经济学人下载:国际货币基金组织—拉加德的改变(2)

In practice the fund rarely operates that way. It is reluctant to cut its members off, especially if they have powerful friends.
实际上，基金很少以这种方式运作。它不愿切断与其成员的联系，尤其是如果他们有强大的朋友。

This month, for example, it approved a $6bn loan to Pakistan, which has often flouted its prescriptions in the past.
例如，本月，IMF批准向巴基斯坦借贷60亿美元，而巴基斯坦过去常常无视IMF开出的处方。

And even its biggest-ever loan, over $50bn approved for Argentina last year,
甚至是其有史以来最大的一笔贷款，去年批准给阿根廷的贷款超过500亿美元，

was not enough to stop capital fleeing and the peso slumping in subsequent months.
也不足以阻止资本外逃，并且比索在接下来的几个月里大幅贬值。

Rather than rely on the uncertain protection of the fund, many members have chosen to look after themselves,
许多成员国选择照顾好自己，而不是依赖于IMF不确定的保护

accumulating over $11trn-worth of reserves between them.
他们彼此之间累积了价值超过110万亿美元的外汇储备。

Its next boss will find its cupboard a little bare. America is opposed to increasing members' "quotas":
其下一任总裁将发现他的橱柜有些空旷。美国反对增加成员国的“配额”：

their permanent financial commitments to the fund (which now come to $660bn).
他们对基金的永久财政承诺（现到6600亿美元）。

Instead the IMF is trying to shore up alternative sources of financing, including $250bn it has borrowed for five years from 40 richer members.
相反，IMF试图支持其他的融资来源，包括其向40个较富裕的成员国借出的2500亿美元，期限为5年。

Limited firepower also threatens its legitimacy. A country's financial contribution to the IMF determines its share of votes in the institution.
有限的火力也威胁到了它的合法性。一个国家对IMF的财政贡献决定了它在该组织中的投票权份额。

So without an overall increase in quotas,
所以如果整体配额不增加的话，

the fund will struggle to redistribute voting power from over-represented countries in Europe to faster-growing members elsewhere.
IMF就难以将投票权从代表超额的欧洲国家重新分配给其他增长更快的成员国。

To do so would require cutting some members' stakes in absolute terms, rather than merely freezing them as others expand.
要做到这一点，就需要削减一些成员国的绝对配额，而不是仅仅在其他成员国扩张时冻结它们。

China, according to the IMF's independent evaluation office,
根据IMF的独立评估办公室，

is now more under-represented than it was before the voting reform of 2008,
与2008年投票改革前相比，现在中国的代表人数更少，

because its share of global GDP has grown faster than its share of IMF votes.
因为它在全球GDP中所占的份额比在IMF投票中所占的份额增长得更快。

The fund's response to this impasse has been innovative.
IMF对此绝境的反应很新颖。

Just as it has sought alternative sources of financing, it has also sought alternative wells of legitimacy.
正如它寻求其他融资来源一样，它也在寻找其他合法来源。

Ms Lagarde has energetically broadened its concerns to include inequality, gender and climate change.
拉加德女士积极扩大了IMF关注的范围，包括不平等、性别和气候变化。

Critics worry that the IMF is now spreading itself too thinly,
批评人士担心IMF现在的扩张力度太单薄，

taking on new tasks when it has yet to master its customary responsibilities.
在尚未掌握日常职责的情况下承担了新的任务。

It does not seem sure how to stop prices from rising in Argentina or those in Japan from threatening to fall.
它似乎不确定如何阻止阿根廷或日本的物价上涨，以免出现下跌的威胁。

Should it wage an additional crusade against rising temperatures worldwide?
它是否应该在世界范围内发起一场反对气温上升的运动？

But its new preoccupations may also help it meet some of its core duties.
但它的新关注点也可能帮助它履行一些核心职责。

Its traditional advice to tighten belts, for example,
例如其勒紧裤腰带的传统建议

carries more weight in many parts of the world because it has shown that it is sensitive to broader social ills.
在世界许多地方更有分量，因为这表明它对更广泛的社会弊病很敏感。

Good parents know that showing the cane is no substitute for showing that you care.
优秀的父母知道，挥舞藤条并不能代替你的关心。