经济学人下载:货币的半衰期 (1)

In 1946 Gyorgy Faludy, a Hungarian poet, received 300 bn pengo for a new edition of his works.
1946年，匈牙利诗人Gyorgy Faludy收到了作品再版稿费3000亿辨戈。

The sum would have been worth $60bn before the second world war.
二战前这笔稿费的价值相当于600亿美元。

But after the Nazis departed with Hungary's gold reserves and the Russians occupied its territory,
但在匈牙利黄金储备遭纳粹洗劫，其领土被俄罗斯人占领后，

the country's currency was not what it was—and becoming even less so.
这个国家的货币不复以往—且大不如前。

After collecting the money, Faludy rushed to the nearby market and spent it all on a chicken, two litres of cooking oil and a handful of vegetables.
Faludy拿到这笔钱后，匆忙来到附近市场并用这笔钱买了一只鸡、两公升食用油以及少量蔬菜。

For those not enduring it, hyperinflation can seem mind-bendingly abstract. The numbers are hard to fathom.
对于那些没经历过的人而言，恶性通货膨胀似乎是一个令人费解的抽象概念。这些数字很难理解。

In Venezuela's faltering economy, prices rose by 223.1% last month alone,
经济学家兼反对党政治家Angel Alvarado表示（该国政府早已停止公布官方统计）

according to Angel Alvarado, an economist and opposition politician (the government has long ceased publishing official statistics).
在委内瑞拉的经济低迷期，仅上个月物价就上涨了223.1%。

Each day throngs of Venezuelans rush across the 300m Simon Bolivar bridge joining their country to the economic sanity of Colombia,
每天都有大量委内瑞拉人穿过300米长的Simon Bolivar大桥，来到另一头经济健全的哥伦比亚

where they hope to obtain medicines, food and a better-preserved currency.
希望能够获得药物、食品以及存储更加完备的货币。

Venezuela's inflation could reach 1m percent for the full year, according to a (somewhat loose) forecast by the IMF.
国际货币基金组织预测，委内瑞拉的全年通货膨胀率可达到1,000,000%。

Such a figure is far from uNPRecedented, however. In the worst month of its postwar hyperinflation, Hungarian prices rose by 41,900,000,000,000,000%.
但该数字并非空前绝后。在战后恶性通货膨胀最糟糕的月份里，匈牙利物价上涨了41,900,000,000,000,000%。

The government had to print a 100 quintillion note (with 20 zeroes), the highest denomination ever produced.
政府不得不印刷一种一百百万的五次幂的纸币（后边20个零），这是世界上面值最大的纸币。

One elderly gentleman used one to line his hat, according to Victor Sebestyen, a historian.
历史学家Victor Sebestyen称，一位老绅士还用这种纸币给自己的帽子加衬。

If Venezuela's monthly inflation gets no worse, its hyperinflationary horror will rank only 23rd out of the 57 episodes
如果委内瑞拉每月通胀不再恶化，那么其恶性通货膨胀的惨状在约翰霍普金斯大学的史蒂夫·汉克

identified by Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins University and Nicholas Krus.
以及尼古拉斯·克鲁斯所鉴定的57次通货膨胀中仅排在23位。