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2011年12月30日 星期五

Ms. Frankenthaler’s “Chairman of the Board,” painted in 1971.

Helen Frankenthaler, Abstract Painter


Helen Frankenthaler Dies at 83


Ms. Frankenthaler’s “Chairman of the Board,” painted in 1971.

Unlike many of her painter colleagues at the time, Ms. Frankenthaler, born in New York City on Dec. 12, 1928, came from a prosperous Manhattan family. She was one of three daughters of Alfred Frankenthaler, a New York State Supreme Court judge, and the former Martha Lowenstein, an immigrant from Germany. Helen, their youngest, was interested in art from early childhood, when she would dribble nail polish into a sink full of water to watch the color flow.

Credit: 2011 Helen Frankenthaler / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

2011年12月29日 星期四

In love as in equities, we are regularly fooled by randomness

2011年12月30日 07:18 AM
小心被隨機性欺騙
In love as in equities, we are regularly fooled by randomness
英國《金融時報》專欄作家 約翰•凱



As the year ends, the author of a weekly column should look back and acknowledge the things he got wrong. I made at least one serious mistake. I wrote that if men think about sex on average every seven seconds, the average man last thought about sex three and a half seconds ago. I should have consulted the poet Wendy Cope, who wrote that: “Bloody men are like bloody buses – / You wait for about a year / And as soon as one approaches your stop / Two or three others appear”.


到了年底,每週發表一篇文章的專欄作家應當回顧這一年,承認自己的文章在哪些地方出過錯誤。我就至少出過一次嚴重的錯誤。我曾寫道,如果男人平均每7秒就想到一次性,那麼男人上一次想到性平均是在3.5秒之前(請見FT中文網2011年9月1日文章《統計數據的誤區》——譯者注)。我本該就此徵詢一下詩人溫迪•可普(Wendy Cope)的意見,因為她曾寫過:“死男人們就像那些可惡的公交車,你一等就得等上將近一年,剛有一輛車靠站,其它幾輛就接二連三地來了。”

Her analogy is helpful. If a bus arrives at fixed intervals of seven minutes, you will wait an average of three and a half minutes. But, as Ms Cope knows all too well, the interval is unpredictable: two buses come at once and then there is a lengthy wait for the next one. The average frequency of the bus may still be seven minutes. But if the intervals are alternately zero and 14 minutes the expected wait is now seven minutes, not three and a half. If someone is standing at a bus stop, it is more likely that they are victim of a bus which is late than the beneficiary of one that is early.


她的類比很有幫助。如果公交車到站的時間間隔是固定的,比如7分鐘,那你平均需要等上3.5分鐘。但實際的時間間隔是無法預知的,可普對這一點了解得很清楚:如果同時來了兩輛車,那麼下一輛就得等上很長時間。公交車到站的平均頻率或許仍是每7分鐘一輛,但如果時間間隔變成了要么是0分鐘要么是14分鐘,那麼預期等待時間就變成了7分鐘、而不是3.5分鐘。如果有人現在正站在公交站等車,那麼他們更有可能是要倒霉地去等一輛晚到的公交車,而不是幸運地趕上一輛早到的公交車。

You may think this does not matter very much. But this summer the UK business secretary Vince Cable asked me to devote an entire year to thinking about equity markets. I discovered that the arithmetic of thinking about share values​​ is the same as the arithmetic of thinking about sex. The average length of time for which buyers hold shares today is very short. But the average length of time for which shares have been held by their current owner is much longer. There are many more high frequency trades than passive investors, but passive investors hold a high proportion of outstanding shares.


你可能會覺得這件事並沒有那麼重要。但今年夏天,英國商務大臣文斯•凱布爾(Vince Cable)讓我花一整年的時間對股票市場做些思考,結果我發現,股票價值思考所適用的計算,與性思考所適用的計算是相同的。現在買股票的人的平均持股時間是很短的,但股票在其當前持有者手中停留的平均時間卻長得多。高頻交易的交易量遠比被動投資者的交易量大得多,但被動投資者所持股票在已發行股票中佔很大比例。

The people queuing for a bus are the people whose bus has not arrived, and the people on yachts are those whose boat came in. What we see will always be influenced by the ways in which the sample studied is selected. The traders we interview are mostly successful because mostly it is the successful who are still tr​​ading – and this past success may be no guide to future performance. As the essayist Nassim Taleb has observed, we are regularly fooled by randomness, identifying skill where there was only luck, finding patterns in data when none really exist.


排隊在那兒等公交車的,是還沒等到公交車的人。坐在遊艇上的,則是已買到遊艇的人。我們觀察到的現象,永遠都會受研究樣本選擇方式的影響。我們採訪的交易員大多是成功的,因為大多數情況下,仍在從事交易的人正是那些成功者——但過去的成功並不構成未來表現的指引。正如作家納西姆•塔勒布(Nassim Taleb)觀察到的,我們經常被隨機性所欺騙,在那些只由運氣決定的情況中尋找技巧,在實際上毫無規律的數據中尋找規律。

The sometimes counter-intuitive mathematics of variation crops up in many different places. If Persil is sometimes on special offer, the percentage increase when it goes back to its usual price will be larger than the percentage price reduction when it goes on special. If that seems an unremarkable fact, it was enough to send several hundred thousand government employees on strike a month ago.


