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and change the mindset of international institutions, developed nations, and MNCs. To make financial discipline operational, international financial institutions must

change the perspective of those staff members who, eager to push money out the door, oppose conditioning loans or grants on securing commitments from beneficiaries to fight corruption. Developed nations must show the political will to investigate and prosecute their national corporations when they engage in bribery abroad, even in the face of intense global competition. Finally, MNCs must overcome short-term economic pressures and old ways of doing business so as to create and sustain an anticorruption culture and effective corporate compliance procedures.

如今反腐运动面临的最重要的问题就是达成一种政治见解，一个可以使实施及预防的政策变得有效、并且能够改变国际机构、发达国家和跨国公司思想倾向的政治见解。为了使金融纪律得到有效实施，国际金融机构必须改变那些业内人士的观念，这些人一心只想放贷出门，因而反对以承诺打击腐败为前提向贷款受益人提供贷款和补助。当本国公司在海外进行贿赂活动时，即使面临激烈的全球竞争，发达国家也必须表明其具有调查和起诉这家本国公司的政治意愿。最后，跨国公司必须克服短期经济压力，改变老一套经营方式，以便创建和保持一种反腐的理念以及一套有效步骤，使公司上下都自觉遵守这一理念。

After Reading

Ultimately, the most potent force for change is the idea that corruption is morally repugnant and inimical to competition, globalization, the rule of law, international development, and the welfare of citizens around the world. During the past decade, many public- and private-sector actors have paid lip service to the idea that fighting corruption is in both their own interest and the interest of the global good. Now they must act.

最强大的变革力量归根到底就是大家都抱有腐败是道德的沦丧，是与竞争、全球化、法治、国际发展以及与全世界人民的福祉背道而驰的这种观念。在过去10年，许多公共和私营部门的风头人物口头上都说得很漂亮：与腐败作斗争既符合他们自己的利益，又符合全球利益。现在他们该付诸行动了。

From Kaifeng to New York － Glory Is as Ephemeral as

从开封到纽约——辉煌如过眼烟云

Smoke and Clouds

Nicholas D. Kristof

As this millennium dawns, New York is considered to be the most important city in the world, the unofficial capital of planet Earth. But before New Yorkers become too full of themselves, it might be worthwhile to glance at dilapidated Kaifeng in central China.

新的千禧年到来之际，纽约市俨然已成全世界最重要的城市、全球非正式的首都。然而趁纽约人还没过度踌躇满志之前，不妨对华夏中原那座破落的开封城回眸一瞥。

Kaifeng, an ancient city along the mud-clogged Yellow River, was by far the most important place in the world in A.D. 1000. And if you?ve never heard of it, that?s a useful warning for Americans. As expressed in this column?s headline － translated from Chinese, a language of the future that more Americans should start learning － “glory is as ephemeral as smoke and clouds.”

开封，泥沙淤塞的黄河边的一座古都，在公元1000年时曾是全世界无与伦比的重要城市。如果您对此闻所未闻，那这对美国人不啻为一个有益的警示——以广大的美国人民都应学习的未来的语言表达出来，一如前面中文标题所示“辉煌如过眼烟云。”

As the world?s only superpower, America may look today as if global domination is an entitlement. But if you look back at the sweep of history, it?s striking how fleeting supremacy is, particularly for individual cities.

作为全世界独一无二的超级强国，今天看来仿佛美国的独霸全球乃是天经地义之事。然而当我们对历史的洪流稍作回顾，便会惊觉世界的霸权是多么短暂，尤其是对各个城市而言。

My vote for the most important city in the world in the period leading up to 2000 B.C. would be Ur, Iraq. In 1500 B.C., perhaps Thebes, Egypt. There was no dominant player in 1000 B.C., though one could make a case for Sidon, Lebanon. In 500 B.C., it would be Persepolis, Persia; in the year 1, Rome; around A.D. 500, maybe Chang?an, China; in 1000, Kaifeng, China; in 1500, probably Florence, Italy; in 2000, New York; and in 2500, probably none of the above.

如果要我选出公元2000年以前全世界最重要的一个城市，当非伊拉克的乌尔莫属。公元前1500年，也许应是埃及的底比斯；公元前1000年时，没有哪个城市独领风骚，不过也许勉强可以投一票给黎巴嫩的赛登；公元前500年，应该是波斯的波西波里士；公元元年，是罗马；公元500年左右，也许是中国的长安；到了1000年，是中国的开封；1500年，多半应是意大利的佛罗伦萨；两千年时，是纽约市；2500年时，极可能以上皆非。

Today, Kaifeng is grimy and poor, not even the provincial capital and so minor it lacks even an airport. Its sad state only underscores how fortunes change. In the 11th century, when it was the capital of Song Dynasty China, Kaifeng reached its peak of importance. It was a commercial and industrial center at the intersection of four major canals. During this time, the city was surrounded by three rings of city walls and commodities assembled from all over the world. Its population was more than one

million. In contrast, London?s population then was about 15,000.

