文章来源：《经济学人》 Oct 16th 2021 期
After a bad decade and a miserable pandemic, the region’s economies have a chance to make progress.
miserable：悲惨的 pandemic：疫情
在经历了糟糕的十年和悲惨的疫情之后，该地区的经济有机会取得进展。
Latin America’s economies are punch-drunk from the pandemic. Not other region suffered a bigger drop in GDP in 2020 or a higher death rate. Even before the coronavirus arrived, the larger Latin economies lagged behind emerging-worls success stories in Asia and Eurpe. They were held back by poor governance, excessive dependence on commodities and protectionism. In the steepness of its barriers to trade, the region is second only to sub-Saharan Africa. From 1995 to 2015 its participation in global supply chains rose by just 0.1%; in the rest of the world supply-chain trade jumped by 19%.
punch-drunk：醉醺醺的，重创 emerging：新兴的 lagged：缓慢的 excessive：过度，过分的
commodities：商品，有用的东西 steepness：陡度 ; 险峻，不合道理 trade：贸易
拉丁美洲的经济因大流行而受到重创。 没有其他地区在 2020 年遭受更大的 GDP 下降或更高的死亡率。 甚至在冠状病毒到来之前，较大的拉丁经济体就已经落后于 亚洲和欧洲新兴世界的成功故事。 他们受到治理不善、过度依赖商品和保护主义的阻碍。 该地区的贸易壁垒陡峭，仅次于撒哈拉以南非洲。 从 1995 年到 2015 年，其在全球供应链中的参与度仅增长了 0.1%； 在世界其他地区，供应链贸易增长了 19%。
But the Americas now have a chance to make progress. The capriciousness of Chinese regulators, the tangled state of global trade and the trend towards reshoring and nearshoring are prompting firms in the Unites States to reassess where they should build factories and invest their cash. With the right policies, Latin American countries could be attractive locations for new plants supplying the United States and each other (see Americas section). This is the best chance in decades to pursue a policy of regional economic integration.
capriciousness：反复无常 regulators：监管机构 reshoring：回流 prompting：促使，劝说 reassess：重新考虑 pursue：追求，致力于 policy：政策 integration：整合
但美洲现在有机会取得进展。 监管机构的反复无常、全球贸易的错综复杂以及回流和就近离岸的趋势正在促使美国公司重新评估应该在哪里建厂和投资现金。 有了正确的政策，拉丁美洲国家可能成为为美国和彼此供应新工厂的有吸引力的地点（见美洲部分）。 这是几十年来推行区域经济一体化政策的最佳机会。
Whether that actually takes place will depend in part on President Joe Biden. Already, Latin American governments are being courted to take part in Mr Biden’s Build Back Better World partnership, an infrastructure-investment programme that is intended to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Yet, for all its good intentions, the Biden plan lacks ambitions.
courted：试图，争取 counter：反对，计算器 initiative：倡议 intentions：意图，打算
这是否真的发生将部分取决于乔·拜登总统。 拉美各国政府已经争取参与拜登先生的“重建更美好世界”伙伴关系，这是一项旨在对抗中国“一带一路”倡议的基础设施投资计划。 然而，尽管有良好的意图，拜登计划缺乏雄心。
As well as promoting infrastructure-building, Mr Biden should urge his neighbours to lower trade barriers, harmonise provisions across the hundreds of trade agreements which already criss-cross the region and clear up onerous customs procedures. This could help persuade investors to take the plunge.
promoting：促使 urge：催促 harmonise：协调 provision：规定，提供 onerous：繁重的 plunge：猛冲
除了促进基础设施建设外，拜登先生还应敦促他的邻国降低贸易壁垒，协调已经在该地区纵横交错的数百个贸易协定的条款，并清理繁琐的海关程序。 这可能有助于说服投资者冒险。
Nobody should underestimate how hard it will be to overcome Latin America’s scepticism of markets. Big economies such as Brazil and Argentina have long been protectionist，coddling domestic firms behind high trade barriers. The results of past trade deals have sometimes been disappointing.
underestimate：低估 coddling：溺爱，纵容 domestic：家庭的，本土的
任何人都不应低估克服拉丁美洲市场怀疑主义的难度。巴西和阿根廷等大型经济体长期以来一直奉行保护主义，在高贸易壁垒背后纵容国内企业。过去贸易协议的结果有时令人失望。
Policy mistakes continue. Left-wing leaders, such as Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico, want less private capital in the economy, not more. Peru has recently elected a far-left leader, Pedro Castillo, who has been seeking to calm the market’s apprehension about his economic policies, with only some success.
