王关富商务英语阅读第二版参考译文chapter10.doc

U10 The alchemists of finance 金融魔法 点石成金 May 17th 2007 From The Economist print edition （本文由ECO论坛dtchengxc翻译，原文版权归经济学人集团（The Economist Newspaper Limited）所有，译文版权归译者所有，未经授权，不得转载，谢谢合作！） 漫画作者玛丽亚?吉夫斯（Maria Jeeves） Global investment banks are taking ever more risk, and are devising ever more sophisticated ways of spreading it, says Henry Tricks. Is that reassuring or worrying? 亨利?特里克斯(Henry Tricks)说：“全球的投资银行正承受着越来越大的风险，也在设计着越来越复杂的分散风险的方法。”这究竟是会让人放心还是让人担心？ AT LEAST since 1823, when Byrons Don Juan described “Jew Rothschild, and his fellow Christian Baring” as the “true Lords of Europe”, investment bankers have inspired awe, envy and, rightly or wrongly, a measure of disdain. Exactly 100 years ago the undisputed patriarch of the modern industry, J. Pierpont Morgan, stemmed the Panic of 1907, a financial crisis caused by unregulated trusts (the hedge funds of their day). Acting, in effect, as lender of last resort from his Wall Street office, he was briefly feted before Americans realised the danger of having such power vested in one man. Cartoonists then mercilessly mocked him. After his death in 1913 the Federal Reserve was set up. 不晚于1823年——那时拜伦（Byron）在《唐璜》（Don Juan）中将“犹太人罗思柴尔德（Rothschild）和他的同伙基督徒巴林（Baring）”称为“欧洲真正的主宰”，投资银行家们博得了敬畏、羡慕以及一定程度的蔑视——不管这正确与否。 正好100年前这个现代产业无可争议的鼻祖J?皮尔庞特?摩根（J. Pierpont Morgan）制止了1907年的大恐慌（the Panic of 1907）——一场由非受监管信托（unregulated trusts）（当时的对冲基金（hedge funds））引起的金融危机。他在其华尔街的办公室中充当了实际上的最后贷款人的角色，受到了人们的追捧。其后不久，美国人意识到让一个人拥有如此的权力是多么的危险。当时的漫画家对他进行了无情的嘲弄。在他1913年死后，美联储（the Federal Reserve）就成立了。 The investment-banking industry was further constrained during the Depression of the 1930s, when Wall Street firms such as that founded by Morgan were split into commercial banks and securities houses. The latter—todays investment banks—underwrite stocks and bonds and advise companies on mergers and acquisitions, rather than collect deposits and make loans. In the 1980s and 1990s they developed a reputation for gluttonous excess. But a lot has changed since then. 在