美聯儲遭遇共和黨總統候選人連續多次猛烈攻擊
After a fusillade of excoriating and in many ways unprecedented attacks on the Federal Reserve by the Republican presidential candidate, Janet Yellen, the US central bank’s chair, finally hit back.
在美聯儲(Fed)遭受共和黨總統候選人連續多次猛烈、以及在很多方面都可謂前所未有的攻擊後，美聯儲主席珍妮特•耶倫(Janet Yellen)終於反擊了。
Ms Yellen last Wednesday dismissed as emphatically wrong Donald Trump’s claims that she and her institution were keeping short-term interest rates low at the behest of the Obama administration.
上週三，對於特朗普聲稱耶倫及美聯儲依奧巴馬政府的要求保持低短期利率的指責，耶倫駁斥其大錯特錯。
Partisan politics play no role in our decisions, she declared.
她宣稱，黨派政治對我們的決定沒有任何影響。
Mr Trump is throwing punches at a time when the US central bank is under assault from both sides of the partisan divide, and at a time when polling suggests public confidence in its leadership has declined during a subpar economic recovery.
美國央行正遭受着兩黨的兩面夾擊，與此同時民調顯示在經濟復甦低於預期之際公衆對美聯儲領導力的信心下滑，在這種情況下，特朗普正揮拳猛擊美聯儲。
Some experts say the Fed is vulnerable and that the Populist attacks could fuel demands by politicians for tighter constraints on its policy freedoms.
一些專家稱，美聯儲容易受到攻擊，同時民粹主義攻擊可能會推動政客要求收緊對美聯儲政策自由的限制。
Mr Trump is tossing a lot of fuel on the fire, says Sarah Binder, a professor of political science at George Washington University.
喬治華盛頓大學(George Washington University)的政治學教授薩拉•賓德(Sarah Binder)稱，特朗普正在大肆火上澆油。
It intensifies the partisan criticism of the Fed and keeps the Fed in the politicians’ crosshairs.
這加劇了政黨對美聯儲的批評，使美聯儲成了政客的攻擊目標。
Mr Trump’s interventions by no means mark the first time the Fed has been turned into a political punching bag.
特朗普的介入並非美聯儲第一次被當成政治沙包。
Previous Fed chairs have been the subject of barbs during presidential campaigns — including in 2011 when Republican candidate Rick Perry accused former Fed chair Ben Bernanke of treasonous behaviour by conducting quantitative easing.
在過去的總統大選中，前美聯儲主席們也成爲過口誅筆伐的對象，其中包括2011年共和黨總統競選人裏克•佩裏(Rick Perry)指責前美聯儲主席本•伯南克(Ben Bernanke)啓動量化寬鬆是叛國行爲。
Past administrations have seen outbreaks of tension with Fed chiefs, including under presidents George HW Bush and Richard Nixon.
過去幾屆政府都與美聯儲主席爆發過沖突，其中包括老布什(George HW Bush)和理查德•尼克松(Richard Nixon)政府。
Ms Yellen herself has become accustomed to fielding hostile questions from lawmakers during often fractious Capitol Hill appearances.
耶倫本人已經習慣了在國會表現得暴躁時應對來自議員充滿敵意的問題。
Mr Trump has, however, set a new standard for anti-Fed invective — at least when it comes to presidential nominees.
然而，特朗普爲反美聯儲的攻擊設定了新標準——至少作爲一個總統候選人。
He has said in recent weeks that Ms Yellen should be ashamed of what she is doing to the country, accusing her of creating a false stock market with low rates and setting policy to bolster President Barack Obama’s fortunes.
他在最近幾周表示，耶倫應該對她對美國的所作所爲感到羞愧，指責她以低利率創造了一個虛假股市並且爲了支持總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)而制定政策。
He has also said he would not reappoint Ms Yellen if he became president — even though the last three Fed chairs have all had their tenures renewed by a president from the opposite party that first appointed them.
他還表示，如果他成爲總統，他不會讓耶倫連任——即使此前3位美聯儲主席都得到了與最初任命他們的政黨對立政黨的新總統的連任任命。
Don Kohn, a former Fed vice-chairman who is now at the Brookings think-tank, says it is nothing new to see the Fed being hit by politicians and that discussion of Fed policy is desirable in a democracy.
現在供職於智庫布魯金斯學會(Brookings)的前美聯儲副主席唐•科恩(Don Kohn)稱，美聯儲被政客攻擊沒什麼新鮮的，在民主國家中討論美聯儲政策也很好。
Mr Trump’s words would not influence Fed decisions at all, he says.
他稱，特朗普的言論絲毫不會影響美聯儲的決定。
But he adds: These attacks are worrisome to this extent: you do see polls suggesting the public’s respect for the Fed has fallen substantially relative to the pre-crisis period.
但是他補充稱：從如下方面看這些攻擊令人擔憂：你確實看到民調顯示，相比危機前時期，公衆對美聯儲的尊重大幅下滑。
These kinds of attacks, which accuse the Fed of acting on political motives rather than pursuing economic objectives, do not help the Fed gain the confidence of the public.
