世界銀行行長在霍華德大學(xué)英語演講
世界銀行行長在霍華德大學(xué)英語演講
Dean Harvey, thank you for that warm welcome and, President Frederick, thank you for the kind introduction. And thank you to the students, staff and faculty for being excellent hosts. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a president of the World Bank Group has addressed the Howard community. I am grateful to everyone here who made this opportunity possible.
哈維院長,謝謝你的熱情歡迎;弗里德里克校長,謝謝你的介紹詞。感謝所有前來的學(xué)校師生和員工。據(jù)我們了解,這是世界銀行集團(tuán)行長第一次在霍華德大學(xué)發(fā)表講話。我向所有促成此事的人員表示感謝。
In preparing for this speech, we did some research on Howard’s history. I was impressed with what we found. I am honored to be at an institution once led by James Nabrit, one of the leading constitutional and civil rights lawyers of his generation; and I am humbled to be at a place that helped shape the thinking of Pauli Murray, a courageous feminist trailblazer and thinker. Over varied and highly accomplished careers, both Nabrit and Murray worked to make the world a more just place. At the Bank, we are driven by the same aspiration.
在準(zhǔn)備這次演講的過程中,我們對霍華德大學(xué)的歷史做了一些了解,而了解到的情況給我留下了深刻印象。今天來到這個(gè)曾由著名憲法和民權(quán)律師詹姆斯·納布里特領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的大學(xué),我深感榮幸;而在這個(gè)曾塑造了女權(quán)主義先鋒和思想家保莉·莫瑞思想的學(xué)府發(fā)表演講,也讓我不勝惶恐。納布里特和莫瑞通過他們多樣而成功的事業(yè)使這個(gè)世界變得更好。而在世界銀行,也正是這樣的愿望激勵著我們的工作。
Over the last two years, I have led an effort at the World Bank Group to reorganize the institution to accomplish our twin goals: end extreme poverty by 2030; and boost shared prosperity among the poorest 40 percent in developing countries.
在過去兩年里,我領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了世界銀行集團(tuán)進(jìn)行重組,以實(shí)現(xiàn)我們的兩個(gè)目標(biāo):一是到2030年前終結(jié)極度貧困;二是促進(jìn)發(fā)展中國家最貧困的40%人口共享繁榮。
The first goal is ambitious, and it reflects the tremendous progress we’ve made over the last quarter century in the fight against poverty. In 1990, 36 percent of the world’s population, or 1.9 billion people, earned less than class="main">
世界銀行行長在霍華德大學(xué)英語演講
第一個(gè)目標(biāo)非常宏大,它也反映了過去四分之一世紀(jì)我們在抗擊貧困方面所取得的巨大進(jìn)展。1990年,世界上36%的人口——即19億人——每天收入不到1.25美元。而到明年,根據(jù)世行經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家的估計(jì),這個(gè)比例將下降到12%。也就是說,全球貧困人口比例在25年內(nèi)下降了三分之二。這意味著到明年為止,世界上生活在極度貧困中的人口將比1990年減少10億人。這是巨大的進(jìn)步。但是,幫助下一個(gè)10億人擺脫貧困將是更為艱巨的任務(wù)。我們還有很多工作要做,特別是在撒哈拉以南非洲,那里有大約4.5億人每天早上醒來就面對著貧困。
The second goal – boosting shared prosperity – is what I want to talk with you about today. We are working to ensure that the growth of the global economy will improve the lives of all members of society, not only a fortunate few. To accomplish this, the World Bank Group aims to achieve specific income-related and social goals: We want to raise the income of the lowest 40 percent of earners in developing countries, and improve their access to life’s essentials, including food, shelter, health care, education and jobs.
而第二個(gè)目標(biāo)——促進(jìn)共享繁榮,是我今天想與你們討論的重點(diǎn)。我們正在努力工作,以確保全球經(jīng)濟(jì)增長可以改善社會上所有人的生活,而不只是少數(shù)幸運(yùn)兒從中受益。為此,世界銀行集團(tuán)力求實(shí)現(xiàn)具體的收入目標(biāo)和社會目標(biāo):我們要提高發(fā)展中國家收入最低的40%的人口的收入,改善他們對生活必需品的獲取,包括食品、住房、醫(yī)療、教育和就業(yè)。
Let me put this in perspective: For the first time in the history of the World Bank Group, we have set a goal that aims to reduce global inequality. As the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa shows, the importance of this objective could not be more clear. The battle against the virus is a fight on many fronts – human lives and health foremost among them. But it is also a fight against inequality. The knowledge and infrastructure to treat the sick and contain the virus exists in high and middle income counties. However, over many years, we have failed to make these things accessible to low-income people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. So now, thousands of people in these countries are dying because, in the lottery of birth, they were born in the wrong place. If we do not stop Ebola now, the infection will continue to spread to other countries and even continents – just yesterday the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the first case of Ebola in the United States. This pandemic shows the deadly cost of unequal access to basic services and the consequences of our failure to fix this problem.
