2022年高级口译阅读：华尔街的奢侈新风气

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　　Wall Street bonuses

　　Most Americans have expressed outrage over the magnitude of Wall Street

　　bonuses, given the way the banks benefitted from federal bail-out money and

　　turned profits with the help of government-backed low-interest loans. But the

　　same bonuses are also providing hope to a variety of New Yorkers, from luxury

　　retailers to waiters. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and J.P. Morgan Chase are

　　handing out bonuses that match or exceed pre-recession levels. All of this is

　　enough to make many Manhattanites optimistic that some of the cash will trickle

　　down through the city’s economy. Like the rest of the country, New York has

　　suffered from foundering retail sales and the less-than-robust housing market.

　　"It’s not only that these people spend money on products. They also spend on

　　services: maids, chefs, catering, and dog walkers," says Milton Pedraza, CEO of

　　the Luxury Institute, a New York research firm.

　　The rest of the country may not be able to relate to what’s considered a

　　bargain among New York’s financial community, but there are "deals" to be had

　　throughout the tristate area. Yachts in all sizes and price ranges have returned

　　to the market, many of them in foreclosure, says David Pugsley, vice president

　　and general manager of Brewer Yacht Sales. Sales of luxury jewelry and watches

　　fell by 40 percent last year, Pedraza says, leaving buyers room to negotiate

　　prices. When banks such as Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns failed, many wealthy

　　New Yorkers sold their second homes on Long Island and in surrounding areas.

　　"When you’re nervous about your job, the last thing you want to do is tie

　　yourself into a second or third mortgage," says Pamela Liebman, president and

　　CEO of The Corcoran Group. "People are now taking advantage of the value in

　　those properties."

　　Even with the mantra of deals, deals, deals, many Wall Street types may not

　　spend their bonus money as lavishly in 2010. It’s true that this year’s bonuses

　　are expected to match or exceed pre-recession levels, but financial planners say

　　their clients are being more prudent this time around. Often, bankers may need

　　to replenish their cash cushion, beef up disability insurance, or map out a new

　　budget that takes into account the amount of money they will receive in

　　restricted stock in lieu of bonus cash.

　　One hour north of New York City, in the seaside bedroom community of

　　Westport, Conn., this attitude of spending and investing conservatively has

　　already taken hold. There, Wells-Fargo Advisers senior vice president Howard

　　Matson has been busy meeting with Wall Street clients as he’s done for the past

　　26 years. But this year he’s not dwelling on big-ticket toys. The large

　　expenditures this year? Setting aside money for private schools and college

　　funds. "In past years, where I would see the majority of a bonus allocated to a

　　new- or vacation-home purchase," Matson says, "now clients may allocate one

　　fourth of a bonus to a high-end purchase."

　　One quarter of a typical Wall Street bonus still translates into hundreds

　　of thousands of dollars, and it’s that heady amount that makes New York’s luxury

　　retailers so ecstatic. At this point, with all of the big banks having repaid

　　their bailout money, the government has little oversight or recourse over the

　　way they award bonuses. Regulators and politicians have succeeded in publicly

　　shaming the banks into doling out more compensation in company stock rather than

　　cash, but that still leaves bankers arguably well off. If a banker receives a $3

　　million bonus this year, Olsen says, he or she may receive $2.85 million of that

　　in company stock. "Nobody’s crying for the bankers," Olsen says. "But it doesn’t

　　go a long way after you pay your private-school tuition."

　　This slice of the bonus pie is what New York real estate agents, art

　　dealers, luxury travel agents, boat brokers, and car dealers will be fighting

　　over this winter and spring. Whoever succeeds in extracting that money will have

　　to do so with discretion. Bankers know well enough not to flaunt their bonuses,

　　given the public anger toward the financial sector and the country’s

　　persistently high unemployment rate. "The show-me piece of jewelry and show-me

　　car has gone very out of style," Olsen says. "It isn’t that the money isn’t

　　there. It’s just that flashiness is pooh-poohed." Flashiness or

　　understatedness—the style of the wealthy can always shift. New York’s luxury

　　market and the folks who live off it don’t care, as long as Wall Street’s in a

　　buying mood.

　　词句笔记：

　　trickle：流淌，细流缓缓流动，慢慢移动

　　some of the cash will trickle down through the city’s

　　economy：一些资金会缓慢进入这个城市的经济体制中去

　　relate to sth.:理解

　　replenish：补充

　　replenish their cash cushion：增加收入

　　beef up：加强

　　big-ticket：昂贵的

　　high-end：高端的

　　high-end purchase：奢侈消费

　　One quarter of a typical Wall Street bonus still translates into hundreds

　　of thousands of dollars：

　　典型的华尔街奖金的四分之一仍然以十几万的现金形式发放。

　　flaunt：vt. 炫耀

　　show-me：需要证明的

　　show-me piece of jewelry：让人怀疑真伪的珠宝

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