2014年5月31日 星期六

English Universities Losing International Students 赴英留學人數近30年來首次下降

English Universities Losing International Students

International Education May 16, 2014

赴英留學人數近30年來首次下降

海外教育 2014年05月16日
劍橋大學,坐落在英格蘭東部。
劍橋大學,坐落在英格蘭東部。
Chris Radburn/Press Association, via Associated Press
The number of international students enrolling in English universities has dropped for the first time in nearly three decades, interrupting a long-term trend of double-digit growth.
近30年來,英國大學招收的國際學生人數第一次有所下降,長期以來的兩位數增長就此停滯。
A new report by the Higher Education Funding Council for England examines recent shifts in enrollment patterns and discusses their possible causes. The nations that make up the United Kingdom have individual responsibility for higher education, and the report addresses only the situation in England.
英格蘭高等教育基金管理委員會(Higher Education Funding Council for England)的一份最新報告檢視了近期招生形勢的變化,並對可能的原因進行了討論。英國的聯邦國對高等教育是獨立負責的,這份報告所分析的只是英格蘭的情況。
Britain attracts more international students than any country except the United States and puts a figure for the overall value to its economy of foreign currency earnings from higher education at about £10 billion, or nearly $17 billion.
除了美國之外,英國是世界上吸引國際學生最多的國家,高等教育的總體產值對國民經濟中的外匯收入貢獻良多,達到大約100億英鎊,約合近170億美元。
The report says that the number of students enrolling in full-time “taught graduate programs,” which include many master’s programs, declined 1 percent from the 2010-11 to the 2012-13 academic years. That decline is especially worrying for institutions because those programs tend to be dominated by foreign students. According to the report, in 2012-13, 74 percent of entrants to full-time master’s programs were from outside Britain.
該報告指出,就讀於包括許多碩士項目在內 的全日制「授課式研究生項目」的學生人數在2010-11學年至2012-2013學年之間下降了1個百分點。這對教育機構來說尤其令人擔心,因為讀這些 項目的主要是外國學生。根據報告,在2012-13學年,74%的全日制碩士項目的學生都來自英國以外的國家。
Master’s programs, which are usually a year long, are often a significant source of income for universities, as well as a potential future source of teaching staff members. Their short duration, relative to similar programs elsewhere, puts British universities under more pressure to maintain international recruitment levels.
學制一般為一年的碩士項目通常是高校重要的收入來源,也是未來教學團隊的潛在培養基地。它們與其他地方類似項目相比較短的學制讓英國高校在維持國際招生水準方面面臨更多壓力。
According to Janet Ilieva, the author of the funding council report, a recent analysis by the council indicates that there is a high progression rate from full-time taught graduate programs to doctoral programs, so the drop could be a worrisome sign for future teaching and research capacity. “The implication is that this is putting the long-term viability of certain subjects under threat,” she said.
基金委員會這份報告的作者珍妮特·伊利耶 娃(Janet Ilieva)表示,該委員會最近的一個分析指出,全日制授課式研究生項目的學生有很大可能會繼續在博士項目中深造,所以這些項目的學生人數下降可能是未 來教學與研究人才數量方面一個令人憂慮的信號。「它背後的含義是,某些特定學科的長期發展能力正面臨威脅,」她說。
Another development the report highlights is a sharp drop in the number of full-time undergraduate entrants from other European Union countries. Those students pay the same tuition as domestic British students, for whom the government caps the amount of tuition that universities can charge. Their number fell by a quarter in 2012-13, when the tuition cap at most universities in England rose to £9,000, or around $15,000. The report identifies the tuition increase as the likely cause of the decline.
報告強調的另一個變化,是全日制本科教育 中其他歐盟國家學生人數的顯著減少。這些學生與英國學生所付的學費相同,不過後者的學費是由政府代繳的。2012-13學年,當英格蘭大多數大學的學費上 漲至9000英鎊,即1.5萬美元左右時,歐盟其他國家學生的人數下降了四分之一。報告認定,學費上漲很可能是學生人數下降的原因。
The last time international student numbers decreased in Britain was in the early 1980s, when universities began charging international students tuition.
上一次英國招收的國際學生人數下降,還是在上世紀八十年代初期,那時高校剛開始向國際學生收取學費。
The report also calls attention to the growing numbers of Chinese students at British universities. They now represent nearly a quarter of all students enrolled in full-time master’s programs and make up the second-largest cohort after British students, at 26 percent.
報告還呼籲大家關注在英國大學裡中國學生人數的增長。在全日制碩士項目中,中國留學生如今已經佔到了所有就讀學生的近四分之一,僅次於佔總人數26%的英國本地學生,成為第二大的群體。
That increase has taken place as the numbers of students from India, Pakistan, and Iran, which historically sent large cohorts of graduate students to Britain, have declined. The numbers of students coming from Pakistan and India have halved since 2010, even as entries from other countries have increased, according to the report.
在中國生源增長的同時,歷史上曾經在英國研究生人群組成中佔據較大份額的印度、巴基斯坦與伊朗學生的人數有所下降。根據這份報告,來自巴基斯坦和印度的學生自2010年起減少了一半,儘管來自其他國家的新生人數有所上升。
Those developments paint a worrying picture for British universities, which seem to have borne the brunt of a confluence of events. “We can’t point to causality,” Ms. Ilieva said, but the timing of the shifts suggest some factors that might be at play.
這些變化為英國大學描繪了一幅前途堪憂的景象,它看上去是一系列事件共同衝擊造成的後果。「我們無法明確指出因果關係,」伊利耶娃說,但這些變化所處的時間點表明,有些因素可能在其中起到了一定作用。
Immigration, for one, has become a contentious political issue in Britain in recent years, and the government’s efforts to limit immigration figures have at times conflicted with the aims of universities. Universities UK, the lobbying organization for vice chancellors, has opposed the government’s approach to immigration, warning that including students in migration figures would be detrimental to universities.
比如說移民問題,近年來在英國一直都是頗 受爭議的政治議題,政府限制移民人數的努力經常會與高校的目標有所衝突。英國大學組織(Universities UK)是大學校長組成的一個遊說組織,它對政府的移民政策持反對意見,該組織警告道,把學生包含在移民統計人數內的做法對大學來說十分不利。
Policy revisions, such as the elimination of work entitlement for foreign students at private institutions, a move designed to curb abuses by bogus institutions, also had an effect on international enrollments.
對一些政策進行修訂,比如說減少對私立學校的留學生頒發工作簽證,本意是限制假冒學校濫用政策,但它對海外招生也有一定的影響。
Those shifts, all of which may have suggested to international students that Britain was becoming less hospitable to foreigners, coincided with efforts among Britain’s main competitors for foreign students to ease the path for them.
對國際學生來說,這些改變也許都表明,英國對外國人越來越不友好了,而與此同時,英國的主要競爭者們則都在努力為留學生申請入學的道路掃清障礙。
Commenting on the funding council report, Nicola Dandridge, the chief executive of Universities UK, noted that at a time of growing international demand for higher education, “we should be seeing a significant rise in international recruitment figures, given the global standing of our universities. At the same time, competitor countries, who are actively promoting policies to encourage international students, have seen rises in international-student numbers.”
在評價基金委員會這份報告時,英國大學組 織執行主席尼科拉·丹德里奇(Nicola Dandridge)指出,這一切都發生在國際上對高等教育的需求增長的時代,「鑒於英國大學在全球的地位, 我們本來應該看到國際招生數量的顯著增長。而在同一時間,與我們競爭的國家在切實地推行鼓勵國際學生的政策,因此他們真切地看到了國際學生人數的增長。」

