主题：THE FAILED COUNTRIES 失败的国家们 -- Jen

作者：马哈蒂尔·本·穆罕默德

翻译：Jen

注解：马哈蒂尔是马来西亚前总理。与新加坡李光耀齐名的著名的政治家。在这篇文章里，他阐述了过度高福利模式的危害性，认为美欧经济危机的根源在于成本的高企和过度金融炒作导致实业的空心化。当前中国泡沫的高房价、当地政府实行最低工资的政策、2008年4万亿的经济刺激计划也带动了生活成本的高企和通货膨胀的发生，进而可能传导到制造业。现在人民币又面临来自美国要求升值的压力，是福是祸得看运气。Good Luck,China！

失败的国家们

1. 在美国的反恐战争的开始，布什总统将一些发展中国家归类为失败国家。

2. 我不知道布什是否认为一个国家像希腊，以其不负责任的财务管理而完全不能支付其债务的国家，是一个成功的国家。

3. 希腊债务不仅摧毁了该国，也拖累了所有欧洲国家。身无分文的希腊给欧盟带来灾难，可能导致欧盟金融崩溃。到目前为止，欧盟大的经济体和金融头脑们还没有发现任何真正的解决办法。相反，同样的债务危机可能会蔓延到意大利，西班牙和葡萄牙。

4. 为什么债务危机会发生在欧洲？为了找到答案之一，翻开欧洲经济史，看看欧洲国家是如何变得如此富有。

5. 在欧洲帝国主义的那些日子里，只有欧洲能够利用工程和技术技能，将制成品出口到世界各地。

6. 他们能够维持在工业和贸易的优势，让他们感觉安全；殖民地的廉价原料和圈养帝国市场，总是使他们受益。这些因素让他们允许工资和利润以螺旋状上升。因此，他们的生活水准随着其GDP和人均所得提高而水涨船高。他们将他们的国家归类为发达国家。

7. 民主和社会主义使他们迫引进各种社会福利，迫使他们答应较少的工时和更多的报酬。他们推出的退休金计划、带薪休假和节假日、两倍和四倍的加班工资、昂贵的医疗福利和失业救济金。工人有组织工会和罢工的权利。这是措施原是防止剥削，但权利被滥用，导致薪酬和福利要求与被剥削无关。

8. 更高的报酬和福利的需求很快蔓延到高级别的职工，再到高管。所有人的奖金不再与公司所得的利润挂钩，变成支付每半年或每年的额外薪金。

9. 高层管理人员享受股票期权，奖金超过其年薪，汽车，房子和无数津贴，其中包括丰厚的风险金和离退金，即使他们失败也会保证拿到。

10. 自然地，这些所作所为都将导致其所有的产品和服务变得非常昂贵。这样也使生活的成本越来越高。工资和福利每隔一阵子就得进行修订。随着每一轮的工资和福利的增加，将增加的生活成本，而这反过来又越发导致增加工资和福利的要求。

11. 所有这些似乎可以无止尽地地循环下去，但东方的新兴工业国家的出现，日本，其次是韩国，跟着是中国，他们的迅速的工业化和低成本高品质的产品几乎将所有的西方制成品挤出百货公司的货架。

12. 受到降低标准的生活的威胁，他们创造了一种金融市场。无形产品被发明出来，让人去赌运气。他们或有钱人、精于此道的专家们赚得了相当数量的钱，而没有将更多的资金投入在生产商品和提供服务的真实业务上。

13. 然后，他们变得更贪婪。他们开始创造金钱来资助他们的赌博。长话短说，最后泡沫破灭。他们失去了所有的钱。无法回去做真正的商业、生产商品和提供服务，他们就开始摆弄货币及银行体系。

14. 他们挽救冰岛和爱尔兰成功了。但希腊很棘手。这个国家用借来的钱享受高生活。少工作，高工钱，更好的社会福利吃光了政府财政收入。不愿面对愤怒的人民，政府用借债的办法去填充财政国家预算的窟窿。由于无法支付债务，贷款人拒绝提供任何更多的贷款。

15. 其实国家开始破产，无可救药。其破产将会导致欧洲银行破产。这将给欧盟带来灾难性的后果。

16. 基本上上说，欧洲国家都失败了。他们自称是资本主义和民主的展示品，现在变成空心化，他们被迫向社会主义、不民主的中国寻求帮助。

17. 但一切努力都将失败，除非他们承认，他们也像发展中国家，变成穷人。穷人必须活得像穷人样。必须放弃他们的奖金、股权、福利、高待遇。在金融市场上的赌博，也必须停止。

