西方世界要错过世纪良机

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西方世界要错过世纪良机



Inoculation, inoculation, inoculation 接种、接种、接种

The West is passing up the opportunity of the century西方世界要错过世纪良机

There could be no better advertisement for democracy and free markets than a rapid global vaccination drive推动全球迅速接种疫苗是对民主和自由市场的最佳宣传

Jun 9th 2021 |

IMAGINE AN INVESTMENT that would earn a return of 17,900% in four years. Better yet, the initial outlay would be easily affordable. Who on Earth would pass up such an opportunity?

让我们来想象一下，有一种投资可以在四年内赚得17900%的回报。更好的是，初期投入你轻轻松松就负担得起。试问，究竟有谁会放弃这么个好机会呢？

The answer, it seems, is the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), a club of rich democracies which holds its annual summit this week. By failing to act fast enough to inoculate the world against covid-19, they are passing up the deal of the century. That is not just economically foolish, it is a moral failure and a diplomatic disaster, too.

答案似乎是G7（七国集团）的领导人们。作为“发达民主国家俱乐部”，G7于本周召开了年度峰会。由于未能快速采取行动在全球接种疫苗以对抗新冠疫情，他们错失了本世纪千载难逢的好机会。这不仅是在经济上犯傻，也是道德上的失败和外交上的灾难。

On the face of things, the G7 is the very picture of concern. Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister and the host of the summit, wants it to come up with 1bn doses of vaccine to donate. America alone plans to give away 500m doses. Joe Biden, America’s president, says his visit to Europe, the first trip abroad of his presidency, is intended to prove that America and its allies have more to offer the world(…). His priority, he wrote in an article in the Washington Post, is “ending this pandemic”.

表面上看，G7本身就令人担忧。英国首相及本届峰会东道主鲍里斯·约翰逊，希望各成员国能捐献10亿剂疫苗出来。单单美国就计划捐献5亿剂疫苗。美国总统乔·拜登宣称，本次欧洲之行，是其就任总统以来的首次出访，旨在证明美国及其盟友能为全世界提供更多的好处。他在为《华盛顿邮报》撰写的一篇文章中提到，其头等要务是“结束这场疫情”。

As generous as the talk of donations sounds, in fact it is miserly. Britain, which has ordered five times the doses it needs, is only now giving any away. COVAX, the international effort to provide vaccines to ill-supplied countries, is billions of jabs short. For the G7 to do anything less than fund it in full, with a clear schedule for handing over cash and vials, would be a travesty.

尽管这些关于疫苗捐献的讨论听起来慷慨大方，实际上却是小气得很。英国早先订购的疫苗数量比国内所需高出5倍，但直到现在才准备要捐献出来。COVAX，一个向疫苗短缺国家提供疫苗的全球合作计划，目前面临数十亿剂疫苗短缺的困境。如果G7不愿全力资助COVAX，在现金援助和疫苗交付方面也没有一个清晰的时间表，那么任何讨论都不过是做戏。

To get roughly 70% of the planet’s population inoculated by April, the IMF calculates, would cost just $50bn. The cumulative economic benefit by 2025, in terms of increased global output, would be $9trn, to say nothing of the many lives that would be saved. The cost amounts to just 0.13% of the G7’s GDP—a fifth of the amount its members have pledged to spend each year helping other countries. If a group formed to wrestle with big international threats cannot resolve to make such a no-brainer of an investment on humanity’s behalf, what can it do?

据国际货币基金组织(IMF)估计，要在4月底让全球大约70%的人口都接种上疫苗，只需500亿美元。而到2025年，根据增加的全球产出来看，累积经济收益将达到9万亿美元，更别提可获救的万千生命了。疫苗接种开销只占G7 GDP总额的0.13%——也就是其成员国许诺的每年向其他国家所提供援助金额的五分之一。如果一个组织成立的目的是为了应对全球重大威胁，但该组织下不了决心实行这么一个明摆着对人类有好处的投资，它还能干嘛呢？

In his article in the Post Mr Biden acknowledged that America’s reputation for solving global problems has taken a beating in the past few years.(…) Yet America and its allies have struggled to present a united front to the world’s autocrats in recent months. (…)

拜登在他给《华盛顿邮报》撰写的文章中承认，过去几年中，美国在解决国际问题上的声望确实受到了打击。(…)但是，近几个月来，美国及其盟友竭力组成了一个统一阵线，联合对抗专制国家。(…)

Mr Biden likes to stress that “America is back”. Despite the refreshing rhetoric, some of his administration’s actions—in particular its Buy American edict that tightens rules obliging the federal government to favour domestic suppliers over foreign ones—look more like America First protectionism than a new internationalism. The world awaits more practical evidence of American re-engagement, and its ability to rally its allies behind it. The credibility of American leadership is vital not just for the struggle against the pandemic. It will be essential for the even greater global test on the horizon: grappling with climate change.

拜登很喜欢强调“美国回来了”。尽管这套说辞听起来耳目一新，但其政府的一些做法——特别是《购买美国货法案》又收紧了规定，强制要求联邦政府在采购时，在本国供应商和外国供应商之中，必须优先选择本国供应商——这看起来更像是“美国优先”的保护主义，而不是什么新的国际主义。全世界都在拭目以待，希望美国在重新参与国际事务，以及团结盟友方面投入更多的实际行动。美国领导力的可信度不仅对于对抗新冠疫情来说是至关重要的。对于即将到来的更严峻的全球考验：应对气候变化，也将是不可或缺的。

After four years when America often seemed more interested in kicking sand in the world’s face than helping it to its feet, vaccines provide it with the ideal means to rehabilitate its image. The United States and its allies displayed great technological mettle by developing several highly effective vaccines and scaling up their production in record time. They therefore have something tangible and urgently needed to offer the rest of the world. Mr Biden is unlikely to get a better chance to demonstrate the benefits of American leadership, and the power of democracy and free markets to boot. Making sure that the rest of the world is inoculated as quickly as possible would be a shot in the arm for America and its allies, too. ■

过去四年中，美国似乎往往更喜欢往全世界脸上踢沙子，而非提供任何帮助，现在，对美国来说，疫苗可谓是恢复其形象的理想手段。美国及其盟友在技术上使出了浑身解数，研发出了好几种高效疫苗，并以前所未有的速度扩大了疫苗的生产规模。因此它们确实可以向其他国家提供一些实在又急需的东西。对于拜登来说，不太可能有比这更好的机会来展示美国领导力的优势和民主及自由市场的力量。确保其他国家尽快接种疫苗，对美国及其盟友来说也是一剂强心针。