本文最初發表於2014年4月14日。
翻譯:吳靜

2014年5月30日 星期五

Why English Eggs Are Way Different Than American Ones

Why English Eggs Are Way Different Than American Ones

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While English food typically gets a bad rap, there are certain things that the English do really well when it comes to eating and drinking. They invented the Scotch Egg, they eat a lot of pie and they've made drinking outside part of their daily routine. London is home to some of the best restaurants in the world, other countries -- especially our own -- are imitating the English gastropub at every turn, and hearty, simple fair à la the English Sunday Roast is more fashionable than ever. More and more, the reputation of bad English food is unfair and outdated.
One basic, important food that the English do right is eggs. English eggs look and taste very different from American ones. The yolks are more orange and they taste slightly richer. They also taste fresher and more flavorful than your average American factory farm egg. (We're not talking free range, organic eggs, but the kind that come from chickens stacked in tiny cages.) English eggs are so different than American ones that American eggs would actually be illegal in the UK -- or anywhere in the EU -- and vice versa.
english eggs
The first distinction is that in the U.S., eggs must be washed in order to be sold commercially. In the UK, however, Grade A eggs -- the kind sold in supermarkets -- must not be cleaned. This is why you might purchase eggs with a little bit of grit and even an occasional feather when you're in the UK. The idea behind the no-wash mandate is that it will encourage good cultivation on farms. "It’s in the farmers’ best interests then to produce the cleanest eggs possible, as no one is going to buy their eggs if they’re dirty,” Mark Williams, Chief Executive of the British Egg Industry Council told Forbes.
The USDA doesn't see it that way. They're concerned with the potential of fecal matter making it from the farm onto the egg, which, being a porous object, could transfer micro-organisms inside the egg. Eggs in the United States must be washed in water a minimum of 90°F. They must then be sprayed with a chemical sanitizer and dried to remove residual moisture that might enable bacteria to penetrate the egg shell. If any moisture is left on the egg, the potential for bacteria is much higher. The U.S. cleaning methods must be followed closely in order for them to work. With such a high risk of bacteria if cleaned improperly, the UK believes cleaning is more trouble than it's worth, Forbes explains. Careless cleaning would be worse than no cleaning.
There is also a thin layer called the cuticle that naturally protects the egg, and the EU egg marketing regulations prohibit cleaning eggs in order to keep the cuticle intact. The cuticle protects from contamination and should be left on, they say.
english eggs
Due to the different washing philosophies, the U.S. and UK also have different storage procedures. If you've ever bought eggs in Europe, you might have noticed that eggs are not refrigerated in the supermarket. In the U.S., however, eggs are always kept in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. The different methods stem from the different washing methods, and more specifically, the potential for moisture on the egg. In the UK, there is the worry that refrigerating eggs before consumers take them home will lead to a change of temperature drastic enough during transportation to cause moisture to collect. If eggs sweat when moved from a cold fridge to a warm car, for example, unnecessary bacteria could form.
Finally, there is the concern of salmonella -- in the U.S., we are instructed to keep eggs in temperatures lower than 40°F because it decreases the risk of salmonella from spreading. In the UK, salmonella isn't a widespread concern because British farmers have been vaccinating their hens against salmonella since the 1990s. While the "drop in salmonella infections in Britain was stunning," according to the New York Times, the FDA has not yet mandated vaccination here in the U.S. Vaccination isn't required by law by in UK either, but necessary if farmers want the red stamp of approval denoting their hens have been vaccinated.
english eggs
The different washing and storing methods must affect the taste of the eggs, because if you've ever eaten an egg in England, it tastes pretty different! Have you ever had eggs from the UK? Could you taste the difference? Let us know!

2014年5月28日 星期三

London Is a Worse Nitrogen Dioxide Polluter Than Beijing


London Is a Worse Nitrogen Dioxide Polluter Than Beijing
A general view through smog of the Canary Wharf financial district on April 2, 2014 in London.
A general view through smog of the Canary Wharf financial district on April 2, 2014 in London. Dan Kitwood—Getty Images

An E.U.-mandated shift to diesel cars has sent London's NO2 emissions through the roof. "It's a public-health catastrophe," says one prominent campaigner

British tabloids may lash out at Chinese smog all they want, but when it comes to one important pollution indicator, the U.K. capital actually outpollutes even Beijing.
A European Union–wide shift to diesel, in order to curb CO2 emissions, has sent London’s nitrogen dioxide levels through the roof, Bloomberg reports. Not only are they the worst in Europe, reaching twice the E.U. limit, they also surpass the Chinese capital’s by a whopping 50%.
“Successive governments knew more than 10 years ago that diesel was producing all these harmful pollutants, but they myopically plowed on with their CO2 agenda,” Simon Birkett, founder of the nonprofit Clean Air in London, told Bloomberg. “It’s a public-health catastrophe.”
In 2000, the E.U. drew up rules allowing diesel cars to discharge more than three times the amount of nitrogen dioxide than those using gasoline.
“We’re stuck now with these diesel cars,” says Matthew Pencharz, the environment and energy adviser to the mayor of London. “About half our cars are diesel, whereas 10 or 15 years ago it was lower than 10%.”
Nitrogen dioxide irritates the lungs, increasing susceptibility to respiratory infections. In China, efforts are mostly focused on other pollutants, such as PM10, levels of which almost triple those in London.

The most dangerous drug isn't meow meow. It isn't even alcohol ...

報紙/媒體無法提供"事實/真像",只好和稀泥.......報紙遠比毒品/麻醉品/酒類......危害大。

Urban Dictionary: grauniad

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=grauniad
The Grauniad is a nickname for the UK national newpaper, the Guardian, because of a now ill-founded reputation for typos. The name was given to it ...

The Guardian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian
The paper's nickname The Grauniad originated with the satirical magazine Private Eye. This anagram played on The Guardian's reputation for frequent ...

The most dangerous drug isn't meow meow. It isn't even alcohol ...