讓我從歷史的角度來強(qiáng)調(diào)一下“促進(jìn)共享繁榮”的重大意義:這是世界銀行集團(tuán)歷史上首次確立一個(gè)旨在減少全球不平等的目標(biāo)。正如西非埃博拉疫情所表明的,減少不平等的重要性不言而喻。抗擊埃博拉是一場全方位的戰(zhàn)斗——最重要的是保護(hù)人的生命和健康,但它同時(shí)也是一場反抗不平等的戰(zhàn)斗。高收入和中等收入國家擁有治療埃博拉病人、控制病毒擴(kuò)散的知識和基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施。但很多年來,我們未能使幾內(nèi)亞、利比里亞和塞拉利昂的低收入者獲得和使用這些知識和基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施。所以,現(xiàn)在這些國家?guī)浊艘蚋腥景2├劳觯皇且驗(yàn)樗麄冞\(yùn)氣不好,出生在錯誤的地方。如果我們現(xiàn)在不能控制西非的埃博拉病毒,疫情就會繼續(xù)向其他國家甚至其他大陸傳播——就在昨天,美國疾病控制中心證實(shí)在美國發(fā)現(xiàn)了首例埃博拉感染。埃博拉的流行顯示了由于人們不能平等獲得基本服務(wù)而產(chǎn)生的高昂代價(jià)以及因?yàn)槲覀兾茨芙鉀Q這個(gè)問題而產(chǎn)生的嚴(yán)重后果。
As I will discuss later in my remarks, the World Bank Group and others have begun to take steps to get resources into the right place. Our actions have arisen directly from our decision to make boosting shared prosperity part of the Bank’s primary mission.
待會兒我會談到,世界銀行集團(tuán)和其他機(jī)構(gòu)已開始采取步驟,向有關(guān)地區(qū)部署資源,控制疫情。我們的行動直接源于我們把促進(jìn)共享繁榮作為世行主要使命的決定。
When a visitor enters our Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters, one of the first things she sees is an inscription on the wall that reads as follows: “Our dream is a world free of poverty.” While achieving this goal through development is a complex undertaking, two things are essential. First, we must help low-income countries grow their economies. In the last four years alone, high rates of growth in China and India have meant that 232 million people no longer live in poverty. Second, low-income people who live in low-income countries must share in the gains from that growth. Shared prosperity is part of the Bank’s headline goals simply because it is required to end poverty.
當(dāng)參觀者進(jìn)入位于賓西法尼亞大街的世行集團(tuán)總部時(shí),首先映入她眼簾的是墻上的這樣一句標(biāo)語:“我們的夢想是一個(gè)沒有貧困的世界。”盡管通過發(fā)展來實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo)是一項(xiàng)復(fù)雜的任務(wù),但有兩點(diǎn)是最基本的。首先,我們必須幫助低收入國家發(fā)展經(jīng)濟(jì)。僅在過去四年里,中國和印度經(jīng)濟(jì)的高速增長就使2.32億人擺脫了貧困。第二,生活在低收入國家的低收入人口也必須能夠分享增長的成果。共享繁榮之所以成為世界銀行的一個(gè)核心目標(biāo),就是因?yàn)橹挥羞@樣才能消滅貧困。
Boosting shared prosperity is also important in the pursuit of justice. Oxfam International, the poverty fighting organization, recently reported that the world’s richest 85 people have as much combined wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion. Think about that: A group far smaller than the number of people in this room possesses more wealth than half the world’s population. With so many people in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Asia, and Latin America, living in extreme poverty, this state of affairs is a stain on our collective conscience. Protecting an individual’s ability to reap financial reward for hard work and success is extremely important. It creates motivation; it drives innovation; and it permits people to help others. At the same time, what does it mean that so much of the world’s enormous wealth has accrued to so few?