有時候,這種與直覺認識相反的、關於“變動”的數學運算也出現在其它地方。如果寶瑩(Persil)洗滌劑偶爾進行一次特價促銷,那麼從特價恢復為原價時價格上漲的百分比,會高於從原價降為特價時價格下跌的百分比。儘管這個事實看似再正常不過,但它卻足以讓數十萬政府工作人員在上月舉行罷工了。

The average of price changes shows an increase even though the price has remained the same. And perhaps you buy more, perhaps even spend more, when the item is on offer than when it is at full price. After all, that is why they put it on special. These issues pose problems for compilers of price indices, and there are different methods of handling them. That is the principal reason why the new European harmonised index of consumer prices generally increases by less than the old retail prices index. The UK chancellor George Osborne is planning to make large savings in public expenditure by shifting pension indexation from one basis to the other.


儘管整個促銷過程結束後價格實際上與原來完全相同,但價格變幅的平均值卻顯示價格出現上漲。當商品處於促銷時,你的購買量甚至購買額很可能會比商品處於原價時要多。畢竟,商家特價促銷的目的就在於此。這些情況給價格指數的編制者造成了麻煩。我們可用多種方法來解決這些麻煩。歐洲新的“消費價格調和指數”(HICP)通常比原先的零售價格指數(RPI)漲幅更小,其主要原因也在於此。英國財政大臣喬治•奧斯本(George Osborne)正打算將編制養老金指數所基的指數從RPI換為HICP,以節省巨額公共開支。

The same problem arises in measuring benchmarks and portfolio performance in equity markets. If you average a 50 per cent fall and a 100 per cent increase, you show a 25 per cent gain. But if that happened to your shares, you would – just – have recouped your initial investment. Neither method of calculation is necessarily a guarantee to the experience of real investors.


在衡量股市基準和投資組合表現時,也會產生相同的問題。將50%的跌幅和100%的漲幅相平均,得到的結果是上漲了25%。但如果這種情況發生在你的股票上,那你就只是收回初始投資而已。這兩種計算方法得出的結果,都未必與投資者在現實中的感受相符。

I may have made another mistake in my earlier column. Since it appeared, details have been published of a study by researchers at O​​hio State University. They surveyed college students – who, one might expect, think about sex more often than the average of the population. The subjects were asked to make a note each time the topic entered their heads. Men thought about sex, on average, 19 times a day (the figure for women was only 10). Does this mean that we should correct “every seven seconds” to “on average, once every waking hour”? Only if men think about sex at absolutely regular intervals. And neither love nor equity markets are so predictable.


在先前的專欄文章中,我可能還出過另一個錯誤。那篇文章發表後,俄亥俄州立大學(Ohio State University)的研究人員發布了一項調查的詳細結果。人們可能認為大學生想到性的頻率比一般人高,於是研究人員就對大學生進行了調查。他們要求調查對象每次想到性時,就在記錄中記上一筆。結果顯示,男生平均每天有19次想到性(女生則只有10次)。這是不是意味著,應該把“每7秒”修改成“醒著的時候平均每小時想到一次”?不見得,除非男人想到性的時間間隔是絕對固定的。而且,無論是預測愛情還是預測股市,都沒那麼容易。



譯者/何黎

感謝有您 邁向2012

感謝有您 邁向2012

hc剪貼簿2011年約有25萬人次造訪

戴明圈: A Taiwanese Deming Circle

"交情千千" 電子連絡簿(日報)

胡適的世界 The World of Hu Shih

管理學新生

Books Birdviews 書海

People 人物

品質世界 quality world

教育人

英文人行道 et cetera, et cetera .

漢語人行道:演變風貌

譯藝

英國風

日本 心得帖

亞洲

SHE健康一生

2011年12月28日 星期三

“設計缺陷和管理不善”是動車事故主因

新聞報導 | 2011.12.28
“設計缺陷和管理不善”是動車事故主因

7·23事故現場
7·23事故現場
週三,中國國務院發布了關於高速鐵路安全大檢查情況報告,認為設計缺陷和管理不善是造成7·23特大動車事故的主要原因。有54名相關責任人要接受調查處理。


12月28日,中國總理溫家寶召開國務院常務會議,聽取了關於中國高鐵安全檢查的報告。據法新社報導,這份備受矚目的報告認為,今年夏天造成至少40人死亡,近200受傷的甬溫線動車追尾事故主要事故原因是:列車控制中心存在嚴重的設計缺陷、上道使用審查不嚴、雷擊導致故障之後應急處理不力等人為原因。該報告還指出,在7·23動車追尾事故發生之後,"在事故搶險救援過程中,鐵道部和上海鐵路局存在處置不當、信息發布不及時、對社會關切回應不准確等問題,在社會上造成不良影響。"