elected：选举 apprehensive：担忧 capital：资金，首都
政策错误仍在继续。墨西哥的安德烈斯·曼努埃尔·洛佩斯·奥布拉多等左翼领导人希望减少经济中的私人资本，而不是更多。秘鲁最近选出了极左翼领导人佩德罗·卡斯蒂略，他一直试图平息市场对其经济政策的担忧，但只取得了一些成功。
Partly as a result, Latin America has failed to transform itself economically as East Asia has done over the past generation. Since the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994, real income per person in Mexico, measured by purchasing power, has fallen further behind that in the United States.
generation：一代人，同辈人 measured：衡量，测量 further：进一步
部分原因是，拉丁美洲未能像东亚过去一代人那样实现经济转型。自1994年北美自由贸易协定生效以来，以购买力衡量的墨西哥人均实际收入进一步落后于美国。
However, you can find signs of openness. Uruguay is seeking new trade deals with China and, as part of a regional grouping, South Korea. In Ecuador Guillermo Lasso, the president and a former banker, is valiantly battling populism (see Bello). Countries that have been open to trade, like Chile and Costa Rica, have outgrown their inward-looking Latin American peers.
former：前者的，以前的 valiantly：大胆的，勇敢的 outgrow：超过 peers：同龄人，同行
然而，你可以找到开放的迹象。乌拉圭正在寻求与中国以及作为地区集团一部分的韩国达成新的贸易协议。厄瓜多尔总统、前银行家吉列尔莫·拉索（Guillermo Lasso）正在勇敢地与民粹主义作斗争（见贝洛）。对贸易开放的国家，如智利和哥斯达黎加，已经超过了内向的拉丁美洲同行。
Even Mexico holds out some hope. In recent years its exporters competed directly with China’s in industries that China came to dominate. Now Mexicans have adapted. Whereas the country’s overall growth has been disappointing, its manufacturers have shifted from low-value textiles into automotive, aerospace and semiconductor industries that will benefit from being close to the United States and far from China.
dominate：主导，支配 manufactured：制造业 textile：纺织品 automotive：汽车 semiconductor：半导体
甚至墨西哥也抱有希望。 近年来，它的出口商在中国主导的行业中与中国直接竞争。 现在墨西哥人已经适应了。 尽管该国的整体增长令人失望，但其制造商已从低价值纺织品转向汽车、航空航天和半导体行业，这些行业将受益于靠近美国而远离中国。
Mr Biden could help by pairing /access to badly needed investment through Build Back Better /with a drive for trade liberalisation. In September members of the Biden administration visited Colombiaa, Ecuador and Panama to gauge interest in the initiative, which could also boost Latin America’s defences against climate change.
pair：结合 liberalisation：自由化 defence：抵御，防御 climate：气候 boost：增强，激励
拜登先生可以通过将通过“重建得更好”获得急需的投资与推动贸易自由化相结合来提供帮助。 9 月，拜登政府成员访问了哥伦比亚、厄瓜多尔和巴拿马，以评估对该倡议的兴趣，这也可能加强拉丁美洲对气候变化的防御。
The alternative to integration is grim. Further economic stagnation in Latin America would leave governments struggling to cope with the rising costs of climate change. A lack of jobs and growth would rile their increasingly frustrated citizens, many of whom have taken to the streets in recent years.
alternative：替代方案 integration：一体化，整合 grim：严峻的 rile：激怒
整合的替代方案是严峻的。 拉丁美洲的进一步经济停滞将使政府难以应对气候变化成本上升。 缺乏就业和增长会激怒他们越来越沮丧的公民，其中许多人近年来走上街头。
Similarly, a further inward lurch in Latin America would not serve the security and commercial interests of the United States. At the very least it would be a missed opportunity to expand markets for the country’s firms. Mr Biden has a chance to help create a more prosperous region. He should take it.
inward：内在的 lurch：倾斜 serve：对..有用，有助于 commercial：商业的 prosperous：繁荣
同样，在拉丁美洲进一步向内倾斜也无助于美国的安全和商业利益。至少，这将是一个错失的为该国企业拓展市场的机会。拜登有机会帮助建立一个更加繁荣的地区。他应该接受。
Tips：最近忙着上本专业的课，学习OS和网络编程，总是没有太多时间去翻译惹，好在周末时间较多
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