促進(jìn)共享繁榮對實(shí)現(xiàn)社會公正也意義重大。根據(jù)扶貧組織國際樂施會最近發(fā)表的一份報(bào)告,世界上最富有的85個(gè)人所擁有的財(cái)富加起來相當(dāng)于最貧困的36億人所擁有的財(cái)富。想一想吧:人數(shù)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)少于今天這個(gè)會場人數(shù)的一群人占有的財(cái)富比世界上一半人口的財(cái)富還要多。在當(dāng)前撒哈拉以南非洲、亞洲和拉丁美洲還有許多人生活在極度貧困中的情況下,這種不平等可謂是我們集體良知的一個(gè)污點(diǎn)。確保每個(gè)人可以從辛勤勞動中獲得財(cái)務(wù)收益和成功非常重要——這可以激勵人們努力工作,推動創(chuàng)新,還可以使富起來的人有條件去幫助他人。但與此同時(shí),我們必須思考的一個(gè)問題是:世界上這么多財(cái)富集中在這么少的人手中,這到底意味著什么?
As an economic system, global market capitalism has produced affluence and innovation. These are very good things. However, an economic system’s legitimacy is also tied to its ability to make two things accessible to all: the riches it generates and the social benefits that arise from that wealth. Unfortunately, national income gains from growth tend not to be shared among a population in anything close to equal measure. In his 2014 best seller Capital in the Twenty-First Century, French economist Thomas Piketty showed that, in developed economies, these gains generally flow at substantially higher rates to owners than to workers. Ultimately, we want to ensure the global economic system’s gains are distributed in a fashion that creates opportunity and respects human dignity.
作為一種經(jīng)濟(jì)體系,全球市場資本主義創(chuàng)造了大量財(cái)富,推動了創(chuàng)新。這些都是非常好的事情。但是,一種經(jīng)濟(jì)體系的合法性也與它是否能幫助所有人獲得以下兩樣?xùn)|西息息相關(guān):該體系所創(chuàng)造的財(cái)富以及這些財(cái)富所帶來的社會收益。不幸的是,經(jīng)濟(jì)增長帶來的財(cái)富通常不能平等地被國民分享。法國經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家托馬斯·皮凱蒂在他2014年的暢銷書《21世紀(jì)的資本》中指出,在發(fā)達(dá)國家,資本的所有者從經(jīng)濟(jì)增長中得到的益處通常要大大高于勞動者。歸根結(jié)底,我們要確保以一種有助于創(chuàng)造機(jī)會、尊重人的尊嚴(yán)的方式來分配全球經(jīng)濟(jì)體系產(chǎn)生的收益。
So what does it look like to boost shared prosperity? As I explained earlier, one important metric is the relative income level of the poorest 40 percent of a national population. During the 2000s, these earners enjoyed more rapid income growth rates than the general population in 52 out of 78 low-income countries. But our mixed progress in achieving the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals shows that the general well-being of households in the bottom 40 percent remains much lower than in higher-income households. In other words, even though their incomes grew faster, low-income households did not reap the same social benefits as the more affluent, including access to food, clean water and sanitation.
那么,如何來促進(jìn)共享繁榮呢?我前面已經(jīng)提到,一個(gè)重要的衡量指標(biāo)就是一國中最窮的40%人口的相對收入水平。在2000年代,在全球78個(gè)低收入國家中的52個(gè),這些勞動者的收入增長速度快于全國總體收入增長。但我們在聯(lián)合國“千年發(fā)展目標(biāo)”各領(lǐng)域取得的進(jìn)展參差不齊,表明收入最低的40%人口的總體生活水平仍大大低于收入更高的家庭。換句話說,盡管低收入家庭的收入增長較快,但他們還是沒能象更富有的家庭那樣充分從經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展中受益——包括改善對食品、清潔用水和衛(wèi)生設(shè)施的獲取。
Fundamentally, increasing individual incomes, while important, is only part of the equation for boosting shared prosperity. We also need economic growth to deliver benefits that create more just societies. So, in addition to changes in income, boosting shared prosperity focuses on improving gender equity and low income people’s access to food, shelter, clean water, sanitation health care, education and jobs.
根本上來說,提高個(gè)人的收入固然重要,但它只是推動共享繁榮的一個(gè)方面。我們需要通過經(jīng)濟(jì)增長來創(chuàng)造更公平的社會。因此,除了增加收入外,促進(jìn)共享繁榮的工作還要特別重視提高性別平等,改善低收入人口對食品、住房、清潔的水、衛(wèi)生設(shè)施和醫(yī)療保健、教育和就業(yè)機(jī)會的獲取。