這一動車事故不僅造成了嚴重的傷亡和損失,而且在社會上引起了強烈的批評浪潮。中國政府也不得不暫時控制高速鐵路的發展速度。廣大網民和微博用戶要求查清真相,為什麼在前面一列火車因故障停下來之後,後面的一列動車竟然沒有及時得到相關信息。還有很多網民對於官方公佈的死亡人數表示質疑。甚至中國共產黨的黨報《人民日報》也發表文章呼籲,發展必須安全至上,不要"帶血的GDP"。

動車事故也成為2011熱點新聞話題動車事故也成為2011熱點新聞話題

根據周三公佈的國務院報告,原鐵道部部長劉志軍、原副總工程師兼運輸局局長張曙光負有主要領導責任,因涉嫌嚴重違紀違法,另案一併處理。除此之外,還有鐵道部的多名高層幹部、通信信號公司的相關負責人都被認定有重要領導責任,給予相應的處分,並就他們是否涉嫌犯罪立案調查。

劉志軍今年2月因貪污腐敗指控而被免職,據悉,他涉嫌從與中國高速鐵路建設相關項目中貪污了超過8億人民幣。

包括動車組在內的中國高速鐵路網2007年才開通使用,但是由於國家投入巨資支持,高鐵網以驚人的速度發展膨脹,截至今年年底,全國高速鐵路全長已達8358公里,為全世界之最。 2010年12月,鐵道部宣布,中國的高速鐵路最高時速能夠達到486公里,創下世界紀錄。但是在高速鐵路正式投入運營之後不久,種種問題就接連暴露:多次出現列車因遭遇雷擊而斷電停車的情況,而7月23日的動車追尾事故更是造成了嚴重的傷亡。目前,出於安全問題的擔憂,中國當局決定,將高鐵運行速度控制在300公里/小時以內。

來源:法新社,編譯:雨涵

責編:達揚




新闻报道 | 2011.12.28

“设计缺陷和管理不善”是动车事故主因

周三,中国国务院发布了关于高速铁路安全大检查情况报告,认为设计缺陷和管理不善是造成7·23特大动车事故的主要原因。有54名相关责任人要接受调查处理。

12月28日,中国总理温家宝召开国务院常务会议,听取了关于中国高铁安全检查的报告。据法新社报道,这份备受瞩目的报告认为,今年夏天造成至少40人死 亡,近200受伤的甬温线动车追尾事故主要事故原因是:列车控制中心存在严重的设计缺陷、上道使用审查不严、雷击导致故障之后应急处理不力等人为原因。该 报告还指出,在7·23动车追尾事故发生之后,"在事故抢险救援过程中,铁道部和上海铁路局存在处置不当、信息发布不及时、对社会关切回应不准确等问题, 在社会上造成不良影响。"

这一动车事故不仅造成了严重的伤亡和损失,而且在社会上引起了强烈的批评浪潮。中国政府也不得不暂时控制高速铁路的发展速度。广大网民和微博用户要求查清 真相,为什么在前面一列火车因故障停下来之后,后面的一列动车竟然没有及时得到相关信息。还有很多网民对于官方公布的死亡人数表示质疑。甚至中国共产党的 党报《人民日报》也发表文章呼吁,发展必须安全至上,不要"带血的GDP"。

动车事故也成为2011热点新闻话题动车事故也成为2011热点新闻话题

根据周三公布的国务院报告,原铁道部部长刘志军、原副总工程师兼运输局局长张曙光负有主要领导责任,因涉嫌严重违纪违法,另案一并处理。除此之外,还有铁 道部的多名高层干部、通信信号公司的相关负责人都被认定有重要领导责任,给予相应的处分,并就他们是否涉嫌犯罪立案调查。

刘志军今年2月因贪污腐败指控而被免职,据悉,他涉嫌从与中国高速铁路建设相关项目中贪污了超过8亿人民币。

包括动车组在内的中国高速铁路网2007年才开通使用,但是由于国家投入巨资支持,高铁网以惊人的速度发展膨胀,截至今年年底,全国高速铁路全长已达 8358公里,为全世界之最。2010年12月,铁道部宣布,中国的高速铁路最高时速能够达到486公里,创下世界纪录。但是在高速铁路正式投入运营之后 不久,种种问题就接连暴露:多次出现列车因遭遇雷击而断电停车的情况,而7月23日的动车追尾事故更是造成了严重的伤亡。目前,出于安全问题的担忧,中国 当局决定,将高铁运行速度控制在300公里/小时以内。

来源:法新社,编译:雨涵

责编:达扬

2011年12月27日 星期二

2011年12月26日 星期一

Duke, Google turn hog waste into clean energy

Duke, Google turn hog waste into clean energy


Yadkinville, N.C. -- Loyd Bryant used to pump manure from his 8,640 hogs into a fetid lagoon, where it raised an unholy stink and released methane and ammonia into the air. The tons of manure excreted daily couldn't be used as fertilizer because of high nitrogen content.

The solution to Bryant's hog waste problem was right under his nose - in the manure itself.

A new waste-processing system - essentially a small power plant - installed on his 154-acre farm uses bacteria to digest the waste and burns methane to produce electricity. It also converts toxic ammonia into forms of nitrogen that can be used as fertilizer for more profitable crops.

Waste-to-energy systems have been around for at least 15 years. But Duke University, which helped develop and pay for Bryant's system, says this one is the cleanest in existence - and virtually the only one that tackles all of the environmental problems created by animal waste.

