着寿命的延长，人们意识到他们负担不起30年的退休生活。"
She said: "EFA members have found that many people who are given the choice do choose to remain in work even after they are eligible for their pension?.?.?.? as people live longer there is a realisation that they can’t afford a 30-year retirement."
