German Official Says US Stature To Fall 德国财长称美国经济大国地位日渐衰微

The Wall Street financial crisis will reconfigure the world economy and the U.S. will fade as the world's dominant economic force, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck said in German parliament Thursday.
德国财政部长施坦布吕克(Peer Steinbruck)周四对德国国会说，华尔街金融危机将重塑全球经济格局，美国作为世界头号经济强国的地位将逐渐衰微。


'The U.S. will lose its status as the superpower of the global financial system, not abruptly but it will erode,' Mr. Steinbruck said. 'The global financial system will become more multipolar.'
施坦布吕克说，美国将失去作为全球金融体系超级大国的地位，不是马上，而是个循序渐进的过程。全球金融体系将变得更加多极化。


His remarks were the latest European critique of the crumbling Wall Street financial model and the U.S. government, which is trying to rush through a $700 billion bailout plan for the U.S. banking sector. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called for a more international approach to financial market regulation. Taken together, the remarks amount to a fledgling campaign inside the Group of Seven rich countries to pressure the U.S. into global banking reforms, setting the stage for next month's meetings of the G-7 and International Monetary Fund in Washington.
施坦布吕克是最近一位批评华尔街金融模式和美国政府的欧洲官员。美国政府目前正忙于通过一项7,000亿美元的银行业拯救方案。法国总统萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)和德国总理默克尔(Angela Merkel)已经呼吁对金融市场监管采取更加国际化的方式。诸多批评声音正在七国集团(G7)内部形成了一个新的运动──向美国施压进行全球银行改革。这为下个月在华盛顿召开的七国集团会议和国际货币基金组织(IMF)会议奠定了基础。


Mr. Steinbruck met in Berlin later Thursday with French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. They agreed to set up a working group on short-selling securities, a practice that has been temporarily curtailed in the U.S. and the U.K.
施坦布吕克周四晚些时候在柏林会见了法国财政部长拉加德(Christine Lagarde)。双方同意组建一个工作小组负责卖空证券事务。美国和英国已经暂时实施了卖空禁令。


Mr. Steinbruck said the G-7 -- currently consisting of the U.S., Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and the U.K. -- will in the future have to invite other players when talking about important financial and economic problems. China isn't currently a member of the G-7.
施坦布吕克表示，七国集团未来讨论重大金融和经济问题时必须邀请其他国家参与。目前七国集团成员国包括美国、日本、加拿大、德国、法国、意大利和英国。中国还不是成员国。


Mr. Steinbruck said that the U.S. didn't sufficiently regulate investment banks and criticized Anglo-American free-market policy as an 'insane drive for higher and higher profits,' adding that yields of 25% can't be generated in the long term.
施坦布吕克说，美国没有对投资银行实施充分监管，并批评英美的自由市场政策是“不断追逐高额利润的疯狂动力”；他还说，高达25%的收益率是无法长期保持的。


'Investment bankers and politicians in New York, Washington or London didn't want to do without,' Mr. Steinbruck said. 'Wall Street will never be what it was.'
施坦布吕克称，纽约、华盛顿或伦敦的投资银行家和政客们并不想失去美国的大国地位。但华尔街已是今非昔比。


Mr. Steinbruck later tempered his remarks about the future role of the U.S. The dollar won't lose its status as the world's benchmark currency, he said. But over the next 10 years, the U.S. currency will be supplemented by the yen, the euro and the Chinese yuan as the key currencies.
施坦布吕克晚些时候淡化了有关美国未来作用的言论。他说，美元不会失去作为全球基准货币的地位。但未来10年，日圆、欧元和人民币将作为主要货币对美元进行补充。


'We will have to deal with four big and important currencies when looking at the next 10 years,' he said.
他说，展望未来10年，我们将必须面对四大重要货币。