Newspapers are the biggest threat to the nation's mental wellbeing
Mephedrone Drug
Mephedrone, otherwise known as meow meow. Photograph: Rex Features
I'm a lightweight; always have been. I didn't get properly drunk until I was 25, on a night out which culminated in a spectacular public vomiting in a Chinese restaurant. Ever wondered what the clatter of 60 pairs of chopsticks being simultaneously dropped in disgust might sound like? Don't ask me. I can't remember. I was too busy bitterly coughing what remained of my guts all over the carpet.
Not a big drinker, then. Like virtually every other member of my generation, I smoked dope throughout my early 20s. It prevented me from getting bored, but also prevented me from achieving much. When you're content to blow an entire fortnight basking on your sofa like a woozy sea lion, playing Super Bomberman, eating Minstrels and sniggering at Alastair Stewart's bombastic voiceover on Police Camera Action! there's not much impetus to push yourself. Marijuana detaches you from the world, like a big pause button. The moment I stopped smoking it I started actually getting stuff done. I still sit on my sofa playing videogames, necking sweets and laughing at the telly, but these days if I have to leave my cocoon and pop to the corner shop to buy a pint of milk before they close, it's a minor inconvenience rather than a protracted mission to Mars. That was the worst thing about being stoned: there came an inevitable point every evening where you'd find yourself shuffling around a massively overlit local convenience store feeling alien and jittery. Brrr. No thanks.
I tried other things, only to discover they weren't for me. LSD, for instance, definitely isn't my bag. Call me traditional, but if I glance at a wall and before my very eyes it suddenly starts smearing and sliding around like oil on water, my initial reaction is not to be amused or amazed, but alarmed about the structural integrity of the building. My most benign lysergic experience consisted of an hour-long stroll around an incredibly verdant, sun-drenched meadow, watching the names of famous sportsmen appear before me in gigantic 3D letters carved from fiery gold. Eventually someone passed me a cup of tea and the spell was broken: there I was, sitting in a student halls of residence, watching late-night golf on BBC2 on a tiny black-and-white TV. From that point on it was like being trapped in a David Lynch film that lasted for eight hours and was set in Streatham. Once again: Brrr. No thanks.
These days I'm sickeningly lily-livered, by choice rather than necessity. I don't smoke, I drink only occasionally, and I'd sooner saw my own feet off than touch anything harder than a double espresso. I don't want to get out of my head: that's where I live.
In summary: if I've learned anything, it's that I don't much care for mood-altering substances. But I'm not afraid of them either. With one exception.
It's perhaps the biggest threat to the nation's mental wellbeing, yet it's freely available on every street – for pennies. The dealers claim it expands the mind and bolsters the intellect: users experience an initial rush of emotion (often euphoria or rage), followed by what they believe is a state of enhanced awareness. Tragically this "awareness" is a delusion. As they grow increasingly detached from reality, heavy users often exhibit impaired decision-making abilities, becoming paranoid, agitated and quick to anger. In extreme cases they've even been known to form mobs and attack people. Technically it's called "a newspaper", although it's better known by one of its many "street names", such as "The Currant Bun" or "The Mail" or "The Grauniad" (see me – Ed).
In its purest form, a newspaper consists of a collection of facts which, in controlled circumstances, can actively improve knowledge. Unfortunately, facts are expensive, so to save costs and drive up sales, unscrupulous dealers often "cut" the basic contents with cheaper material, such as wild opinion, bullshit, empty hysteria, reheated press releases, advertorial padding and photographs of Lady Gaga with her bum hanging out. The hapless user has little or no concept of the toxicity of the end product: they digest the contents in good faith, only to pay the price later when they find themselves raging incoherently in pubs, or – increasingly – on internet messageboards.
Tragically, widespread newspaper abuse has become so endemic, it has crippled the country's ability to conduct a sensible debate about the "war on drugs". The current screaming festival over "meow meow" or "M-Cat" or whatever else the actual users aren't calling it, is a textbook example. I have no idea how dangerous it is, but there seems to be a glaring lack of correlation between the threat it reportedly poses and the huge number of schoolkids reportedly taking it. Something doesn't add up. But in lieu of explanation, we're treated to an hysterical, obfuscating advertising campaign for a substance that will presumably – thanks to the furore – soon only be available via illegal, unregulated, more dangerous, means. If I was 15 years old, I wouldn't be typing this right now. I'd be trying to buy "plant food" on the internet. And this time next year I'd be buying it in a pub toilet, cut with worming pills and costing four times as much.
Personally speaking, the worst substances I've ever encountered are nicotine (a senselessly addictive poison) and alcohol (which spins the inner wheel of judgment into an unreadable blur). Apart from the odd fond memory, the only good thing either really have going for them is their legality. If either had been outlawed I'd probably have drunk myself blind on cheap illegal moonshine or knifed you and your family in the eye to fund my cigarette habit.
But then I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to narcotics. Like I said, I'm a lightweight. I can absolutely guarantee my experience of drugs is far more limited than that of the average journalist: immeasurably so once you factor in alcohol. So presumably they know what they're talking about. It's hard to shake the notion half the users aren't trying to "escape the boredom of their lives": just praying for a brief holiday from society's unrelenting bullshit.

2014年5月26日 星期一

Farage hails 'extraordinary' UKIP win in European election




2014-05-27  09:55
〔中央社〕英國獨立黨以主張英國應退出歐洲聯盟的鮮明立場,在歐洲議會改選大勝,呼應其它歐洲國家極右派政黨勢力抬頭的趨勢,但能否在明年英國大選挺進國會,仍需觀察。
  • 英國獨立黨(UKIP)在歐洲議會選舉共拿下24席,得票率達27.49%,較上屆選舉增加11席,這是100年來英國的重要全國性選舉,首次由工黨和保守黨以外的政黨獲得勝利。圖為英國獨立黨領袖法拉吉(Nigel Farage)。(來源:法新社。) 英國獨立黨(UKIP)在歐洲議會選舉共拿下24席,得票率達27.49%,較上屆選舉增加11席,這是100年來英國的重要全國性選舉,首次由工黨和保守黨以外的政黨獲得勝利。圖為英國獨立黨領袖法拉吉(Nigel Farage)。(來源:法新社。)
英國獨立黨(UKIP)在歐洲議會選舉共拿下24席,得票率達27.49%,較上屆選舉增加11席,工黨則有20席,得票率25.40%,排名第2,較上屆增加7席,執政的保守黨僅獲得19席,較上屆減少7席,得票率23.93%。
這是100年來英國的重要全國性選舉,首次由工黨和保守黨以外的政黨獲得勝利。
不僅如此,英國獨立黨並首次在蘇格蘭取得歐洲議會席次。
聯合執政的自由民主黨災情最為慘重,痛失10席,僅拿下1席,險些在這次歐洲議會改選全軍覆沒。面對黨員要求下台的指責,黨魁克萊格(Nick Clegg)明確表示,不會辭職下台。
專家指出,經濟成長緩慢、高失業率,布魯塞爾權力過多,加上移民等問題,使歐洲選民對歐洲聯盟感到失望,是極右派政黨在這次歐洲議會改選獲勝的原因,法國極右派「民族陣線」(Front National)獲得26%也是一例。
英國獨立黨黨魁法拉吉(Nigel Farage)出身金融界,強力主張英國應退出歐盟,取回應有的自主權,不再提供資金給歐盟,同時對外國移民人數也必須有限制。
法拉吉對歐洲議會選舉結果十分滿意,直言英國獨立黨已成為不能被忽視的政黨,延續這波高人氣,英國獨立黨將推出優秀的候選人,致力下週在英格蘭紐瓦克(Newark)舉行的國會補選衝刺,希望能奪得英國獨立黨在國會的第1個席次。
法拉吉期盼明年大選英國獨立黨能拿下多個國會席次,一旦達陣,將舉行歐盟公投,讓民眾決定英國是否續留歐盟。
英國前首相布萊爾說,英國獨立黨在歐洲議會改選取得最多席次,這個結果令人感到憂慮,退出歐盟與反移民情緒成為辯論的主軸,但這只表達民眾對現況的不滿,而非針對21世紀的解決方案,支持歐盟的陣營必須從這次選舉中認真聆聽人民的聲音。
政治專家指出,今年歐洲議會改選英國的投票率僅33.8%,低於上屆選舉,雖然這次有數百萬人投票支持英國獨立黨,但在全國總人口數約只占9%,英國獨立黨能否在預定明年春天舉行的大選開出紅盤,還需要再觀察,但隨著英國獨立黨勢力崛起,其它政黨不宜小覷。