Simple process

The system was built with off-the-shelf parts and simple design plans that are free for the asking. It's poised to become the standard for a cleaner waste-to-energy model that brings together farmers, utilities and private companies in an environmentally friendly effort.

"It does it in a way that is not overly complicated and stands to yield many more benefits beyond energy production and environmental protection," said Tatjana Vujic, director of Duke University's Carbon Offsets Initiative.

The $1.2 million project is funded by the university, Duke Energy and Google, which operates a data center in nearby Lenoir, N.C. All three, along with Bryant, will benefit.

Bryant saves money on electricity and gets a cleaner farm. Improved air quality in his hog barns also means his pigs will have lower mortality rates and convert feed more efficiently, fattening Bryant's profits.

Duke University and Google earn carbon offset credits from the system. Duke Energy gets renewable energy credits in a state where a new law requires utilities to produce a small percentage of electricity from renewable resources beginning next year. North Carolina is the only state that will require a portion of that set-aside to include electricity produced from hog waste.

Vast amounts of energy

Bryant, whose family has farmed the rolling Piedmont of central North Carolina for four generations, says the 65-kilowatt turbine generates enough electricity to power the system - and five of Bryant's nine hog barns, where giant fans hum day and night. The digester captures methane equivalent to 5,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year and produces enough electricity to power 35 homes a year.

The Duke system is pioneering, said Gary Gero, president of Climate Action Reserve in Los Angeles, a nonprofit group that runs the nation's largest carbon-offset registry and that developed the protocols that register and verify carbon offsets on Bryant's farm.

The number of waste-to-energy systems nationally is growing every year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Last year, 162 digester systems on U.S. farms produced 435 million kilowatt-hours of electricity - enough to power 25,000 homes for a year.

If 8,200 eligible dairy and hog farms nationwide used the systems, the EPA estimates, they could generate enough electricity to power 980,000 homes for a year. They would create the equivalent of removing 6.7 million cars from the roads by reducing methane emissions and avoiding power plant carbon dioxide emissions.

This article appeared on page A - 16 of the San Francisco Chronicle

2011年12月24日 星期六

經營/管理診斷之後驚訝......

這是英文人行道 blog之一題
喜歡這圖案:經營/管理診斷之後驚訝......

Really?

The Claim: Symptoms of Heart Disease Can Show Up in the Eyes

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Studies have shown that higher levels of lipids in the blood can cause some people to develop raised, yellow patches of skin around the eyelids.

2011年12月23日 星期五

FANUC 公司

McLennan Likes Japan's Fanuc, Nissin Foods, SMC
Washington Post
22 (Bloomberg) -- Matthew McLennan, portfolio manager at First Eagle Funds, talks about investment strategy and opportunities in Japan. He speaks with Adam Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg) (/Bloomberg) Correction: ...


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為了回報台灣工具機業界各位的深情厚意與期待,本公司於1999年完成了一個具有最新產品展示之技術中心,我們以新技術中心之開啟,期望能更進一步加強與改善日本FANUC產品的販賣、技術支援與服務。

台灣發那科自動化股份有限公司,以盡力為台灣工具機業界與客戶提供最完善的服務為目標,全力以赴,並衷心希望各位先進能繼續惠予支持與愛護。

台灣發那科自動化股份有限公司除了販賣CNC數值控制器系統、伺服馬達系統與雷射發振器系統外,並提供該商品的售後維修服務。

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2011年12月20日 星期二

zero-based cost management 這玩意至少有近60年的歷史了

zero-based cost management 這玩意至少有近60年的歷史了


Resetting the Cost Structure at Shell
by Gerard Paulides

A senior finance executive explains how a zero-based cost management effort is leading to significant performance improvements.

Click here to read the full article.

Click here to comment on this article.

zero-based
(zîr'ō-bās', zē'rō-) or ze·ro-based (-bāst')
adj.
Having each expenditure or item justified as to need or cost: "Zero-base budgeting requires its practitioners to justify every dollar they spend" (Wall Street Journal).

2011年12月17日 星期六

各信用評級機構受法國央行行長批評

2011年12月16日 07:14 AM
法國央行行長:英國才應被降級
Rating agencies under fire from Paris
英國《金融時報》 喬治•帕克倫敦, 詹姆斯•麥金托什, 彼得•施皮格爾布魯塞爾, 休•卡內基巴黎報導


The governor of France's central bank attacked credit rating agencies yesterday, calling them “incomprehensible and irrational” as Paris braces for a potential downgrade of the country's triple A status.


法國央行行長昨天批評信用評級機構,稱它們“不可理喻且不理性”。目前法國正面對失去3A評級的可能性。

Christian Noyer, head of the Bank of France, said a French downgrade would not be justified on economic fundamentals. On that basis, he added, the agencies should begin by downgrading the triple A rating of Britain, which “has bigger deficits, more debt , higher inflation, less growth than us and where credit is shrinking”.


