经济学人下载:重蹈覆辙 中西部的农业危机有多严重(1)

United States
美国

Farming in the Midwest: Rhyme Time
中西部的农业：重蹈覆辙？

How bad is this farm slump?
这次农业危机有多严重？

The farm crisis in the 1980s left a deep mark on the Midwest.
上世纪八十年代发生的农业危机给美国中西部留下了不可磨灭的烙印。

It was the worst downturn in farming since the Depression.
这是大萧条期以来最为严重的农业衰退。

After an uNPRecedented boom in demand for wheat ended, thousands of farmers faced ruin.
在前所未有的小麦黄金期结束后，成千上万的农民开始遭殃。

Agricultural banks and makers of farming equipment were washed away by a wave of bankruptcies.
农业银行和农耕设备制造商被一波又一波的破产所拖垮。

Midwestern farmers look at parallels with the 1980s whenever their cyclical industry is heading downwards.
中西部的农民开始把现在所遭遇的情况和上世纪八十年代所遭遇的周期性行业持续下滑进行类比。

Prices for corn, wheat and other agricultural commodities started to fall after their peak in 2013, since when the comparison has been raised again.
在2013年玉米价格、小麦价格以及其他农产品价格达到顶峰后，所有产品的价格开始下滑，就从此时起，历史仿佛重演一般。

Exports of wheat and soyabeans nearly tripled in the 1970s, thanks to the weakness of the dollar after America abandoned the gold standard in 1971, and the Russian wheat deal in 1972, when America sold the Soviet Union about 440m bushels of wheat for around $700m.
在1971年美国废除了金本位，同时于1972年结束了与前苏联每年约4.4亿蒲式耳市值7亿美元的小麦交易后，美元开始贬值，这促使了小麦和黄豆的出口量在70年代猛增三倍。

Until then the Soviets had imported hardly any American foodstuffs.
在那时之前，苏联几乎没有进口过任何美国食品。

The sudden bonanza was such that farmers bought more and more land, with more and more debt.
农民用贷款的方式购买了越来越多的土地，这带来了出乎意料的好处。

This went well until interest rates jumped up, the dollar strengthened and exports to the USSR were halted after the invasion of Afghanistan.
在利率上升之前，这一切发展得很顺利，美元开始变得强势，在入侵阿富汗后，美国对前苏联的出口被禁止。

Farmers' biggest asset, land, dropped in value, which in turn increased their liabilities until they became so big that they could not stay in business.
农民最宝贵的财富，也就是土地开始贬值，农民的债务也相对增加了，最终债台高筑不得不破产。

The latest farming boom started in 2006, when demand for crops such as maize (corn), sugar cane and soyabeans generated record profits thanks to demand for (maize and sugar-based) ethanol, and the then skyrocketing Chinese economy.
最近的农业兴起开始于2006年，此时对诸如玉米、甘蔗和大豆等农作物的需求产生了巨额的利润，这是因为人对由玉米和糖制造的乙醇需求增加以及中国经济的快速增长所带来的影响。