 http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-27572451

Farage hails 'extraordinary' UKIP win in European election

4 hours ago
The UK Independence Party is a truly national force and has "momentum" behind it, Nigel Farage has said after its victory in the European elections.
Hailing a "breakthrough" in Scotland and a strong showing in Wales, he said UKIP would target its first Westminster seat in next week's Newark by-election.
UKIP won 27.5% of the vote and had 24 MEPs elected; Labour, on 25.4% or 20 seats, narrowly beat the Tories into third place while the Lib Dems lost all but one of their seats and came sixth behind the Greens.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson reports.

2014年5月22日 星期四

London through the eyes of illustrator and graphic designer Edward Bawden

  London through the eyes of illustrator and graphic designer Edward Bawden

Bawden's structural lithographs and illustrated maps from the 1920s to the 1960s show Kew Gardens and London's markets among his favourite subjects
• The London by Edward Bawden exhibition runs from 22 May until 24 October at The Higgins in Bedford

Leadenhall Market, 1967, lithograph after linocut.
Leadenhall Market, 1967, lithograph after linocut.
The Coal Exchange, 1963, colour autolithograph.
The Coal Exchange, 1963, colour autolithograph.
The Albert Bridge, 1966, linocut on paper.
The Albert Bridge, 1966, linocut on paper.
The Stock Exchange, 1963, colour autolithograph.
The Stock Exchange, 1963, colour autolithograph.
Smithfield Market, 1967, lithograph after linocut.
Smithfield Market, 1967, lithograph after linocut.
St Paul’s, 1958, colour autolithograph.
St Paul’s, 1958, colour autolithograph.
London Underground poster Changing The Guard: London’s Daily Military Tattoos, 1925, lithograph.
London Underground poster Changing The Guard, 1925, lithograph.
Nine London Monuments – The Horse Guards, 1966, linocut.
Nine London Monuments – The Horse Guards, 1966, linocut.
Life Guards, 1952 – 53, colour autolithograph
Life Guards, 1952 – 53, colour autolithograph.
The Pagoda, Kew Gardens, 1963, linocut
The Pagoda, Kew Gardens, 1963, linocut.
Poster for the London Passenger Transport Board Kew Gardens, 1936, lithograph after linocut.
Poster for the London Passenger Transport Board Kew Gardens, 1936, lithograph after linocut.
Liverpool Street Station, 1960, linocut.
Liverpool Street Station, 1960, linocut.
Detail from A General Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Spring & Easter 1923
Detail from A General Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Spring/Easter 1923.
Detail from A General Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Spring & Easter 1923.
Detail from A General Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Spring/Easter 1923.

2014年5月20日 星期二

John Marriott (British politician 1859-1945);現代英國Modern England: 1885-1945 : a History of My Own Times


Modern England: 1885-1945 : a History of My Own Times
現代英國

簡體 現代英國(上中下) 約阿蘭馬里歐特著 1973 商務; 1979港1版

現代英國(上下)
作者: 約‧阿‧蘭‧馬里歐特 
譯者: 姚曾廙
出版: 商務印書館
商務印書館
出版日期: 1979/03
頁數: 1020
尺寸: 18.7cm x 13.0cm


John Marriott (British politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named John Marriott, see John Marriott (disambiguation).
Sir John Arthur Ransome Marriott (17 August 1859 – 6 June 1945) taught modern history at Oxford University from 1884 to 1920. He was an Honorary fellow, formerly fellow, lecturer and tutor in modern History, of Worcester College, Oxford. He served as a Conservative member of Parliament for Oxford from 1917–1922 and for York from 1923–1929. During the course of his lifetime he wrote more than forty books on historical and political subjects.
He was knighted in 1924.[1]

See also

Works

Articles

Sources

References

  1. Concise Dictionary of National Biography, 1992

External links


2014年5月17日 星期六

London's cooking waste to fuel power station


London's cooking waste to fuel power station
Thames Water and 2OC in deal worth £200m over 20 years to turn 'fatbergs' clogging capital's sewers into energy for sewage works and homes
Chips in a deep fat fryer
Chips in a deep fat fryer. Thirty tonnes a day of 'fat' waste will be collected from leftover cooking oil supplies at eateries and manufacturers, fat traps in kitchens and pinchpoints in sewers to fuel the power plant. Photograph: Antonio Olmos for the Guardian
 
Cooking waste from thousands of London restaurants and food companies is to help run what is claimed to be the world's biggest fat-fuelled power station.
The energy generated from the grease, oil and fat that clogs the capital's sewers will also be channelled to help run a major sewage works and a desalination plant, as well as supplying the National Grid, under plans announced by Thames Water and utility company 2OC.
The prospect of easing the financial and logistical problems of pouring £1m a month into clearing the drains of 40,000 fat-caused blockages a year is being hailed by the companies as a "win-win" project. Thirty tonnes a day of waste will be collected from leftover cooking oil supplies at eateries and manufacturers, fat traps in kitchens and pinchpoints in the sewers – enough to provide more than half the fuel the power plant will need to run. The rest of its fuel will come from waste vegetable oil and tallow (animal fats).
The deal, worth more than £200m over 20 years, has made possible the building of the £70m plant at Beckton, east London, which is financed by a consortium led by iCON Infrastructure. It is due to be operational in early 2015. No virgin oils from field or plantation crops will be used to power it, says 2OC.
The plant will produce 130 Gigawatt hours (GWh) a year of renewable electricity – enough to run just under 40,000 average-sized homes, say the planners.
Thames Water has agreed to buy 75GWh of this output to run Beckton sewage works, which serves 3.5 million people, and the nearby desalination plant, which is used in times of drought or other emergencies. Piers Clark, commercial director for Thames Water, said: "This project is a win-win: renewable power, hedged from the price fluctuations of the non-renewable mainstream power markets, and helping tackle the ongoing operational problem of 'fatbergs' in sewers."
Andrew Mercer, chief executive of 2OC, said: "This is good for us, the environment, Thames Water and its customers.
"Our renewable power and heat from waste oils and fats is fully sustainable. When Thames doesn't need our output, it will be made available to the grid meaning that power will be sourced, generated and used in London by Londoners."

