If only, America’s financial authorities must feel, they could gag congressmen as easily as they have muzzled short-sellers. Financial markets around the world were choppy as Republicans and Democrats wrangled over the $ 700 billion rescue plan for Wall Street proposed by Paulson, America's treasury secretary.
美国金融监管者认为，他们如果能像让卖空者闭嘴那样容易就 能堵住国会议员们的嘴该多好呀！美国财长保尔森向国会提交了 一份7000亿美元的华尔街救市计划。世界金融市场随着美国共和 民主两党对此提案的争论不休而起伏动荡不巳。
One fear is that Paulson’s troubled asset relief programme (TARP) will be blocked on Capitol Hill. That is possibly overdone: the risk of being blamed for plunging the world’s greatest economy into financial ruin is a good incentive for all sides to reach a compromise. Of more concern is that the plan, if it were approved, would neither shore up the financial system nor save the American economy. On that point there is room for argument，and hence for more uncertainty in the markets.
一个另人担心的问题是保尔森的问题资产救援计划会在国会 山受阻。这也许有些夸张了 ：因为承担将世界最大经济体拖人金融 废墟责任的风险显然会是两党达成妥协的一个好的机会。另一个更 棘手的问题是，即使这项计划通过，它也有可能既不能支撑美国金 融体系又拯救不了美国经济。从这个角度来说的话，救援计划中的 项目还有值得讨论的地方。因此，市场还会有更多的不确定性。
Paulson's plan is to use public money to buy assets from banks whose value has slumped with every lurch downwards in America’s housing market and which have been shunned by the private sector. With a floor put under the value of those instruments it should be easier for banks to raise capital. Without capital, and amid relentless write-downs on those toxic assets, banks would have to curtail lending, causing a massive credit drought in America. That would not only further batter the housing market. It might also push companies into bankruptcy, too, causing mayhem in the $ 62 trillion market for credit derivatives.
保尔森的计划是使用公共资金来购买银行的不良资产。这些资 产由于美国房地产市场的大幅下跌而严重缩水，私人资本对此也无 人问津。由于救援计划给了这些票据一个最低保障价值，银行就更 容易筹得资金。如果没有资金，而且处于残酷的不良资产减记的情 况下，银行便会减少贷款，从而使美国陷入全面的严重的信贷干涸 期。这不仅会更加打击房地产市场，而且还会使公司面临破产，给 62万亿美元的信贷衍生品市场带来严重冲击。
Few dispute the potential threat; the demise of a 75-year-old investment-banking model on Wall Street in just a few days shows the financial system to be vulnerable. But there is plenty for everyone to dislike about aspects of Paulson’s plan. It could safeguard irresponsible bankers’jobs, while doing little to stop troubled mortgage debtors from being thrown out of their homes. It seeks to invest massive power in a treasury secretary with a lifelong loyalty to Wall Street. The banks with the worst assets (ie, those which have made the worst decisions) could receive the most help. Most disturbing, the taxpayer will be funding an enormous, ill-defined program, without any stipulation as yet that the banks who orchestrated the mess will pay a penalty.
几乎没人对潜在的威胁产生质疑。华尔街上有乃年历史的投资银行模式在几天内的迅速死亡 显示了金融体系的脆弱不堪。但是对每个人来说,保尔森计划都有不招人喜欢的地方.这个计划会 保住不负责任的银行家的职位，对将无家可归、陷人困境的抵押贷款者却几乎没什么帮助。这项计 划试图将巨大的权力赋予一个毕生都忠诚于华尔街的财政部长。那些拥有最糟糕资产的银行（即 是作过最差决策的银行）会得到最大的帮助。最令人烦恼的是，纳税人的钱会来支援一个巨大的、 不明朗的计划。而且目前对于造成这场危机的银行所应受的处罚也没有任何说明^
All those points have been raised in Congress by legislators who are understandably fearful of the political consequences of bailing out Wall Street. But there is a legitimate riposte. The more restrictions they put on the bail-out, the more likely it will emerge as messy fudge, lacking the wallop necessary to put the banks on a more stable footing.
所以这些观点都在国会被一些议员提出，因为他们担心拯救华尔街后可能会带来一定的政治后 果。但是这都是正当合法的建议。他们在救援计划中加的限制越多，最后国会得以通过时就越有可能 是-片混乱,也就不可能有使银行保持更加稳定地位的力度。
Financiers have different concerns. If the TARP seeks to buy assets too cheaply, banks will not take part. If prices are too high, the taxpayer may lose out. Even if the purchase of toxic assets goes ahead，might banks remain undercapitalized? Some have proposed a parallel scheme in which the government would take shares (or warrants) in troubled banks, if necessary, to build up their capital. This might be unnecessary. The TARP could be extended to allow the purchase of bank shares if necessary, or even of mortgages, which might allay some of the fears of homeowners.
金融专家有着其他的担心。如果这个救援计划试图以极其低廉的价格购买资产，银行可能不 会加人这个计划。如果价格过高，纳税人就会亏本。即使购买不良资产的计划得以实施，银行会不 会依然资金匮乏？有人提出一个平行计划，在有必要的情况下，让政府同时购人陷入困境银行的 股票（或认购权证）来增强其资本。也许这不是必须的。救援计划可能会延伸到：在必要的情况下， 可以允许购买银行的股票,甚至包括抵押贷款——这或许会减缓房主的忧虑心情。
With enough force, it could prevent financial Armageddon. But it may also prolong the period necessary for asset prices to reach their natural floor, dragging out the crisis. With such high stakes involved, it is no wonder that markets are on their toes. Bank shares led a slump in European and Asian stock markets, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened slightly higher after an oil rally on Monday petered out. The dollar, meanwhile, was slightly stronger against the euro after four days of decline. How long it can remain as firm as it is, with the Treasury pumping money into all manner of financial assets with possible inflationary consequences, is one question the markets are not keen to address.
要阻止这场金融灾难，必须有强劲的力量来支持这项计划。但是这可能会延长这些资产必要 的触底时间，从而延长这场危机持续的时间。因为冇太多股本涉人其中，也难怪市场这么不景气。 尽管道琼斯工业平均指数在周一随着油价下跌而高升，银行股仍然领跌欧洲和亚洲的股市。与此 同时，美元在对欧元连续4天下跌后，开始稍微走强。而财政部向各种金融资产大量注资很有可能 引发通货膨胀，美元到底能坚挺多久，市场也没多大兴趣去关心。