经济学人:一周商业要闻14

 　　The world this week-Business 本周经济新闻

　　Amazon showed off its first smartphone, which will go on sale next month.  亚马逊展示了将在下月发售的第一款智能手机。
　　Priced at the high end of the market, the device runs on a version of Google's Android system, the main difference being that it is designed around Amazon's shopping ecosystem 1.  亚马逊展示了将在下月发售的第一款智能手机。
　　It also has 3D features.  该款机型还装有三维显示屏。
　　But although it dominates e-commerce in America and Europe, Amazon's tiny profits and big spending projects are starting to worry investors 2; its share price is down by almost a fifth since the start of the year. 然而，即使其在欧美电子商务中占主导地位，亚马逊的微薄利润和巨大的项目开支仍让投资者开始担心；其股价自年初以来下跌了大约五分之一。
　　Google's YouTube threatened to pull videos from its site by independent recording 3 artists, 谷歌公司的YouTube威胁将从其网站上移除那些,
　　who have refused to sign up to the terms for its forthcoming subscription-based music service.  由拒绝签署即将到来的付费音乐服务条款的独立唱片公司创作的音频。
　　Universal, Sony and Warner have agreed to the terms, but the smaller labels accuse YouTube of a lack of respect and understanding for the independent sector 4. 环球唱片、索尼和华纳已经同意该条款，但小型唱片公司指责YouTube对独立机构缺乏尊重和理解。
　　Sunk 僵局
　　In a surprise move China's commerce ministry 5 blocked a proposed alliance of three European shipping 6 companies, including Maersk.  中国商务部否决了包括马士基在内的三家欧洲船舶公司联盟的提议引发了不小的震动。
　　The P3 alliance sought to pool 250 ships to reduce overcapacity, but it would have controlled 40% of transatlantic and Asia-Europe seaborne trade.  P3联盟试图联合运营旗下250艘货轮以减少产能过剩，但这将使得该联盟控制横跨大西洋和亚欧海上贸易40%的份额。
　　Regulators in America and Europe had given the nod to the alliance.  美国和欧盟的竞争监管机构批准了该联盟，
　　China's commerce ministry disagreed, saying smaller shippers would suffer and consumers would pay.  但中国商务部不同意，认为此举将损害其他运输公司的利益并使得消费者最终买单。
　　The takeover battle for various bits of Alstom intensified 7 ahead of a deadline. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan.  对阿尔斯通各种业项业务的收购战在截止日前愈演愈烈。
　　Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric, flew to Paris for talks with the government on securing jobs if it buys some of Alstom's assets.  通用电气的首席执行官杰夫瑞?伊梅尔特已飞赴巴黎与政府协商在购买部分阿尔斯通资产后的担保工作。
　　Complicating 8 his plans is a rival joint 9 bid from Siemens of Germany and 但对手德国西门子和日本三菱重工的联合竞标使得其计划变得复杂起来。
　　Mary Barra, the boss of General Motors, appeared before a congressional committee, 通用汽车公司的老板玛丽博拉面对国会委员会，
　　to answer questions about faulty ignition switches in GM's cars that it acknowledges led to 13 deaths.  就其公司生产的汽车点火开关故障导致13人死亡的事实进行回答。
　　An internal report at GM blamed the carmaker's unquestioning corporate 10 culture for the ten-year delay in recognising the problem. 一份通用公司内部的报告指责该制造商顽固的企业文化：对于一个延续十年的问题都缺乏认知。
　　Capital holding 资本持有
　　Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, set markets abuzz when he said that interest rates could rise sooner than expected.  英格兰银行的行长马克卡尼声称利率将超预期而快速增长，这给市场强烈反响。
　　The betting had been that the base rate, set at 0.5%, would start to rise in the first quarter of 2015, but markets are now anticipating an increase towards the end of the year.  有人笃定原为0.5%基准利率将在2015年一季度开始上调，但现在市场预计到今年年底就会增长，银行习惯于提振英国经济。