2014年5月13日 星期二

Tired of London?

What many believe is a growing divide between London and the rest of the country has been underlined by a study published on Tuesday that concludes most people who live outside the capital strongly believe it gets a much better deal than the rest of the UK
Report reveals most non-Londoners feel capital dominates culturally,...
The Guardian|由 Steven Morris 上傳

2014年5月12日 星期一

Boris Johnson can get much more done than Britain’s prime minister

Are we seeing a shift in the political balance of power worldwide? Are the leaders of growing city states more influential than presidents and prime ministers?
Guardian Cities
The age of the city-state: with the world’s megacities fast becoming nations in their own right, London’s mayor Boris Johnson can get much more done than Britain’s prime minister
The Guardian|   由 Benjamin Barber 上傳

楊索書介: 汪浩 《冷戰中的兩面派:1949-1958英國的台灣政策 》



me:哇。精彩的介紹。有機會當拜讀。外行人的話;近30年來,中共對蔣介石的好感,因為蔣沒把台灣割出去,所以是愛國者。至於英國,I. Berlin等在戰時就知道其祖國已無法是個大國、強國了。英國最早承認中共,這也是胡適之先生必須拒絕到牛津大學講學的邀請,因為胡先生也是位愛國者。

對 於二次戰後,冷戰時期的英國,我大多來自約翰‧勒卡雷與葛林的小說情節,尤其是勒卡雷經典的《冷戰諜魂》。英國情報機構圓場在冷戰時與蘇聯等鐵幕國家展開 一波波鬥爭,勒卡雷有一本《榮譽學生》,諜戰背景設在香港,其中一章〈上海特快車〉寫到國民黨等。這大約是我所見英國冷戰時期與中港台最近的虛構篇章。
嘿,沒想到我認識多年的朋友汪浩最近出版了《冷戰中的兩面派》,副題是1949-1958英國的台灣政策。這本書是他牛津大學的博士論文,經過大量修訂、 重新補校、增添新的研究資料撰成。是他在90年代花費數年於倫敦英國國家檔案耙梳史料、由其牛津聖安東尼學院恩師、英國皇家學院院士露絲瑪麗‧福特指導而 成。汪浩是福特女士在聖安東尼第一個指導的博士生,她給他極高評價,並為此書作序。
福特女士指出這本書的論述焦點在於「在早期冷戰演變中,(英國對兩個中國)外交承認的爭論,韓戰的衝擊,兩次台灣海峽危機的影響等,從探討英國在彼時的爭論與政策,可以看出早期冷戰有多詭譎複雜。那絕不是一刀切,把東西方分割為兩大同盟體的單純時期。」
本書主要在檢視冷戰時期的「台灣問題」,尤其是英國的政策取向。書中分析,當時有三派,第一派贊成放棄台灣,把台灣交給共產黨。第二派贊成台灣中立化(獨立或聯合國託管),第三派贊成支援蔣介石領導的中華民國。
其時美國已明顯成為新霸權、英國已非日不落帝國,相對人微言輕。台灣外在是因為美國對東亞的戰略佈局、內政以白色恐怖高壓手段穩固政局。汪浩書中提及,台 灣在五O年代末至六O年代末,錯失了能獲得國際以「兩個中國」方案解決台灣政治地位的歷史機會。他寫道,當時美英可說服蔣介石接受中華民國中立化,並承認 「兩個中國」,「當年蘇聯和聯合國不會反對,毛澤東一定會反對,但如美蘇英蔣都贊成,兩個中國可以並存,共同進入聯合國,以那時共產中國與美蘇英蔣的實力 對比,毛澤東也只能默認現實了。」汪浩對此局勢有更深入的分析,而台灣三四年級生應還記得民國六十年退出聯合國時,老總統「漢賊不兩立」的決策,是對是錯 仍值得探討。汪浩此書的價值在於補足了研究台灣當代史較少著墨的塊面。
汪浩著作在台灣書市非屬大眾,但我相信喜歡研究台灣當代史者會收藏,而我個人也讀得津津有味。這很可能是汪浩的太太,我的好友蔡珠兒充當影武者、為整本書 的文句把關。在友朋間,公認汪浩最大功勞是讓珠兒無後顧之憂,得以投入創作。當年珠兒要嫁汪浩,大家都說她「策反匪幹有功」,但後來證明汪浩夙夜匪懈創造 珠兒的幸福,大家也就愈來愈喜歡「汪匪」。
此書有汪浩牛津同窗,中研院近代史研究所所長黃克武先生寫序,他憶及同窗生活,說因為汪浩得以認識於牛津讀書的日本皇太子妃小和田雅子(那時皇太子正猛烈 追求中)。我跟珠兒開玩笑說,原來汪浩曾經有機會和皇太子一爭高下,但他選了你,可見你魅力勝過雅子。當然這是我與珠兒同為苦海女神龍的私語啦。文末劃重 點:《冷戰中的兩面派》(有鹿出版)http://www.books.com.tw/products/0010630110

2014年5月11日 星期日

Prime Minister David Cameron failed to find a seat on public transport


UK, Prime Minister David Cameron failed to find a seat on public transport (Train).
That's called Beauty of Leadership.

2014年5月10日 星期六

英國置產首選倫敦Zone1~3

英國政經穩 置產首選倫敦Zone1~3

租金報酬率5~7% 2015年4月起賣屋獲利須繳稅

更多專欄文章
英國摩天大樓「聖瑪利艾克斯30號」(30 St. Mary Axe) 為倫敦金融中心顯著地標,周邊商業氣息濃。CBRE世邦魏理仕提供
【鄭婷方╱台北報導】英國的政治經濟發展穩定,也是台灣民眾旅遊、留學的熱門選擇。專家表示,倫敦的房市供應量較少,不過租賃需求高,租金報酬率普遍達5~7%,加上國際買盤湧入,房價節節攀升,近1年漲幅約12%。
全 球興起海外投資風潮,各地房市供需是否平衡,攸關房價漲幅。世邦魏理仕國際項目營銷部亞洲區董事李柏光表示,英國倫敦房市供給量以往相對較少,目前新屋的 70%又幾乎都被國際買盤購買,房價因此上漲,2013年的85%倫敦豪宅,買主來自新加坡與香港,有3分之2的比例是投資用途。

