If crisis is change's catalyst, recovery is its inhibitor. As preparations for the G20 summit get under way, finance ministers meeting in London deserve credit for averting economic apocalypse. In reforming financial regulation, however, their efforts are thus far lacking. The debate has been hijacked by an understandably populist, but often tangential, focus on bankers' pay. Meanwhile, reforming zeal is in danger of being squandered, as broad-brush visions gloss over trickier questions of implementation and efficacy.
如果說經濟危機是變革的催化劑,那麼復甦就是其抑制劑。隨著20國集團(G20)峯會的籌備工作展開,齊聚倫敦的20國財長應該爲避免了經濟徹底崩潰而受到讚揚。不過,在金融監管改革方面,他們的努力迄今還不夠。關於這個問題的辯論已徹底偏離了主題,將關注焦點放在了銀行家薪酬上,這是可以理解的民粹主義做法,但往往與主題不相干。與此同時,由於大手筆的願景掩飾了比較棘手的執行和功效問題,改革的熱情可能被浪費。