今天的开封，脏乱而贫困，甚至连省会都不是，地位卑微到连一个飞机场都没有。它能沦落到这步田地更凸显了风水轮流转的道理。11世纪时，作为中国宋朝的国都，正是它最繁华的时候。它位于四大主要运河的交汇处，是当时的商业与工业中心。当时开封城有三道城墙围绕，来自世界各地的商品都在这里集散。它拥有百万以上的人口。相比之下当时伦敦的人口大约只有15000。

An ancient painted scroll, now in the Palace Museum in Beijing, China, shows the bustle and prosperity of ancient Kaifeng. Hundreds of pedestrians jostle each other on the streets, camels carry merchandise in from the Silk Road, and teahouses and restaurants do a thriving business.

目前珍藏在北京故宫博物院的一幅古老卷轴，上面画的是古都开封的热闹与繁荣。街道上成百上千的行人熙来攘往，成群的骆驼背负着来自丝绸之路的货物进城，林立的茶馆酒肆高朋满座。

Kaifeng?s stature attracted people from all over the world, including hundreds of Jews. Even today, there are some people in Kaifeng who look like other Chinese but who consider themselves Jewish and do not eat pork.

开封的盛名吸引了来自全世界的商贾游客，包括成百上千的犹太人。直至今日，开封城里还有一些居民相貌与中国人无异，却自称是犹太裔，而且拒食猪肉。 As I roamed the Kaifeng area, asking local people why such an international center had sunk so low, I encountered plenty of envy of New York. One man said he was arranging to be smuggled into the United States illegally, by paying a gang $25,000, but many local people insisted that China is on course to bounce back and recover its historic role as world leader.

我在开封一带漫游时，曾询问当地百姓为何当年的国际交流中心竟能沉沦到这个地步，我得到的响应有不少是对纽约的羡慕。一个男子告诉我他正设法付某人蛇团伙两万五千美元，以便偷渡到美国。但是许多当地百姓却都强调中国正在复兴，而且很快就能恢复它世界领导者的历史角色。

“China is booming now,” said Wang Ruina, a young peasant woman on the

outskirts of town. “Give us a few decades, and we?ll catch up with the United States, even pass it.”

“中国正蒸蒸日上，”住在城郊的年轻女农民王瑞娜说道。 “再给我们几十年，我们一定能赶上美国，甚至超过它。”

She?s right. The United States has had the biggest economy in the world for more than a century, but most projections show that China will surpass it in about 15 years, as measured by purchasing power parity.

她说的对。美国作为全世界最大的经济体已经超过一个世纪了，然而大多数的预测都显示：如果用购买力比价来测算，中国将在大约十五年之内超越美国。 So what can New York learn from a city like Kaifeng?

那么纽约能从像开封这样一个城市得到什么教训？

One lesson is the importance of sustaining a technological edge and sound

economic policies. Ancient China flourished partly because of pro-growth, pro-trade policies and technological innovations like curved iron plows, printing and paper money. But then China came to scorn trade and commerce, and per capita income stagnated for 600 years.

第一个教训就是承认保持科技优势与正确经济政策的重要性。古代中国能够欣欣向荣，部分原因应归功于有利发展、有利贸易的政策，以及诸如弧形铁制耕犁、印刷以及纸币等技术的革新。但是后来中国却鄙弃了贸易与商业，国民平均所得因而停滞了600年。

A second lesson is the danger of hubris, for China concluded it had nothing to learn from the rest of the world － and that was the beginning of the end.

第二个教训就是傲慢自大的危险。由于当初中国断定它不可能从别国学到任何东西，它的衰败从此开始了。

I worry about the United States in both regards. America?s economic management is so lax that it can?t confront farm subsidies or long-term budget deficits.American technology is strong, but public schools are second-rate in math and science. And Americans? lack of interest in the world contrasts with the restlessness, drive and determination that are again pushing China to the forefront.

我对美国的忧心也是双重的。美国的经济管理是如此松弛，根本无法面对农业津贴与长期预算赤字。美国的科技虽然先进，然而一般美国公立学校的数学与科学课程仅为二流。而美国人民对外面世界没什么兴趣，这又与凭借着自强不息、冲劲与决心而逐渐向世界舞台中央挺进的中国形成了对比。

Beside the Yellow River, I met a 70-year-old peasant named Hao Wang, who had never gone to a day of school. He couldn?t even write his name － and yet his progeny were different.

在黄河边上我遇见一位名叫王豪的70岁老夫。他不曾到学校念过一天书。他连自己的名字都不会写，但他的子孙境遇便大不相同了。

“Two of my grandsons are now in university,” he boasted, and then he started talking about the computer in his home.

“我有两个孙子正在读大学，”他自豪地说道，接着他便开始谈他家中的计算机。

Thinking of Kaifeng should stimulate Americans to struggle to improve their high-tech edge, educational strengths and pro-growth policies. For if they rest on our laurels, even a city as great as New York may end up as Kaifeng-on-the-Hudson.

想想开封，美国人便应该激励自己，努力加强自己的高科技优势、教育功能以及有利经济成长的政策。因为如果他们只是一味沉醉于既有的成就而裹足不前的话，即使伟大如纽约市也可能有朝一日沦为哈德逊河上的开封城。