经济学人下载:肥水却流外人田 法国能重金挽留球星吗?

Europe France and football
欧洲 法国和足球

The Swedish model
瑞典模式

A football club mirrors many French anxieties
足球俱乐部折射出许多法式忧虑

A literary sensation too
浓郁的文学气息

When the Qataris last year bought Paris SaintGermain (PSG), the French capital’s premier football club, it touched a raw enough nerve. This is a country, after all, which once declared yogurt-making a strategic industry in need of protection from foreign takeovers. Liberation, a left-wing newspaper, denounced the small Gulf state’s “ferocious appetite for power and influence”, and warned that “bling-bling football” was on its way to France. Nearly 18 months later, many French anxieties—over wealth, taxes, capitalism or free trade—are exemplified by PSG’s fortunes.
去年卡塔尔人收购了法国目前最炙手可热的足球俱乐部——巴黎圣日耳曼(PSG) 队后，再一次触动了原本就脆弱的法国人的神经。毕竟这个国家曾经为了避免异国人士收购一个制作酸奶的产业，而采取过战略保护措施。法国左翼媒体——《解放报》谴责小海湾国家的行为是“对政权和相关影响都是极大地冲击”，并且强烈声明只有在法国，俱乐部才会“闪耀着璀璨光辉”。然而在18个月后，在PSG被收购引发并加强了法国人民对财产，税收以及资本主义自由贸易的担心。

Short of the sort of cash that has been sloshing around other European football leagues, the French have traditionally exported talent, often to England. Stadiums are rarely full; no French club has won the European Champions’ League for nearly 20 years. Now the country has become an importer too. Supplied with a fat chequebook by the Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund, PSG has gone on a shopping spree. After bagging an Italian manager, it splashed out on two Brazilians, an Argentinian, an Italian and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a Swedish striker whose father was a Bosnian Muslim and mother a Croat.
伴随着法国足球界流动资金短缺，那些有天赋的法国足球运动员总是成为其他国家的联赛足球外援，比如去英超踢球。足球厂很少有客满的时候，而在近20年中，没有任何一家法国俱乐部赢得了欧洲冠军联赛冠军。现如今，这个国家也已然成为了一个进口大国。与卡塔尔投资局——一个财大气粗的财团达成合作协议，PSG俱乐部也开始了队外援的疯狂引进计划。在引进了一名意大利管理人员，他开始了疯狂的人才引进计划，随后引进了两名巴西，一名阿根廷以及一名意大利外援。除此之外，瑞典前锋伊布也被法足联收入囊中，他的父亲是一名波斯尼亚穆斯林，而其母亲是克罗地亚人。

To French eyes, the yearly salary reportedly promised to Mr Ibrahimovic—some 14m ($18m), said the French press in August, or closer to 9m according to Le Parisien newspaper last month—was shocking. The French like wealth only when it is discreet and do not care much for the fast cars and flashy nightlife that seems to go with high-level football. They elected a president, Francois Hollande, a Socialist who once said he didn’t like the rich and promised during his campaign to tax salaries of over 1m at 75%. Predictably, politicians decried the footballer’s extravagant pay. “Indecent”, given the economic crisis, declared Jercme Cahuzac, the budget minister.
根据法国媒体的相关消息，伊布的年薪约有1400万欧元（约为1800万美元），或者就像《巴黎人报》上月报道的接近900万欧元，但无论是哪一种都足够让人震惊。法国人在金钱方面还是很节俭的 不过多关注于高级轿车和浮华的夜生活，似乎看起来全部付诸于高水平的足球了。而他们选举出来的新任总统——社会党人Francois Hollande在竞选的时候称自己不喜欢富人，并承诺一旦当选将会对年薪超过100万欧元的收入人群征收边际税率高达75%的所得税。可以预料得到，政客们将会谴责球星高昂的收入，预算部长Jercme Cahuzac称“这是不妥的”并将加剧经济危机。

Parliament has just approved the new top tax rate. French business is dismayed. But it will do little to dampen footballers’ take-home pay: the Qataris are guaranteeing Mr Ibrahimovic’s salary, net. Whether Parisians can overcome their distaste for the vulgarisation of sport and the inequalities that such largesse brings will depend partly on performance on the pitch. So far, Mr Ibrahimovic has scored nine goals in eight league matches; PSG tops the league. Should his feet fail him, though, the Swede may just find other ways to charm the French. On October 22nd his autobiography was shortlisted for Sweden’s smartest literary prize—just the sort of non-financial success that Parisians truly cherish.
国会也通过了新的最高税率。整个国内的商界都为之沮丧。但是却不能对足球运动员的收入造成任何的影响：卡塔尔财团已经保证了伊布的净工资。由于足球运动员收入仍然很高，巴黎人就产生了不公平等想法，他们能否客服这些想法就取决于运动员们在球场上的表现了。到目前为止，伊布在本赛季进行的8场联赛中已打入9粒进球，PSG也位列联赛排行榜首席。即使伊布表现不佳，踢得不好，但是这位瑞典人将会用他自己的方式在法国星光熠熠。10月22日，他的自传入选为瑞典最具智慧大奖——而法国人真正珍惜的正是这种非金融式的成功。