法國央行(Bank of France)行長克里斯蒂安•諾亞(Christian Noyer)表示,從經濟基本面來看,降低法國評級是沒有根據的。他補充道,從經濟基本面考慮,評級機構應該首先降低英國的3A評級,因為與法國相比,英國“有更高的赤字、債務和通脹,更低的增長,且信貸正在萎縮”。

“We have put in place credible plans for dealing with our deficit – the credibility of our plan can be seen in what happened with the interest rates on our bonds,” said a spokesman for David Cameron, UK prime minister. “The markets clearly don 't agree with Noyer,” added a UK Treasury official. Privately British officials were astonished by the remarks.


“我們已經為對付赤字制定了可信的計劃——其可信度體現在我國債券利率的走勢上,”英國首相戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)的發言人表示。 “市場顯然不同意諾亞的觀點,”英國財政部(UK Treasury)一名官員補充道。私下里,英國官員對諾亞的言論感到錯愕。

Despite tensions, Britain, which last week vetoed a new European Union treaty for all 27 member nations, has been given observer status at talks on a new eurozone fiscal treaty.


儘管存在緊張,但上週對歐盟(EU)27個成員國新條約投下否決票的英國,在關於歐元區新財政條約的談判中,仍得到觀察員資格。

UK Treasury officials say the aim is to “police” the talks to ensure that any issues affecting the single market or London's financial industry are discussed by all 27 member states, but Britain will have no formal role in shaping the new treaty.


英國財政部官員表示,英方力求“監督”談判,以確保任何影響單一市場或倫敦金​​融業的問題,都得到所有27個成員國的討論,但英國在新條約的製定中將沒有正式角色。

Mr Cameron has said he will look with an “open mind” at whether the European Commission and European Court of Justice should be allowed to give the new eurozone fiscal compact teeth. Britain wants to ensure that the EU institutions continue to protect the interests of all 27 member states.


卡梅倫已經表態,他將以“開放的心態”考慮,是否應該允許歐盟委員會(European Commission)和歐洲法院(European Court of Justice)使歐元區新的財政協定具有約束力。英國希望確保歐盟機構繼續保護所有27個成員國的利益。

Separately, a draft prospectus prepared for the eurozone bail-out fund includes investor warnings that the euro could break apart or cease to be a “lawful currency” entirely.


另外,一份為歐元區紓困基金擬定的說明書草案含有針對投資者的警告,稱歐元可能解體,或者完全失去“法定貨幣”的地位。

The European Financial Stability Facility, which is creating the products to insure bonds of troubled states against default, is debating whether the “risk factors” should be included in the final version. In the latest draft, a summary of the dangers includes “risks arising from a Reference Sovereign ceasing to use the euro as its lawful currency . . . or the cessation of the euro as a lawful currency”.


歐洲金融穩定安排(EFSF)正在設計產品,以針對困境國家債券的違約風險提供保險。這只基金正在辯論是否應在最終版本中列入各種“風險因素”。最新版草案列出的風險包括:“由於相關主權國家停止使用歐元作為法定貨幣……即歐元失去法定貨幣地位,而產生的風險”。

Europe's leaders have insisted a euro break-up is unthinkable but last month France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel accepted that Greece might leave. “If you put something like this in the prospectus you must consider what possible signal effect it has,” said one European official.


歐洲領導人一直堅稱,歐元解體是不堪設想的,但上月法國總統尼古拉•薩科齊(Nicolas Sarkozy)和德國總理安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)承認,希臘可能會退出。 “如果你在說明書中包含這類內容,你必須考慮它可能產生的信號效應,”一位歐洲官員表示。



譯者/方舟

2011年12月16日 星期五

Now the Franco-German question 歐洲前途係於法德關係

歐洲前途係於法德關係
Now the Franco-German question
作者:英國《金融時報》專欄作家菲利普•斯蒂芬斯


Germany will have to learn leadership, and France followship. Both will find it a wrenching experience. The rules of the European game changed for ever with the reunification of Germany. It has taken the euro crisis to spell out the brutal implications.


德國必須要學會領導,法國則必須學會追隨。兩國都會發現這是一段令人痛苦的過程。德國的統一永久性地改變了歐洲的遊戲規則。人們通過此次歐元危機,清楚地認識到了這種改變帶來的殘酷影響。

One has to feel some sympathy for Angela Merkel. Germany's chancellor has been excoriated in turn for absent and for oppressive leadership. At one moment she is said to be standing idly by while the euro burns, and at the next of issuing teutonic diktats about the terms of its survival. Germany, the rest of us have been reminded, has always been too big for Europe.


人們不得不對德國總理安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)感到些許同情。默克爾因置身事外的態度和強勢的領導作風而備受指責。一分鐘前,人們還指責她在歐元陷入水深火熱之際袖手旁觀,一分鐘後,又指責她為紓困歐元製定日耳曼式的苛刻條款。這些批評聲音不斷提醒著我們,對歐洲而言,德國總是太大了。

The new German question asks whether Europe – whether it is the European Union or a more closely integrated eurozone – can find a new equilibrium now that Germany is so visibly the preponderant power. This in turn marks the return of the Franco-German question. Berlin is assuming the role of leader with a mixture of hesitancy and tetchiness. Paris will struggle mightily to accept the place of follower.


