歐洲央行推出量化寬鬆刺激經濟

FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank said on Thursday that it would begin buying hundreds of billions of euros worth of government bonds in an ambitious — though some say belated — attempt to prevent the eurozone from becoming trapped in long-term economic stagnation.

法蘭克福——歐洲中央銀行週四表示，將開始購買數百億歐元的政府債券，這是阻止歐元區經濟陷入長期停滯狀態的雄心勃勃（也有人說是遲來）的嘗試。

The long-awaited program, known as quantitative easing, comes after inflation in the 19 countries of the eurozone fell below zero and raised the specter of deflation, a sustained decline in prices that can lead to higher unemployment and that is notoriously difficult to reverse.

人們對這個所謂的量化寬鬆計劃期待已久，它出臺於歐元區19個國家的通貨膨脹率降到零以下、通貨緊縮的幽靈顯現之後，通貨緊縮指的是可能導致高失業率的商品價格持續下降，這種情況發生後很難扭轉。

Programs of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve in the United States and by the Bank of England in Britain have helped the economies of those two countries recover from the global financial crisis more successfully than the eurozone has been able to.

美國的聯邦儲備銀行和英國央行分別實施的量化寬鬆計劃，已幫助這兩個國家的經濟能夠比歐元區更成功地走出全球金融危機。

If successful, quantitative easing would push down market interest rates in the eurozone and make it easier for businesses and consumers to borrow money, helping to stimulate the economy and restore inflation. Quantitative easing could also have a psychological impact, helping to raise expectations that inflation will begin to rise and thus encourage people to spend now rather than wait.

如果成功的話，量化寬鬆會推動歐元區的市場利率下降，使企業和消費者更容易借錢，有助於刺激經濟，恢復通貨膨脹。量化寬鬆政策也可產生一種心理效果，有助於提高對通貨膨脹的預期，從而鼓勵人們現在就消費，而不是等待。

The decision to begin buying government bonds on the open market came after a debate that lasted months. Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president, sought to overcome resistance from German members of the governing council and the broader German public, which regards quantitative easing as a form of wealth transfer to countries like Italy.

在公開市場上開始購買政府債券的決定，是在進行了好幾個月的辯論後做出的。歐洲央行行長馬里奧·德拉吉(Mario Draghi)尋求克服了來自央行理事會德國成員、以及更廣泛的德國大衆的阻力，德國認爲量化寬鬆政策是把財富向意大利等國家轉移的一種形式。

Although the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England used quantitative easing to rejuvenate their economies, such a program would be more complicated in the eurozone. There is no widely traded, Pan-European government bond similar to United States Treasury securities, which were the main vehicle for the Fed’s program.

雖然美聯儲和英國央行使用了量化寬鬆計劃來振興本國的經濟，但是在歐元區實施這種計劃會更復雜。市場上沒有廣泛交易的、類似美國國債的泛歐洲政府債，而美國國債是美聯儲計劃的主要工具。

Another question is whether quantitative easing can help fix the eurozone economy, especially since it has taken so long for the central bank to begin a large-scale bond-buying program. Many economists and businesspeople are skeptical.

另一個問題是，量化寬鬆是否能夠幫助恢復歐元區經濟，尤其是在歐洲央行等待了這麼久之後纔開始了其大規模購買債券的計劃。許多經濟學家和商界人士對此都持懷疑態度。

“I do not believe it will have a major effect whatever will be announced,” said Karl-Ludwig Kley, chairman of Merck, a German pharmaceutical and chemicals company that is separate from Merck & Company in the United States.

“不管宣佈什麼，我都不相信會有很大的影響，”德國製藥和化學品公司默克的董事長卡爾-路德維希·克雷(Karl-Ludwig Kley)說，德國默克與美國的默克公司相互獨立。

“I do not believe bond buying or whatever is the remedy,” Mr. Kley said in an interview at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I do not see, because of these programs, consumers buying more. I do not see companies investing more.”

克雷在參加瑞士達沃斯的世界經濟論壇年度會議期間接受參訪時說，“我不認爲債券購買或什麼其他計劃是補救措施。我沒有看到因爲這些計劃，消費者購買更多的東西。我沒有看到公司做出更多的投資。”