　　The bank is adapting to the strengthening British economy. The housing market in particular has been supported by ultra-low rates and house prices are surging;  特别是房产市场由于超低利率的支撑导致房价飙升；
　　they were up by an average of 9.9% in April compared with the same month last year.  在四月份相较去年同期平均增长9.9%。
　　Officials at the Federal Reserve's latest meeting slightly raised the forecast of its benchmark interest rate for the end of 2015, to 1.2%.  最近的议息会议中，美联储将2015年年底预期基准利率微升到1.2%。
　　America's overall consumer-price index rose by 2.1% in the year to May. 美国总体消费者价格指数五月同比增长2.1%。
　　Japan's government proposed gradually lowering the country's corporate-tax rate, one of the highest in the world, from 35% to below 30%.  日本政府提出逐渐将该国企业所得税税率由35%降低至30%。
　　This will form part of the third arrow of reforms that Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, hopes will boost growth. 这是期望提振经济的安倍改革的第三支箭的组成部分。
　　Medtronic agreed to buy Covidien in a $43 billion deal that shakes up the medical-device industry.  在一场震惊世界医疗器械行业的430亿美元的交易中，美敦力同意收购柯惠医疗。
　　It is another example of a tax inversion 11 acquisition that takes advantage of lower corporate-tax rates outside America.  这是利用美国以外地区较低的企业所得税率而进行的税收倒置收购的又一案例。
　　Medtronic is based in Minneapolis; Covidien's base is near Boston, but it is domiciled in Ireland, which has a corporate-tax rate of only 12.5%.  美敦力设在明尼阿波利斯，柯惠医疗设在波士顿附近，但交税在爱尔兰，那里的企业所得税税率只有12.5%。
　　The World Gold Council called a meeting of the gold industry for July 7th to discuss alternatives to the London gold fix,  世界黄金协会将在7月7日的召开黄金行业会议，
　　a 95-year-old mechanism 12 for setting the price at which gold products and derivatives 13 are traded.  探讨是否取代具有95年历史的设定黄金产品及其衍生产品价格的伦敦黄金定盘价机制。
　　The price is fixed 14 by four banks, but, as with other financial benchmarks in the wake of the LIBOR scandal, it has been criticised for a lack of transparency. 该价格由四家银行操控，但是正如在伦敦银行同业拆借利率制定方面的丑闻之后的其他金融基准一样，由于缺乏透明度而饱受批评。
　　American Apparel suspended its founder 15 and chief executive, Dov Charney, with an intention to sack him because of alleged 16 misconduct.  美国服饰将其创始人和首席执行官多夫?查尼停职，并由于其行为不当意图解雇他。
　　Mr Charney is a colourful character in the clothing business and a strong supporter of immigration reform. 查尼在服装行业是一位响当当的人物，也是移民改革的坚定支持者。
　　He kept his company's manufacturing base in Los Angeles rather than moving its operations abroad.  他坚持将公司的工厂建在洛杉矶而不是移往海外。
　　But he has faced accusations 17 of inappropriate sexual behaviour in the past, and once said he felt comfortable working at his factory in his underwear. 但是此前他已经受到多项关于不当性行为的指控，有一次他曾说在自己的工厂穿内衣上班真爽。
　　War cry 呼喊
　　America's office of trademarks 19 cancelled the Washington Redskins trademark 18, because it reckons the team's name is disparaging 20 to native Americans.  美国商标局取缔了华盛顿红皮队的商标，这是由于其认定球队的名字有蔑视美洲土著之嫌。
　　The team successfully challenged a similar ruling in 1999.  该队曾在1999年相类似的案子中获胜。
　　This week's decision does not mean it will have to change its name or stop selling merchandise, but it does weaken its ownership of the trademark under law.  本周的决定并不意味着该队必须更名或者停止销售球队纪念品，但确实是削弱了其在法律范围内的品牌所有权。14