经济学家读译参考之八十六在家办公问题多－试看银行应对禽流感.docVIP

《经济学家》读译参考 Translated Edited by Chen Jilong PAGE Page PAGE 1 of NUMPAGES 3 TEXT 86 Banks and avian flu银行与禽流感 The drawbacks of homework 在家办公问题多（陈继龙 编译） Nov 30th 2006 | LONDON AND NEW YORK From The Economist print edition Working from home may not be the answer to a flu pandemic 在家办公也许并不是应对禽流感大流行的上策。 NOT much is known about how the financial world would cope with an outbreak of avian flu. （1）But two things are clear: it is a terrifying prospect and the response would be different from that to other potential disasters, such as a terrorist attack. In recent years, terrorism in New York and London 金融界会如何应对禽流感暴发，人们并不十分清楚。但有两点是明确的：一是前景很可怕，二是人们的反应会不同于对恐怖分子袭击之类有可能发生的其它灾难。近几年纽约和伦敦发生的恐怖事件已经对金融系统造成了强烈而又短暂的冲击。不过，一位金融监管人士认为禽流感大流行更像是一颗中子弹：“那些建筑物将人去楼空。”它会持续更久，一波接一波地发生，而且为防止病毒蔓延人们将本能地相互躲避。 For that reason, many banks have assumed that in the event of a person-to-person pandemic, high absentee rates would mean important jobs would have to be done from home. （2）Since fears of a death toll in the millions surfaced last year, they have made contingency[1] plans along those lines to ensure the payments system keeps going and stockmarkets stay open. 故而许多银行认为，万一发生人间禽流感大流行，随之而来的高缺勤率就将意味着重要工作只能在家里完成了。早在去年各家银行就由于禽流感大流行可能造成数以百万计的人死亡而感到忧心忡忡。因此，为了确保届时付款系统还照常运转，股市不会关门大吉，他们早就纷纷依葫芦画瓢制定好了紧急应对方案。 Lehman Brothers, for example, has tested new techniques in the homes of some of its American traders and installed hotlines so that dealers can talk to each other. There are plans to produce a Wall Street-wide directory to keep traders in touch from home. Regulators have sought to ensure that traders operating from home do not break the law. 譬如，莱曼兄弟（证券）公司就已在其部分美国交易员家中测试了新技术，并安装了热线电话以便交易员相互通话。有的公司还计划编写一本华尔街通讯录，让各交易员在家中相互保持联络。为了保证交易员在家中办公不属于违法行为，金融监管部门也已做了努力。 （3）In short, home-working has been seen as one of the best ways for financial institutions (and other industries) to mitigate[2] the appalling consequences of a pandemic. According to George Hender of the Financial Services S