既然德國非常明顯的是主導力量,那麼新出現的德國問題關係到,歐洲——不管是歐盟(EU)還是一體化程度更高的歐元區——能否達到一種新的平衡。這實際上標誌著問題重新回到了法德關係上。德國帶著幾分猶豫和幾分急躁承擔著領導人的職責,法國則會強烈抵觸追隨者的角色。

The choreography is calculated to conceal this redistribution of power. The euro crisis has been cast as the Angela and Nicolas show – the German and French leaders smiling for the cameras at the Élysée; a jointly signed missive spelling out a euro rescue plan.


這種安排的宗旨是揭示權力的重新分配。歐元危機已經成為默克爾和法國總統尼古拉•薩科齊(Nicolas Sarkozy)兩人的秀場——兩國領導人在愛麗舍宮面對著鏡頭微笑,共同簽署歐元紓困計劃。

This is called keeping up appearances. For France, the survival of the euro is existential. Never mind the initial, enormous economic shock that would follow its failure. The break-up of monetary union would most likely see France slide into the continent's second division . Europe is the engine room of French power. Without it there would be nothing left of its global pretensions.


這就是所謂的裝點門面。對法國而言,歐元能否存續是一個關係到生死存亡的問題,更遑論歐元失敗後接踵而至的巨大的經濟衝擊。歐元區解體最有可能讓法國淪為歐洲大陸的二流國家。歐洲是法國能量的引擎。沒有歐洲,法國在全球就不會剩下多少話語權。

Mr Sarkozy, of course, has been fighting his corner – pressing for a Gaullist, intergovernmental arrangement rather than a leap to fiscal federalism. France has been attuned to the danger of Berlin's habit of elevating the avoidance of moral hazard above restoring confidence in financial markets .


當然,薩科齊一直在維護自己的主張——呼籲推行戴高樂主義式的政府間合作,而不是大躍進至財政聯盟。德國習慣於將避免道德風險置於恢復金融市場信心之上,法國也已經習慣於這種風險。

In the end, however, Berlin has prevailed. As Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform has observed, the proposals for a stability union presented to the Brussels summit were essentially written in Germany, even if the odd page was edited in Paris.


然而,德國最終佔據了上風。正如歐洲改革中心(Centre for European Reform)的查爾斯•格蘭特(Charles Grant)所言,提交至布魯塞爾峰會的建立“穩定聯盟”的提案基本上是德國編寫的,儘管有幾頁法國進行了校訂。

Assuming (perhaps foolishly) agreement at the summit, the present approach should secure a second chance for the euro: the more so if it provides cover for decisive intervention in the markets by the European Central Bank. But for the very reason it has been written in Germany, the strategy fails to offer a sustainable long-term answer.


如果能在峰會上達成一致(這樣想或許很愚蠢),當前的做法應該會為歐元提供第二次機會:如果它為歐洲央行(ECB)果斷干預市場提供掩護,就更會如此。但考慮到該提案是在德國編寫的,這一策略未能提供一個可持續的長期解決方案。

The economic argument at the heart of all this never really changes. Instead it returns again and again to the disagreement that surfaced nearly 70 years ago among policymakers at Bretton Woods.


所有這些問題的核心經濟論點從未真正改變過。實際上,它一次又一次地回到近70年前布雷頓森林(Bretton Woods)會議上政策制定者的分歧之上。

In 1944 John Maynard Keynes argued forcefully that the planned new exchange rate regime required symmetrical obligations on creditor and debtor countries to deal with any imbalances. If the system was to endure, austerity on one side had to be balanced by growth on the other.


1944年,約翰•梅納德•凱恩斯(John Maynard Keynes)極力主張,擬議中的新匯率體制需要債權國和債務國對半分擔解決一切失衡問題的責任。這種體制要想持續下去,一方的緊縮必須由另一方的增長來平衡。

Keynes lost the argument then, but governments have been returning to it ever since. During the 1980s it was at the heart of economic discord between the US on one side and Germany and Japan on the other. It runs through today's trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.


當時人們沒有接受凱恩斯的觀點,但自那以後各國政府一直在重新提起這種觀點。上世紀80年代,這是美國與德日經濟紛爭的核心所在,現在則貫穿於美中之間的各種貿易紛爭當中。

The big irony, though, is that this very same debate was present at the creation of the single currency. François Mitterrand's effort at the start of the 1980s to pursue an expansionary economic policy ended in humiliation when Helmut Kohl made fiscal rigour the price of the franc's continued place in the European exchange rate system. France resolved never again.


然而,最為諷刺的是,在單一貨幣體系創立的問題上,也有過一模一樣的辯論。上世紀80年代初,法國前總統弗朗索瓦•密特朗(François Mitterrand)努力推行擴張性的經濟政策,這一努力最終以蒙羞的失敗告終,因為德國前總理赫爾穆特•科爾(Helmut Kohl)要求法國推行緊縮的財政政策,以換取法郎保留在歐洲匯率體系中的位置。法國從此一蹶不振。

The outcome was the “franc fort” policy and a push to share economic decision-making between Germany and France. Once the D-Mark had been subsumed in a single currency, the austerity versus growth argument would finally be settled. That was the theory .


