(本文選自《經濟學人》20201205期)
背景介紹：
20世紀80年代，印度也啟動了改革開放進程，隨後經濟開始騰飛，近些年來，印度經濟的發展更是迅猛，GDP每年以7%以上的速度增長，一躍成為全世界經濟增速最快的國家。然而，在經濟迅速發展的背後，印度的貧苦百姓是否擺脫了貧窮，過上了美好生活？
India’s super-rich are getting much richer
Even as the economy shrinks by a tenth
Some people have almost all the luck. Over the past year, as India’s economy has shrunk by around a tenth and tens of millions of Indians have lost jobs or sunk into poverty, the fortunes of the country’s two richest people have swollen.
有些人的運氣就是很好。印度經濟在過去一年萎縮了10%，數千萬印度人失去了工作或陷入了貧困，但該國最富有的兩個人卻仍在不斷地積聚財富。Gautam Adani, whose conglomerate sprawls from ports to coal mines to food, has seen his personal wealth more than double, to some $32bn. Mukesh Ambani’s riches, which derive from oil refining, telecoms and retail, among other things, have grown by just 25%, albeit to an intimidating $75bn or so.
高塔姆·阿達尼的集團經營著從港口、煤礦到食品的各類業務，他的個人財富在過去一年翻了一番，已達近320億美元。穆克什·安巴尼則主要從煉油、電信和零售等行業攫取財富，他的個人財富雖然只增長了25%，但卻已達驚人的近750億美元。The share of wealth and income going to the top 1% has been rising rapidly in recent years in India, as it has been in many countries. Last year they hoovered up 21.4% of earnings, just ahead of their counterparts in Russia, according to the World Inequality Database.
和許多國家一樣，印度最富有的1%人口擁有財富和收入的比例近年來一直在迅速上升。世界不平等資料庫的數據顯示，去年這1%人口的收入佔比為21.4%，略高於俄羅斯的水平。Credit Suisse, a bank, puts their share of India’s wealth at 39%, well ahead of the richest 1% of Americans or Chinese. Most alarmingly, in India some of the rich have become super-rich by using their heft to crush smaller competitors and thus corner multiple chunks of the economy.
據瑞士信貸銀行估計，印度1%的富人擁有39%的財富，遠遠高於美國和中國的水平。最令人擔心的是，印度一些富人正在利用自身影響力打壓規模較小的競爭對手，在多個經濟領域獲得壟斷地位，從而成為超級富豪。The tilt in fortunes has rewarded not so much technical innovation or productivity growth or the opening of new markets as the wielding of political influence and privileged access to capital to capture and protect existing markets.
與其說是財富的傾斜帶來了技術創新、生產率的提高或新市場的開放等好處，不如說是利用政治影響力和資本特權佔領新市場並保護現有市場。Merely a decade ago, according to data compiled by Marcellus, an investment-advice firm, among listed firms in India the 20 most profitable generated less than a third of profits. They now account for 70%. A study by Krishna Kant, a journalist, reveals that between 2014 and 2018 competition within ten different industries, from aviation to tyres, deteriorated markedly.
根據投資諮詢公司 Marcellus 彙編的數據，十年前，印度上市公司中最賺錢的20家公司的利潤佔比還不到三分之一，如今已達70%。克裡希納·康德記者的一項研究顯示，自2014年至2018年，從航空業到輪胎業等十個行業的競爭明顯陷入惡化。Across Indian markets, only the shares of giant firms have gained consistently over the past decade, says Rohit Chandra of IIT Delhi, a university. International investors have noticed, and now bet increasingly not on promising new firms but on big old ones, which they expect to get even bigger.
印度理工學院德裡分校的羅希特·錢德拉表示，在過去十年間，整個印度市場中僅有大公司的股票在持續上漲。國際投資者顯然注意到了這一點，他們如今越來越多地把賭注押在那些發展越來越好的老牌大公司上，而非一些有前途的新公司。The government boasts that the five months from April to August saw a record $36bn in foreign investment, suggesting that its wise policies have sustained confidence during the covid-19 epidemic. What it trumpets less loudly is that more than half of that money, including hefty investments from Facebook and Google, poured into Mr Ambani’s hands alone.
政府誇口稱，在從今年4月到8月的5個月時間裡，外國資本對印度的投資額達到了創紀錄的360億美元，這表明其在新冠肺炎疫情期間的明智政策給人們帶來了信心。但政府沒說出來的是，其中一半以上的資金（包括來自臉書和谷歌的巨額投資）都流入了安巴尼之手。It is easy to understand why. Things have a way of turning out as Mr Ambani wishes. Back in 2016, for instance, the tycoon used his massive earnings from petrochemicals to take a $25bn gamble, plunging into the maturing mobile-phone market. His timing was exquisite.
這不難理解，因為任何事情總能按照安巴尼的想法發展。例如，2016年，這位大亨將他從石化行業獲得的巨額利潤投入到日漸成熟的手機市場，由此展開了一場價值250億美元的豪賭。他將時機把握得恰到好處。Just as he rolled out a free service to lure customers, the government withdrew 86% of the country’s paper currency, leaving most of India strapped for cash and eager to find savings. Rival companies also found themselves burdened by lawsuits and crushing penalties for back taxes. Regulators ignored complaints. 「If his firm were Chinese it would have been charged with dumping,」 says one economist.
就在他為了吸引顧客而推出一項免費服務的同時，印度政府回收了該國86%的紙幣，這導致大部分印度人手頭都缺錢，並且想要攢錢。競爭對手們也發現自己突然惹上了官司，還因欠稅而被重罰。對於投訴，監管機構卻選擇熟視無睹。一位經濟學家說道：「如果這是在中國，他的公司將面臨傾銷指控。」(紅色標註詞為重難點詞彙)
本文翻譯：Vinnie
校核：Vinnie
編輯：Vinnie
隨著經濟的高速發展，印度的GDP終於超過法國，這也讓印度成為了世界第六大經濟體。但與此同時，印度的人均GDP卻非常低，在2019年排在世界第139位。像世界上許多國家一樣，印度的很多政策都沒有把重點放在增加該國最貧困人口的收入和財富上，最終導致富人越來越富、窮人越來越窮。
conglomerate [kənˈɡlɑːmərət] n. 企業集團；聚合物intimidating [ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪtɪŋ] adj. 驚人的；令人膽怯的
hoover up 獲得；吸收
deteriorate [dɪˈtɪriəreɪt] v. 惡化；變壞
tycoon [taɪˈkuːn] n. 巨頭；大亨
plunge into 投入；跳入
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