此類攻擊——指責美聯儲根據政治動機、而非追求經濟目標來採取措施——對美聯儲重拾公衆信心沒有好處。
Ted Truman, a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics who also previously served at the Fed, says Mr Trump’s words could fuel demands by those who want to reform the central bank in a number of dimensions, including politicians who want it to set monetary policy according to stricter rules.
彼得森國際經濟研究所(Peterson Institute for International Economics)的研究員泰德•杜魯門(Ted Truman)也曾經在美聯儲就職。他稱，特朗普的言論可能會助漲那些想從多維度改革美聯儲的人的要求，其中包括那些想讓美聯儲根據更嚴格的規則來制定貨幣政策的政客。
Tirades from Mr Trump and Republican lawmakers could also make it more difficult for the central bank to obtain political support for the use of new tools to fight future downturns — for example increases to the central bank’s inflation target or the use of negative interest rates, says Ms Binder.
賓德稱，特朗普和共和黨議員的口誅筆伐也會使美聯儲更難以獲得政治支持來使用新工具對抗未來衰退——比如上調通脹目標或啓用負利率。
It will be a very uphill battle.
這將是一場非常艱難的戰鬥。
On the Democratic side, politicians have been complaining the Fed has an insufficiently diverse leadership and that the reserve bank system gives too much influence to commercial banks, as well as demanding it refrain from tightening monetary policy.
在民主黨方面，政客們抱怨美聯儲的領導班子不夠多元化、聯儲銀行系統對商業銀行的影響太大，並要求美聯儲避免收緊貨幣政策。
Elizabeth Warren, the progressive Democratic senator from Massachusetts, formed an unlikely alliance with David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, to rein in the central bank’s emergency lending powers.
改革派馬薩諸塞州民主黨參議員伊麗莎白•沃倫(Elizabeth Warren)爲限制美聯儲的緊急貸款權力，竟然與路易斯安那州的共和黨參議員戴維•維特(David Vitter)不可思議地結成了聯盟。
Populists both left and right are ganging up on the Fed, even if their concerns are different, Ms Binder says.
賓德稱，左翼和右翼的民粹主義者正在聯合起來對付美聯儲，儘管他們的關注點不同。
The rise of populists such as Mr Trump has come at a time when trust in institutions and experts has been ebbing among some sections of the public.
特朗普等民粹主義者的崛起正值部分公衆對機構和專家的信任減退之際。
This will only make life more difficult for technocratic and somewhat mysterious institutions such as the Fed.
這隻會使美聯儲等技術官僚型、多少有點神祕的機構的日子愈發艱難。
The Fed recognised after the crisis it needed to go out and explain itself to a broader audience, Mr Kohn says. The populace now seems to be more divided and polarised, and the recovery has been slower than many wanted.
在危機後，美聯儲意識到它需要走出去向更多人解釋，科恩稱，如今公衆的分歧和分化似乎進一步加深，復甦步伐慢於很多人的期望。
Maybe these efforts need to be redoubled.
或許美聯儲應該加倍努力。
BoE governor faced down critics of Brexit stance
英國央行行長不顧批評堅持有關英國退歐的立場
Mark Carney, Bank of England governor, has been defiant in the face of criticism from pro-Brexit politicians, who took issue with his involvement in the debate about the UK’s membership of the EU.
英國央行(Bank of England)行長馬克•卡尼(Mark Carney)毫不理會支持退歐政客的批評，後者對卡尼介入有關英國退歐的辯論強烈不滿。
Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Conservative member of the UK parliament’s Treasury committee and one of Mr Carney’s most vocal political critics, described his behaviour as beneath the dignity of the bank when he issued a warning that voting to leave the EU could result in a technical recession.
英國議會財政委員會的保守黨成員雅各布•里斯-莫格(Jacob Rees-Mogg)是對卡尼最直言不諱的政治批評人士之一。他形容稱，卡尼發出警告稱公投決定退歐可能會帶來技術性衰退的行爲有失央行身份。
But Mr Carney dismissed allegations that the bank had been politically partisan as entirely unfounded.
但是卡尼駁斥稱，指責英國央行在政治上存在傾向性的說法毫無根據。
Since the UK voted on June 23 to leave the bloc, the economy has performed better than many economists had feared.
自從6月23日英國投票決定退出歐盟以來，英國經濟的表現強於很多經濟學家的擔憂。
But Mr Carney has continued to robustly defend his earlier warnings.
但是卡尼仍然極力堅持他此前的警告。
Giving evidence to a group of senior politicians earlier this month, he said he was absolutely serene about the judgments he made and claimed some credit for stabilising the economy, saying the BoE’s decisive actions after the vote had reduced the risk of a recession.
本月早些時候，他向一些資深政治人士提供證據時稱，他對於自己的判斷完全有把握，並認爲自己對穩定經濟做出了一些貢獻，稱英國央行在退歐公投後採取的果斷行動降低了英國陷入衰退的危險。
