2015考研經濟學人節(jié)選：法國地方政府

　　French local government

　　法國地方政府

　　Slimming down

　　瘦身中

　　France tells local governments to cut the fat

　　法國當局下令地方政府“減肥”

　　WHEN Claude Monet lived near the Seine at Argenteuil, he painted white canvas sails and river banks. Today, Argenteuil is part of the suburban sprawl west of Paris, and is more famous for being the most indebted large town in France. A recent report from the Cour des Comptes, the national audit body, told the town hall to take urgent measures to curb the deficit “in line with the gravity of the situation”.

　　克勞德·莫奈在阿讓特伊的塞納河附近時，畫過白色帆船和塞納河畔。如今，阿讓特伊只是巴黎西郊無計劃擴展地區(qū)中的一部分，并且更是因負債累累而臭名遠揚。法國審計法院Courdes Comptes 已經命令當地市府大廳采取緊急措施，抑制財政赤字，要和“地球引力”方向保持一致。

　　Across the country, town halls are facing a budget squeeze. As part of its effort to control the national deficit, which this year is yet again set to bust the euro zone's 3% rule, President Franois Hollande's Socialist government has promised 50 billion of budget savings from 2015 to 2017. Of this, it says 11 billion will come from reduced transfers to local government. But persuading town halls to apply such cuts may prove the most difficult piece of the French deficit puzzle.

　　當前全國上下、各地市府大廳均面臨財政緊縮的困境。為了有效控制國家財政赤字局面，實現歐元區(qū)規(guī)定的不超過3%的赤字目標，法國總統弗朗索瓦·奧朗德所在的社會主義政府已經承諾2015 年至2017 年削減財政支出500 億英鎊。而這500 億英鎊中，110 億為中央政府對地方政府的撥款項削減額。但是，要說服當地政府接受這樣的財政緊縮政策恐怕是實施財政緊縮政策項目過程中最棘手的部分吧。

　　Argenteuil is poorer than the average French town, and its unemployment rate is nearly 17%. The share of residents living in subsidised public housing, in the concrete towers that ring the town, is twice the national average. And like many French towns, Argenteuil's aspirations to first-class public services exceed its ability to finance them.

　　和法國其它小鎮(zhèn)相比，阿讓特伊的經濟發(fā)展較落后，且它的失業(yè)率幾乎高達17%。住政府補助房和外圍混凝土塔的人數是全國平均值的兩倍。和法國很多小鎮(zhèn)一樣，阿讓特伊也想提供一流的社會公共服務，但這筆支出卻不是它現在的財政所能承受的。

　　Overlooking the river, a vast new plate-glass building house the Argenteuil-Bezons Agglomeration, a new layer of local government created several years ago to run joint services with its neighbouring town. In the old town centre, near the freshly scrubbed medieval chapel, six gardeners in fluorescent-yellow jackets are planting out municipal flower beds. Up the road sits a smart glass-fronted cultural centre, complete with 500-seat theatre and two cinema screens.Outside, a line of toddlers, grasping each other's hands tight, totters along the pavement.Argenteuil has 20 crèches, catering to babies from the age of ten weeks. Older pre-school children are served a daily three-course lunch, graced by such dishes as poached fish and quinoa followed by a slice of Camembert.

　　俯瞰塞納河，可以看到一幢雄偉的玻璃建筑—阿讓特伊的巴黎式建筑群，該建筑為幾年前新建，用于和鄰居小鎮(zhèn)合作辦公。在這座古老的小鎮(zhèn)中心，靠近剛翻新的中世紀教堂的地方，只見6 名穿熒光黃外套的園丁在忙著整理市鎮(zhèn)府花園。沿著這條街道，還可以看見一座精美前面透明的文化中心樓，內設有500 張坐席和2 副電影屏幕。樓外，只見一列小孩兒，手拉手，正在蹣跚學步呢。阿讓特伊設有20 家托兒所，專門服務于10 周歲大的嬰兒。大些的學前小孩兒每天可享受一頓三菜的午餐，搭配豐盛有營養(yǎng)，如水煮魚配藜麥，再加一片乳酪。

　　Locals consider such things to be the basic job of local government. But Argenteuil's debt already amounts to some 300m. Last year alone, the public-sector wage bill jumped by 8.5%, to 79m,according to the Cour des Comptes, and the deficit reached 17m. “It was insane, ” declares Georges Mothron, the Gaullist mayor, who defeated his Socialist predecessor in elections in March. In 2013, he says, the town hall hired 377 new staff. This included 40 new workers to staff 150 extra crèche places. The old team disputes the figures, and Philippe Doucet, the previous mayor, describes the spending as “investments in the future”.

　　當地居民都把這樣的服務視為政府的基本職責。然而，阿讓特伊的債務已高達3 億英鎊。法國審計法院稱，僅去年一年，公共部門的工資開銷就上漲至790 英鎊，漲幅為8.5%，赤字額為1700 萬英鎊。曾于三月大選擊敗前任社會主義的戴高樂式市長Georges Mothron 說，“這簡直是瘋了?！?。2013 年，他報道該地新雇傭員工377 名，而這370 名也包括40 名被分配在新添的150 處托兒工作的。前任政府人員對這些數字加以反駁，如前市長Philippe Doucet 發(fā)言說，“這是對未來的投資”。