於是就有了“強勢法郎政策”的出台,以及推動德法共享經濟決策權的努力。一旦德國馬克加入單一貨幣體系,有關緊縮對增長的爭論就會最終得到解決。這就是當時的理論。

Germany is now within reach of the political integration it sought as a counterpart to monetary union when the euro was established. The danger is an assumption in Berlin that the new structure can be built to an entirely German design.


歐元創立之初,德國就希望建立一個政治同盟,與貨幣同盟相對應,如今,這一願望已不再遙不可及。然而,德國政府認為,新的政治結構可以完全由德國來設計,這種想法十分危險。

Ms Merkel's stability union will endure only if it acknowledges that Keynes was more than half-right. Any supranational scheme, whether enshrined in treaty or otherwise, that condemns much of Europe to indefinite austerity will not survive the realities of national politics.


除非承認凱恩斯的理論基本正確,否則默克爾的“穩定聯盟”不可能持久。面對各國國內政治的現實,任何迫使歐洲大部分國家無限期實行緊縮政策的超國家計劃都不可能維持下去——即使有條約或別的形式做保證也不行。

If German leadership is to avoid being oppressive, it must recognise ​​that fiscal union cannot be a one-sided affair. It was encouraging this week to hear Ms Merkel talk about the competitiveness problems in the weaker eurozone economies. It would be more so were she to talk about formulating a strategy for growth.


如果德國想讓大家心服口服地聽自己的,它必須認識到:財政聯盟必須不偏不倚。本週,默克爾談到了歐元區較弱經濟體的競爭力問題,這令人鼓舞。如果她能夠談一談制定促進增長策略的問題,那將更加令人鼓舞。

For its part, France must begin to reimagine the political geography of Europe. The Franco-German relationship will always be a pivotal one, but it is now unequivocally unequal. Paris needs friends beyond Berlin – in Warsaw, Rome and Madrid. If Britain's Tory party were ever to leave behind its European nightmare, there would also be a case to revive the old entente.


就法國而言,它必須開始重新設想歐洲的地緣政治形勢。法德關係將永遠是最重要的關係,但如今這種關係已變得明顯不平等了。巴黎需要在柏林以外尋找新的盟友——在華沙、羅馬和馬德里。如果有朝一日英國的保守黨決定擺脫自己在歐陸的噩夢,或許法國也可以與其恢復以往的同盟關係。

Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, recently told an audience in Berlin that the big threat to Europe came not from German power but from German inactivity. Given the two countries' history, that was a pretty brave thing to say. Few would dispute that the survival of the euro now rests with German leadership. There must be more to that leadership, though, than the promise of austerity.


波蘭外長拉多斯瓦夫•西科爾斯基(Radoslaw Sikorski)最近在柏林發表了這樣的言論:歐洲面臨的一大威脅,不是德國的權力,而是德國的不作為。考慮到兩國的歷史淵源,發表這番言論需要相當的勇氣。歐元的存亡如今有賴於德國的領導,這一點基本毋庸置疑。然而,德國的領導必須帶來更多的東西,而不只是緊縮承諾。



譯者/何黎


欧洲前途系于法德关系
FT专栏作家斯蒂芬斯:德国在欧债危机中占据主导地位,
这实际上标志着问题重新回到了法德关系上。德国必须要学会领导,法国则必须学会追随。


»

2011年12月15日 星期四

Fitch Ratings下調了6家跨國銀行的評級

譽國際評級(Fitch Ratings)下調了6家跨國銀行的評級﹐理由是這些銀行的業務模式對金融市場面臨的經濟和監管挑戰尤為敏感。該機構同時表示﹐美國政府對銀行業的支持力度正在下降。

惠譽將美國銀行(Bank of America Co.)和高盛集團(Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)的長期發行人違約評級(IDR)從A+下調至A﹐並將法國巴黎銀行(BNP Paribas S.A.)的評級從AA-下調至A+。

該 機構還將巴克萊集團(Barclays PLC)和瑞士信貸集團(Credit Suisse Group AG)的評級從AA-下調兩檔至A﹐並將德意志銀行(Deutsche Bank AG)的評級從AA-下調至A+。該機構還下調了上述六家銀行的個別實力評級(VRs)﹐並對摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)和法國興業銀行(Societe Generale)採取了相同舉措。

惠譽表示﹐個別實力評級下調對上述6家銀行發行人違約評級的影響取決於它們的支持評級底線。不過該機構表示﹐由於這幾家銀行在充實資本金和增加流動性緩沖以抵御市場挑戰方面取得了顯著進步﹐因此評級的下調僅限於一至兩檔。

Nathalie Tadena

馬英九的女兒: 101的煙火秀醜聞

約20年前 敦化南路有一家著名的美國顧問公司
它的新進職員中有一位姓陳的留美高材生
這家M顧問公司或許只要陳姓之名 就可蒙其祖父的遺澤接到許多肥美的政府案子

這情形與馬英九的女兒在蔡國強的公司任小職員的情形是類似的
結果是101的煙火秀醜聞

西門子 v 東芝

【西門子“告別核電”的勝算(1)】再次進軍核電的計劃落空 德國知名重型機電企業西門子將完全撤離核電事業。……

約10年前 日本的Toshiba 公司大舉收購世界核電事業部 成為一霸

2011年12月8日 星期四

Berlin's creative community wary of minimum wage

The Tourist City Berlin: Tourism & Architecture

Labor Market | 07.12.2011

Berlin's creative community wary of minimum wage

The German government's move to reform minimum wage legislation is popular, but Berlin's creative community is concerned about the consequences. Will they become starving artists?

