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Bello

貝洛

A political FUTbol

政治足球 智利稅改

Michelle Bachelet's struggle to combine equity andgrowth in Chile

Michelle Bachelet致力于在智利經濟增長的同時促進公平

“CHILE has only one great enemy and it's called inequality,” declared Michelle Bachelet on March11th as she returned to La Moneda, the presidential palace, just four years after leaving it.Following an interlude of rule by the centre-right, Ms Bachelet won by a landslide in last year'spresidential election on the most left-wing programme the country has seen since the ill-fatedMarxist government of Salvador Allende more than 40 years ago. She argued that for all Chile'seconomic success of the past three decades, unless the state intervenes to foster a fairer andbetter-educated society, the country will moulder in what economists call “the middle-incometrap”, never making the leap to developed status.

3月11日，時隔四年重返拉莫內達總統府的Michelle Bachelet表示“智利僅有的強勁對手叫不平等。”在經歷了中右翼的統治之后，去年在這個被大多數左翼控制的國家，Bachelet以壓倒性的優勢贏得總統選舉。該國的總統選舉從40多年前命途多舛的Salvador Allende馬克思主義政府統治結束之后開始。她認為盡管智利在過去三十年間在經濟上取得了成功，但除非建立一個更公平教育普及率更高的社會，否則國家將會陷入經濟學家所說的“中等收入陷阱”，再也不會有飛躍性的發展。

Her campaign platform contained three big proposals. The first was an education reforminspired by the notion that the state should offer free and equal education to all. Second was anew constitution to replace the existing one, which, though much amended, dates back to thedictatorship of General Pinochet. And the third proposal was a tax reform aimed both atraising revenue to pay for the education reform and at making the tax system fairer.

她的競選綱領包括三大目標。首先是以國家為所有人平等提供免費教育為理念的教育改革。其二，出臺新憲法以取代自Pinochet將軍獨裁統治時期時推出的舊憲法(雖然該憲法已經過多次修訂)。第三大目標就是進行以增加稅收支持教育改革并促進稅收公平為目的的稅務改革。

Ms Bachelet is no mad populist. Chile is not Venezuela, nor even Argentina. In the humdrumreality of a Latin American liberal democracy, achieving the magical combination of greaterfairness and greater prosperity means marrying political imperatives with complextechnicalities.

Bachelet并不是狂熱的平民主義論者。智利不是委內瑞拉，甚至不是阿根廷。基于拉美自由民主程度不高的事實，要在增長的同時促進公平意味著將政治命令與復雜的技術相結合。

The first test will be the tax-reform bill, which the president sent to Congress this week. Itaims to raise an extra $8.2 billion (or almost 3% of GDP). It contains some sensible measures,including fuel taxes and one on sugary drinks. It proposes a gradual rise in corporate-incometax from 20% to 25% and a corresponding reduction in the top rate of personal-income taxfrom 40% to 35%. Chile has an integrated tax system in which shareholders receive a creditfor corporate-tax payments; aligning the two rates more closely is intended to discourageindividuals from setting up shell companies.

首先試水的是稅務改革，相關提案已經在本周由總統提交至國會。該局旨在額外增加82億美元的稅收收入(約為GDP的3%)提案中含有包括收燃料稅、含糖飲料稅在內的敏感措施。它旨在將企業所得稅由20%逐步增至25%與之相對的是將個人所得稅的最高稅率由40%降至35%。智利有著一體化的稅收系統。股東在繳納企業所得稅之后可免交個人所得稅，拉近企業所得稅與個人所得稅稅率是為了阻止皮包公司的建立。

The bill also abolishes a mechanism known as the Taxable Profits Fund (FUT), under whichshareholders do not pay tax on reinvested company profits. The FUT's detractors complain,correctly, that the system has been abused, via corporate credit cards and shell companies intax havens, to allow the rich to evade taxes on profits that have actually been used forpersonal consumption—the skiing holidays and Ferraris of urban legend in Santiago. But theFUT's defenders point out, equally correctly, that the system has been a key factor behindChile's investment-led economic growth.