當地自有住宅率低

世 邦魏理仕台灣區董事總經理林俊銘補充,在當地投資的台灣人數還在發展中,約2%以下,仍不算多,買來也都是讓子女留學居住或本身移民至當地自住,英國的房 市不少買方來自中國,還有部分是香港、新加坡等,以倫敦市中心為置產首選,像是Zone1~Zone3等住商混合的區域,生活機能較好。
由於外國 人較無有土斯有財的觀念,林俊銘表示,房子等於持有財產的想法相對較淡,自有住宅比例約30~40%,租屋市場為主。此外,李柏光指出,目前已最熱門的倫 敦市中心預售屋來說,租賃需求最高的1房產品,面積約550平方呎(約15.5坪)最熱門,預售屋的入門門檻超過50萬英鎊(約2500萬元台幣),換算 每坪161萬元台幣。

學套產品無法貸款

此外,由於有留學生居住需求,學生宿舍新案也成為民眾投資的選擇。台灣房屋全球財富中心執行長黃逸群表示,學生宿舍套房的面積4~8坪,總價300~400萬元台幣,價格相對低,因此無法貸款,但必須提供金錢來源,防止不法行為。
以 學生宿舍來說,黃逸群指出,最重要的居住考量因素,不外乎為步行至學校的距離、周邊有無成熟商圈,而英國的交通成本較高,學生又以搭公車或走路為主,倫敦 則可搭地鐵,離學校越近的物件越受歡迎,這類的產品,年租金收入約4800元英鎊(約24.3萬元台幣),報酬率約8%,相對高,但礙於無法貸款,民眾資 金需準備充足。
目前外國人在英國不必課資本利得稅,但李柏光表示,英國政府開始實施房市管控,從2015年4月開始將祭出資本利得稅。根據草案,非英國籍的海外人士,在英國賣出住宅獲利,須和英國本地人士一樣繳稅。
李柏光補充,賣屋獲利課徵18%資本利得稅,若超過10900英鎊(約55萬元台幣),則課徵28%稅金。

【英國租買房屋注意事項】

項目╱注意事項
租屋:
◎英國自有住宅比例約30~40%,租賃市場需求高
◎倫敦市中心以1房產品租賃需求最高,面積約15.5坪
◎學生宿舍出租產品,會附基本家具,例如書桌、衣櫃等,較好的房型會有獨立廚房
◎英國交通成本高,學生租屋須考量學校距離
買屋:
◎外國人無購屋限制 ◎外資湧入英國房市,近1年房價漲幅達12%
◎學生宿舍產品,總價300~400萬元不等,報酬率約8%
◎2015年4月起,外國人購屋也須課資本利得稅
◎台灣民眾在當地購屋比例仍較低,多為中國或香港、新加坡人置產為主,70%為國際買家
資料來源:《蘋果》採訪整理


Tiffany
24歲 上班族 居住英國1年

【仲介租屋服務費】每人100元英鎊

英國各城市租金標準不一,以倫敦來說,每人月租金至少800元英鎊(約4萬元台幣),有獨立1房1廳1衛,若和朋友租家庭式的物件,每人月租金約500元英鎊(約2.5萬元台幣),租金不含水電瓦斯費,但有床、書桌、衣櫃等基本家具。
部分房東不租給學生,因無固定收入,若學生租屋,房仲規定至少得簽半年租約,服務費每人支付仲介100元英鎊(約5000元台幣),選仲介最好多比較,租約內容、和房仲討論的事情都要記錄。

英國面臨「嚴重恐怖攻擊威脅」


英國面臨「嚴重恐怖攻擊威脅」
更新時間 2014年5月9日, 格林尼治標準時間13:59
在敘利亞的穆斯林戰士
英國許多穆斯林來到敘利亞參加抵抗阿薩德軍隊的戰鬥
英國國會內政事務委員會星期五(5月8日)表示,政府需要緊急行動,阻止公民出國到敘利亞參戰和參加其他衝突,因為擔心這些人會接受極端思想,返回英國後搞恐怖攻擊。
國會內政委員會負責人還警告,英國面臨「恐怖威脅」,其嚴重程度不低於13年發生在美國的9/11事件。
該委員會在一份報告中說,「到國外參戰的英國公民和西方人的人數最近數年達到驚人的程度。」
「我們要求立即做出回應,勸阻和防止那些想去參戰的人離境。」
最近數月,英國和其他歐洲國家政府都警告說,參加抵抗敘利亞總統阿薩德軍隊的穆斯林可能會最終對其所在國構成威脅。
安全官員估計,已經有數百名英國公民參與到敘利亞的衝突中。
伊斯蘭是英國第二大宗教,穆斯林人數將近300萬,佔全國人口接近5%。
自美國9/11恐怖攻擊事件以來,英國一直被認為是穆斯林極端分子的一個首要目標。
2005年,倫敦地鐵遭恐怖攻擊,52人喪生。
(編譯/責編:董樂)

2014年5月6日 星期二

In the Royal Mail debacle, shares sold at £1.7bn rose to £2.7bn...

'In the Royal Mail debacle, shares sold at £1.7bn rose to £2.7bn. The 16 investors chosen as "long-term" custodians included the most wolfish hedge funds, who sold the shares at once. Let's hope that ends any pretence that shareholders look after companies' (via Comment is free)
Polly Toynbee: From the Land Registry to East Coast rail, valuable public assets are being frittered away despite the many cautionary tales
The Guardian|由 Polly Toynbee 上傳

2014年5月5日 星期一

The U.K.'s housing policy is mad; The north-south divide myth


'Britain, a wealthy and resourceful country with 90% of its land still undeveloped, cannot perform that most basic of functions: it cannot properly house its people. Among the baleful consequences, there is misery for some and resentment among many; a widening of property inequality between the classes and the generations; and a massively high bill for housing benefit' (via Comment is free)
Andrew Rawnsley: Ed Miliband's promise to protect tenants addresses just some of the symptoms of this profound crisis
The Guardian|由 Andrew Rawnsley 上傳




'The north of England still conjures up images of being downtrodden and impoverished; of terraced houses with the Hovis theme tune in the background. The south, on the other hand, is a prosperous land of leafy suburbs, City slickers and loadsamoney. It's nonsense' (via Comment is free)
Owen Jones: It may seem disloyal to my northern homeland, but what really carves up this country is wealth and power, not geography
The Guardian|由 Owen Jones 上傳

Brixton

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brixton

 

 

 

Stalls in Brixton Village, where fancy French fare is now available in a market that the police once called a “24-hour drug supermarket.”
Andrew Testa for The New York Times
London Journal

From Riots 2011 to Tapas, a New Brixton Emerges

Long one of London’s most downtrodden and diverse neighborhoods, Brixton has recently seen a quickening in its decades-long gentrification. Above, Brixton Village.

 

 

 2010

 

A Fresh Face in South London

By CHARLY WILDER
In the last six months, Brixton Market has burst back to life with a mix of playful pop-up shops, workshops and live performances.