Berlin has long been a hub of European subculture. The city attracts hordes of artists, musicians and creative entrepreneurs, beckoned by the cheap living costs and teeming nightlife. Combined with a huge turnover of tourists, this translates into an incredibly young, transient population with high levels of unemployment. Many young people who migrate to the city find themselves working low-wage cash jobs without employee benefits - and struggling to sustain their creative aspirations.

Twenty-four-year-old Bianca Lean is an Australian visual artist who moved to Berlin in 2009. Since then, she has worked a range of low-wage positions to stay afloat and support her art career. After six months in Paris, she decided to move to Berlin because of its wealth of independent galleries and low cost of living.

She initially secured an internship at a marketing company, plugging search engine optimization keywords into Google for 3.50 euros ($4.70) an hour. She also worked weekends at a bar for four euros an hour. Her hours ranged from none in a week to consecutive 15-hour shifts.

Later, Bianca worked as a baker for two different businesses after quitting her previous jobs. She was paid under the table in cash and was able to pay her rent and live quite comfortably. But working 12-hour shifts, up to six days a week, left no time for her art.

The Maria Peligro restaurant in BerlinYoung artists often tend to work at restaurants and bars"It's a Catch 22 - now I have enough money to go traveling or do anything I want to, but I still haven't created any work out of it. I've had one exhibition and quite a few bits and pieces (…) - but it's not what I expected I would have been able to accomplish," she said.

Stories like Bianca's are commonplace, particularly among artists looking for side jobs while focusing on their true passion. Germany is one of only seven EU nations without a binding minimum wage. Instead, it has a set of union-negotiated "wage floors" for some industries - which vary from state to state - and no minimum at all for others.

Although unemployment as a whole dropped to its lowest level in 20 years in September 2011 - with less than 2.8 million Germans without work - the number of negotiated salaries in low-wage jobs has dropped just as significantly over the past year, according to figures from the Hans Böckler Foundation. This figure is disproportionately represented in eastern Germany, where the wage floors for many industries are consistently lower than their western counterparts.

No standard minimum wage

Currently, the hospitality industry - which employs a large number of inspiring artists - has no set wage floor, but there are enforceable provisions for the rights of employees when an employer holds a voluntary contract with a union. The government has ignored union calls to introduce a general minimum wage, but is currently proposing to facilitate agreements for industries that don't yet have an agreed minimum rate.

Despite the challenges in remaining financially sustainable, Bianca said that an increase in the minimum wage for her industry to 8.50 euros per hour would have a minimal effect on her lifestyle.

Micha HeilmannHeilmann wants a general minimum wage of 8.50 euros per hour"I don't think it would have much of an impact at all. I'm getting paid under the table anyway, and I make up to 10 euros an hour in tips depending on the day, so I don't think an extra euro or two would help me because I'd have to pay taxes on it - I could end up losing money," she explained.

Bianca is preparing to move back to Sydney, due in part to her frustration at the challenges of supporting herself and remaining productive in Berlin.

Micha Heilmann is head of the legal department for the Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten (NGG), Germany's food and catering union, which has been a long-time campaigner for a minimum wage across industries.

"If we were to have a minimum wage for the hospitality industry, that would help people if it were, say, 8.50 or 7.50 [euros per hour] to start with, and of course if they always have a sufficient amount of part-time work," he said.


As far as under-the-table work goes, Heilmann believes the existing proposal will do nothing to address the issue. He knows how often low-wage earners are pressured into situations like Bianca's, and believes much stronger regulation is needed.

What's in it for employers?

Matt Kenevin, one of three owner-operators of Berlin's Mexican restaurant Maria Peligro, takes a different view. He said that the NGG's proposed 8.50-euro hourly wage could potentially drive them out of business altogether.

Matt Kenevin in his restaurantKenevin wants to see breaks for small businesses


Kenevin and his partners have worked hard to build their business' reputation as a place that gives back to the creative community and treats its workers fairly. He works the bar every day, his chef and kitchen hand are fulltime, and he pays his servers' health insurance, even though he's not required to by law.

But the influx of investment in Berlin's real estate market - the main driver of the hotly debated gentrification of inner suburbs Kreuzberg and Neukölln - has sent rent prices rocketing. Kenevin said that running Maria Pelligro "by the book" means that money is tight, and that competitors don't always take this approach.

"Our staff costs are already through the roof, I honestly don't think it would be worth running a business if the rent goes up again and the wages go up like that," he said. "There's no way they can put the rates up and expect people to pay it. It'll encourage more and more people to keep people off the books. They also have to help out the employers."

For the time being at least, creative types are still flocking to the "poor, but sexy" German capital. But just how long they stay, remains to be seen.


Author: Daniel Bishton
Editor: Kate Bowen

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