各界频现巨头扼首垄断才是民主的敌人

2014-09-04 15:39:11来源：可可英语

　　They are, alas, often the friend of government bureaucracies. This is not just a case ofcorruption but also about what is convenient and comprehensible to a politician or civilservant. If they want something done about climate change, they have a chat with the oilcompanies. Obesity is a problem to be discussed with the likes of McDonald’s. If anything on theinternet makes a politician feel sad, from alleged copyright infringement to “the right to beforgotten”, there is now a one-stop shop to sort it all out: Google.

　　遗憾的是，垄断者往往是政府官僚的朋友。这里涉及的不仅仅是腐败问题，还牵扯对政治人士或公职人员来说什么是方便的和易于理解的。如果他们想就气候变化问题做成一点事情，他们就和石油企业谈一谈。想解决国民的肥胖问题，就和麦当劳(McDonald's)之类的企业讨论一下。如果网上存在任何让政治人士感到不悦的东西，从涉嫌侵犯版权的东西到“被遗忘权”等等，现在有一站式的解决方法：找谷歌谈一谈。

　　Politicians feel this is a sensible, almost convivial, way to do business – but neither theproblems in question nor the goal of vigorous competition are resolved as a result.

　　政治人士觉得这是一种合理的、近乎愉快的解决问题的方式——但这么做既不能解决他们所讨论的问题，也不能实现激烈竞争所能达成的目标。

　　One has only to consider the way the financial crisis has played out. The emergency responseinvolved propping up big institutions and ramming through mergers; hardly a long-termsolution to the problem of “too big to fail”. Even if smaller banks do not guarantee a morestable financial system, entrepreneurs and consumers would profit from more pluralisticcompetition for their business.

　　我们只需要想一想本次金融危机的过程。应急对策包括支撑大机构和强力推动合并;却几乎不包含什么长期对策来解决“大到不能倒”(too big to fail)的问题。尽管规模较小的银行不能保证让金融体系变得更加稳定，但银行业的多元竞争将使企业家和消费者受益。

　　No policy can guarantee innovation, financial stability, sharper focus on social problems,healthier democracies, higher quality and lower prices. But assertive competition policy wouldimprove our odds, whether through helping consumers to make empowered choices, splittingup large corporations or blocking megamergers. Such structural approaches are more effectivethan looking over the shoulders of giant corporations and nagging them; they should be atrusted tool of government rather than a last resort.

　　没有任何政策能够保证带来创新、金融稳定、对社会问题的更多关注、更健康的民主制度、更高的品质和更低的价格。但是，坚定的反垄断政策可以提高我们的胜算，不论是通过帮助消费者做出更有掌控力的选择，还是通过对大公司进行拆分、或阻止巨型并购案。这类结构性对策比小心提防大公司并对它们唠唠叨叨有效，它们应当成为政府的一项可靠工具，而非万不得已的手段。

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