2014年5月3日 星期六

Samuel Brittan ; Ode to Sam

 http://blogs.ft.com/off-message/2014/03/28/ode-to-sam/

 有訪談

Ode to Sam

Every week or so, in my previous job as comment editor, I would chat to Sir Samuel Brittan about his column. Samuel would have two or six suggestions and he was too polite to let on whether the conversation was mere courtesy. Despite his incredible ability to arrive at my desk five minutes before deadline, it was invariably one of my favourite moments; the FT can be a special place to work.
I would occasionally suggest to Samuel that he write about, say, the latest development in the eurozone crisis or the most recent announcement by the UK government. He would give the uncanny impression of someone contemplating what I had said. But soon enough, I had been enlightened as to the irrelevance of the ephemeral. More than once, Samuel explained as follows: “I’m more interested in ideas.”
Today, Samuel will retire from the FT. This offers a chance to celebrate his biscuit-fueled stamina; and to reflect on how politics, economics and journalism have changed since he joined the newspaper, as it then was exclusively, in the late 1950s. But let’s not overdo it. For in a sense, he will not have retired at all. His writing still provides a humane guide to the world of ideas for any reader curious enough to want one.
In part, this is because the issues Samuel writes about are staying put. One of his first reporting assignments was “to a French automated car plant in response to one of the periodic alarms about machines displacing human beings”. His writing on the European Union, inheritance tax, widespread share ownership, wellbeing and welfare remain urgent – and that is just with reference to some of this week’s stories. Samuel was also an early advocate of basic income, an NHS tax and nominal GDP targeting, three ideas wrongly considered voguish. Take an issue and Sam will probably have considered it thoughtfully and honestly.
Re-reading his essays and columns this week, I was struck by those two aspects: thoughtfulness and honesty. Most journalists engage with proper intellectuals by summarising and popularising their work. Samuel engages with them as an equal. There is a fearless curiosity to his writing; he forages in the thicket of ideas on the left and right, terms he disdains when used one-dimensionally. (There is also dry humour: “I am no Hegel scholar; life is too short”, he once wrote.)
It is a testament to his open-mindedness that I would commend Samuel equally to a Conservative looking for an introduction to Keynes and Rawls as to a Labour supporter curious about Hayek and Popper. He is able to find what is worth keeping in a range of intellectual traditions. One of his legacies should be an appreciation that we do ourselves a disservice if we believe that these thinkers are the exclusive preserve of one side of a debate, like players on a football team.
Not that Samuel’s pluralism approaches post-modernism, which he calls “a retreat from reason”. Nor is his the flight of a magpie, swooping for sparkling ideas for next week’s column. Rather, it reflects, I think, his core belief: that, following Mill, individual liberalism comes first and that individuals should be free to feel, think, suffer and rejoice, so long as no harm is done to others. We must make up our own minds.
And so he does. During a career when many of his peers celebrated abstractions such as “the market” or “capitalism” or “the state” or “the nation” or “society”, Samuel has argued that these matter only to the extent they advance or impede human freedom and interests. (I’ll neglect his more specific economics writing for the sake of brevity.) Consider his beloved Schiller’s Ode to Joy, which he gives by way of example. “All men will be brothers”, the poet wrote. “Brothers”, Samuel observed, not “units in a cosmic whole or parts of some pantheistic utility tank”.
As he put it in A Restatement of Economic Liberalism (1973) “the right kind of market economy can be an instrument of human freedom as well as a way of satisfying human wants.” So, “the market” comes second to the individual, and “capitalism” comes third, as the only proven manifestation of a market economy. He reflected later that: “to an economic liberal, what has gone wrong with the movement to market economics in our day is not that it is too extreme or not extreme enough, but that it has been divorced from a wider commitment to personal freedom.”
These arguments have a firm philosophical footing, beginning with a “heavily circumscribed” utilitarianism, i.e. where a desire of one individual to coerce another carries no weight in the calculation. But since “there is no established liberal position on the distribution of income and wealth”, utilitarianism needs to be “heavily supplemented”, too. Here, Samuel turns towards Rawls or as he pithily puts it: “redistribution, yes; equality, no”.
I haven’t done justice to a lifelong – and I know, unfinished – attempt to reject arbitrary authority while arguing for, as he writes, capitalism with a human face. Anyone who cherishes the freedoms of western society while worrying about their contradictions should spend time with his writings. Suffice to say, thanks to Samuel, the FT’s Settembrini, I’m more interested in ideas, too.

塞繆爾•布里坦的50年英國經濟記憶

 布里坦的不列顛記憶
【編 者按】FT著名專欄作家塞繆爾•布里坦上月正式宣佈退休,結束了他在《金融時報》近50年的新聞職業生涯。本文是他退休前的最後一篇經濟評論文章,記述了 從1955年丘吉爾卸任到2010年保守黨歸政期間,發生在英國的一系列重要政治和經濟事件,是一篇時間跨度長達半個多世紀的英國經濟掠影。 
 