18. 他们要回去工作，拿低工资，以生产商品和提供服务。他们必须卖掉自己的资产（希腊正试图做到这一点）。

19. 印刷钞票和填写支票毫无帮助。他们必须承认他们已经失败了，他们的信条、他们的系统已经失败了。

20. 许多发展中国家都失败了。但许多欧洲国家包括美国也都失败了。（双关，与第一节呼应，妙！）

原文：http://www.facebook.com/notes/dr-mahathir-bin-mohamad/the-failed-countries/10150392206827529

1. At the beginning of America’s war on terror, President Bush categorised several developing countries as failed countries.

2. I wonder whether Bush thinks a country like Greece, which is totally incapable of paying its debts after irresponsible financial management, is a successful country.

3. The debt of Greece has not only destroyed the country but it has dragged down all the European countries as well. Such is the disaster brought on by Greece’s impecunious ways that Europe is threatened with the possibility of financial collapse. So far the great economic and financial minds of Europe have not found any real solution. Instead there is the possibility that the failure would spread to Italy, Spain and Portugal.

4. Why has this happened to Europe? To find the answer one has to look into the European economic history, to look at how the European countries became so rich.

5. In the days of European imperialism, only Europe could make use of their engineering and technological skills to export manufactured goods to the rest of the world.

6. Feeling secure that they would be able to sustain this superiority in industry and trade and often benefitting from cheap raw material from their colonies and captive imperial markets, they allowed wages and profits to spiral up. Accordingly their GDP and per capita appeared to be high and they enjoyed ever higher standards of living. They classify their countries as developed.

7. Democracy and socialism forced the introduction of all kinds of social benefits. They acceded to demands for less work and more pay. They introduced pension schemes, paid leaves and holidays, double and quadruple pay for overtime, costly medical benefits and unemployment benefits. Very early workers were given the right to form unions and to strike. These were to prevent exploitation. But the rights were abused so that the remunerations and perks demanded had nothing to do with being exploited.

8. Soon the demand for higher remunerations and perks spread to the higher grades of workers and then to the executives. Bonuses for all were no longer related to profits made. They became actually delayed salaries, paid half-yearly or yearly.

9. The top executives were given stock options, bonuses exceeding their yearly pay, cars, houses and numerous allowances including golden handshakes even when they failed.

10. Naturally all these cause all their products and services to become very costly. With this comes an increasingly higher cost of living. Wages and perks were revised every now and again. With each round of wages and perks increase, there would be increased cost of living which in turn lead to demands for more increase in wages and perks.

11. All these would have gone on indefinitely but for the emergence of new industrial countries in the East. Japan, followed by Korea and then China industrialised and their low-cost high quality products pushed practically all the manufactured goods of the West off the shelf.

12. Threatened with the possibility of lower standard of living they created a financial market. Non-tangible products were invented for them to speculate and gamble. And they or at least the moneyed people and the game-theory experts made considerable amounts of money. With this no more capital was invested in the real business of producing goods and supplying services.

13. Then, they became very greedy. They started creating money to finance their gambling. To cut a long story short, the bubble burst. They lost all their money. Unable to go back to doing real business, to producing goods and supplying services, they began to fiddle with the monetary and banking systems.

14. They succeeded with Iceland and Ireland. But Greece proves intractable. This country enjoyed high life on borrowed money. Less work, more pay and more social benefits ate into Government revenue. Unwilling to face the wrath of the people the Government borrowed to finance the national budget. Unable to pay or service debts the lenders refused to give any more loans.

15. Actually the country became bankrupt. There is no way for the country to become solvent again. Its bankruptcy would in turn bankrupt European banks. This would be disastrous for Europe.

16. Basically the countries of Europe have failed. Their claim to be the showpiece of capitalism and democracy becomes hollow after they are forced to look at socialist undemocratic China for help.

17. But all efforts will fail unless they admit that they, like the developing countries, are poor. Poor people must live like poor people. Their bonuses, share options, perks, high pay and less work creed etc must be given up. The gambling in the financial market must also be stopped.

18. They have to go back to working, to producing goods and supplying service with lowered wages. They must sell off most of their assets (Greece is trying to do this now). But industrial discipline would be needed for foreign investors to buy the assets and run them.

19. Printing money and writing cheques will not help. They must cease to be in denial. They must admit they have failed, their creed and their systems have failed.

20. Many developing countries have failed. But many European countries including the United States of America have also failed.