改提案同時廢除了應稅利潤基金機制(FUT)。在該機制下股東無需為公司利潤再投資納稅。FUT的反對者抱怨著公司行用卡和皮包公司的漏洞讓富人可以用利潤再投資的名義逃稅，而實際上這些錢都用在了滑雪度假圣地亞哥的法拉利都市傳奇等私人消費上。這的確是事實。但FUT的支持者指出該體制是智利投資帶動經濟增長的關鍵因素，這也是事實。

As compensation for abolishing the FUT, the bill allows instant depreciation of machinery andequipment. That may help miners and manufacturers, but not service businesses. Unless it isamended, the bill is likely to have two bad outcomes. Retained earnings are a big source offinancing for corporate investment in Chile: companies may now have to rely on moreborrowing, which for small firms costs up to 15% a year. Second, shareholders will now betaxed on profits they do not receive as dividends.

作為對廢除FUT的修正，提案允許機器設備的即時折舊。這可能有利于礦產主與工廠主，但對服務業卻沒什么意義。除非它被再次修改。該提案可能會帶來兩種壞影響。留存盈余是智利公司經行投資的主要資金來源：但現在公司可能更多依靠借貸，這對小公司來說每年成本會增加15%。第二，股東分紅之外的收益可能會被征稅。

It would be remarkable if the tax changes did not prompt some reduction in investment andshare prices. The fact that the bill envisages ending the FUT only in 2018 suggests MsBachelet's economic team realises this. To make matters worse, Chile's economy is now slowingsharply in tandem with a falling copper price (this week's offshore earthquake, which killed atleast six people, seems to have spared local mines). More government spending could give theeconomy a boost, but not if it comes at the expense of private investment.

如果稅收改革并沒有使投資減少或股價降低，這將會意義重大。該提案僅設想了FUT在2008年被廢除，Bachelet的經濟團隊需要意識到這一事實。更糟的是，智利經濟增速在銅價下跌的影響下迅速放緩(本周發生在海岸附近的地震造成了至少6人死亡，當地礦產似乎得以幸免)。更多的政府投資能夠促進經濟繁榮，但缺少了私人投資繁榮很難真正到來。

The new government could have chosen to close the loopholes in the FUT, rather than abolishit. That it didn't says much about the way politics is now conducted in Ms Bachelet's coalition,whose main parties governed Chile from 1990 to 2010. Abolishing the FUT was proposed by arival of Ms Bachelet's in last year's coalition primary election, and the policy was instantlyadopted by all the parties in the grouping. In the past party leaders would have heeded theirtechnical experts on such matters. In Chile's more populist political climate, that is no longerso.

新政府本應彌補FUT的漏洞而不是廢除該體制。這與Bachelet(其主要政黨在1990年到2010年間執掌該國)的聯合政府的施政方式并沒有多大關系。廢除FUT由Bachelet去年聯盟初選時的競爭對手提議，然后該政策被聯盟中的所有政黨迅速接受。過去，政黨首領需要在此類問題上參考技術性專家的意見。但現在，智利平民主義論盛行，這顯然不可能了。

The tax reform is simple compared with the government's plans for education. As for the taskof replacing the constitution, no wonder the president has kicked this issue forward until laterin the year. Ms Bachelet is right that Chile is in many ways an unfair country that needs tochange. But she will need all her considerable political skills if she is not to sacrifice soundpublic policy on the altar of populism.

稅改被簡單地與政府的教育計劃對比。至于重新制定憲法，在今年的早些時候顯然是不大會有進展了。智利在很多方面存在不公，這需要被改變。就這一點Bachelet是正確的，但是如果她不就關于名粹主義公共政策作出犧牲，那她就需要發揮巨大的政治才能

1.struggle to 奮斗

例句:So when minorities fuss about ethnic issues,Dutch people often struggle to understand.

因此當少數群體煩惱種族問題時，荷蘭人往往難以理解。

2.return to 返回

例句:She plans to return to Dublin to catch up withthe relatives she has not seen since she married.

她打算回都柏林，去看望一下結婚后就再沒見過面的親戚。

3.offer to 提供給

例句:That same day, Silver Lake raised its offer to$ 12.70 per share.

就在同一天，銀湖將出價抬高到了每股12.70美元。

4.date back to 追溯到

例句:The origins of chemical kinetics date back to the nineteenth century and Wilhelmy'sobservations of reaction rates.

化學動力學數據研究的起源可以追溯到19世紀威海姆對反應速率的觀察。