2014年04月30日 07:01 AM

布里坦的不列顛記憶


 
【編者按】FT著名專欄作家塞繆爾•布里坦上月正式 宣佈退休,結束了他在《金融時報》近50年的新聞職業生涯。本文是他退休前的最後一篇經濟評論文章,記述了從1955年丘吉爾卸任到2010年保守黨歸政 期間,發生在英國的一系列重要政治和經濟事件,是一篇時間跨度達半個多世紀的英國經濟掠影。
I. 被迫常態化
我最早的青年記憶要追溯到20世紀50年代中期,那場說服溫斯頓•丘吉爾爵士(Sir Winston Churchill)從首相位置退休的漫長鬥爭。錶面上的理由是,當時風傳他已認不得自己的政府同僚,恐怕不再勝任這一職位。(這聽來或許頗為得體),但 實則另有隱情。美國國務院的鷹派和英國外交部擔心他要對共產主義採取較為溫和的政策,因為他反復呼籲與蘇聯領導人召開“峰會”。這些人完全錯了。丘吉爾當 時多半是想最後一博,以西方承認俄羅斯在東歐國家的實際地位為代價,博取蘇聯停止在西方搞顛覆。
這些想法始終未及驗證,因為短命的伊登(Eden)政府隨後就上臺了。這屆時運不濟的政府只執政了兩年,於1957年初解散。我至今仍能回想起保守 黨(Conservative party)的宣傳海報,上面印著安東尼•伊登(Anthony Eden)的相片,和他那句“為和平而奮鬥”。實際上他那屆政府留存在人們記憶中的主要“事跡”,正是1956年那場損失慘重的蘇伊士運河(Suez)遠 徵。埃及領導人賈邁勒•阿卜杜勒•納賽爾上校(Gamal Abdel Nasser)對蘇伊士運河的國有化,是這場戰爭的導火索。伊登政府製造輿論稱,埃及沒能力運營蘇伊士運河,納賽爾的行為將對全球貿易構成威脅。但在這一 說法被徹底否定之前,以色列與埃及再次爆發戰爭,於是伊登政府又開始宣揚這條運河如今能夠將戰爭雙方分隔開。
當時的財政大臣哈羅德•麥克米倫(Harold Macmillan,上圖左,右為希斯)誤以為,這場他極力促成的遠徵會獲得艾森豪威爾(Eisenhower)政府的支持。當事實證明並非如此,英鎊也不可避免地遭到拋售,麥克米倫便迅速改口稱:“我們承擔不起戰爭。”
麥克米倫1957年接替伊登當上首相,當年晚些時候他自己也遭遇了一次英鎊拋售。他勉強同意了當時的財政大臣彼得•桑尼克羅夫特(Peter Thorneycroft)準備的一系列“通貨緊縮”政策,也就是所謂的“9月舉措”(September Measures)。其內容無非一些常規套路,如收緊分期付款控制,限制銀行貸款,以及適度限制政府。令包括我在內的一些經濟評論員感到憤怒的是,這些舉 措施行的背景是,經濟已連續兩三年零增長。無論政府為這些舉措給出怎樣的理由,很明顯唯一的理由就是:抵消英鎊面臨的任何貶值威脅。
II. 融入歐洲
接下來的這個時期要平靜得多。9月措施的影響很快消失得一乾二凈,麥克米倫舒舒服服地在1959年大選中獲得連任。但到了1960年,一些自感肩負 責任者開始為英國經濟增長率落後於歐洲諸對手國感到擔憂,於是白廳(Whitehall)開始尋求各種徹底改革。最令人印象深刻的一場改革是廢除再售限價 (resale price maintenance),主導者正是愛德華•希思(Edward Heath)。這場改革令保守黨的一些後座議員幾乎中風。但一個已無法再迴避的重大決定迫在眉睫:要不要申請加入那個當時被稱作歐洲共同市場 (Common Market)或歐洲六國(Europe of the Six,德國、法國、意大利、比利時、荷蘭、盧森堡)的組織。
麥克米倫的動機主要是政治上的,一如他的主要競爭對手法國總統查爾斯•戴高樂(Charles de Gaulle)。一想到英國被孤立在統一的西歐之外,這位英國首相就煩惱不已。但孤立英國恰恰是戴高樂在1963年初否決英國的加入申請時想要達到的目 的。當時,法國的否決出乎麥克米倫的意料。即便事過多年,我還是很難原諒白廳的情報工作做得如此糟糕。麥克米倫很快被亞歷克•道格拉斯-霍姆爵士(Sir Alec Douglas-Home)接替,雖然霍姆因身為第十四代霍姆伯爵而受嘲笑,但他不比許多下院議員差,何況他的財政大臣是少數懂經濟學的財政大臣之一雷金 納德•莫德林(Reginald Maudling)。莫德林在任期間領導英國經濟實現溫和擴張,這次擴張當時被美其名曰為“向增長沖刺”(dash for growth)。
III. 英鎊問題
到1964年10月大選時,英國已明顯面臨名副其實的國際收支問題。我們永遠無從得知莫德林會讓英鎊自由浮動還是會讓英鎊貶值,因為工黨 (Labour party)贏得了此次大選,其競選口號“浪費的13年”(1951年-1964年)起了一定作用。我記得自己當時很生氣,因為哈羅德•威爾遜 (Harold Wilson)領導的新一屆政府拿國際收支問題大做文章,以此抹殺上一屆政府取得的成就,同時又孩子氣地堅決捍衛英鎊幣值。然而該來的總會來,英鎊在 1967年秋季貶值了。我仍記得在一場新聞發布會上,時任財政大臣詹姆斯•卡拉漢(James Callaghan)露出合時宜的沮喪神態,而威爾遜卻還試圖硬挺著擺出笑嘻嘻的樣子。
英鎊一貶值,匯率問題也就基本不再受到關註。事實上直到20世紀70年代,通脹本身才成為一個問題。當時公認的觀點是,通貨膨脹是過於強大的工會推 動薪資上漲造成的,而政府的任務是說服或迫使他們保持剋制。只有伊諾克•鮑威爾(Enoch Powell)及部分學者等特立獨行者,才主張通脹是由英國政府和英國央行(Bank of England)的貨幣政策造成的。人們設計了無數的協議和“指明燈”來阻止工會要求更高薪酬,而工會說到底就是乾這事兒的。
IV. “計劃增長”
一個重大轉向便是“計劃”運動。如果你已束手無策,一個誘人的口號便是“制定一個計劃”,而無須言明具體什麽計劃。這場“計劃”運動的誘因是,有人註意到法國政府有一份名為“A計劃”的文件。而懷疑派則註意到德國即便沒有這類文件,其表現也比英國出色。
我選擇將“計劃”視作一種高深的市場研究。“計劃”是一系列猜想,猜測的內容是:如果年均經濟增長率為3%或4%,那麽各行各業的產出可能相應為多 少。我賭4%,單純因為我想讓英國財政部和英國央行奉行更具擴張性的需求管理政策。但事實上,即便是3%的年均增長率也從未在任何較長時期內實現過。
V. 貨幣主義來了
與此同時,通貨膨脹再度成為頭條。大多數經濟學家預料到,經歷了1967年的英鎊貶值後,會出現暫時的通脹。但令他們震驚的是,通脹來了就不走了。
有趣的是,提倡用貨幣政策對付通貨膨脹的先驅者,竟是工黨首相詹姆斯•卡拉漢(James Callaghan)。卡拉漢在1976年的一次演講中,否定了面對工會的過高要價、政府可以靠不斷支出實現充分就業的想法(據說這是受女婿彼得•傑伊 (Peter Jay)的影響)——這場演講都快被保守黨領袖提爛了。
1979年上臺的撒切爾(Thatcher,見上圖)政府理論上承諾以貨幣政策解決通貨膨脹,但這對英國央行不起多少作用,它只是迎合政府,同時繼 續採取穩妥的務實主義方式。盡管如此,通脹確實詭異地降了下來,與此同時失業率依然居高不下,不過失業率也沒有像批評人士所警告的那樣一飛沖天。
VI. 趨同
等到1997年工黨再度執政時,兩黨在宏觀經濟政策方面的分歧已所剩不多。2008年銀行業危機帶來了大緊縮。聽聞財政部有個愛玩笑的家夥說,銀行家已經從工會那裡接過了政治惡魔的角色(上圖左為工黨首相布朗,右為財相達林)。
授予英國央行獨立操作權的是工黨政府。無論人們怎麽看待英國央行在那個位置上的表現,至少它讓貨幣政策褪去了政治火藥味,貨幣政策也不再是政治爭議 的一大主題。2008年開始的經濟大衰退(Great Recession)改變了游戲名稱。官方利率跌到谷底(至今仍未翻身),人們開始尋找辦法,以求讓央行能夠通過量化寬松等技術手段促進經濟恢復。旁觀者 忍不住會註意到,當局將一隻手捆在了身後、在單手戰鬥,因為他們拒絕使用財政政策,2010年保守黨回歸之後更是如此。而這就是我們目前的狀況。
譯者/何黎


 

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