Gideon Rachman: In theory, I should know Britain's new chancellor of the exchequer, really quite well. George Osborne grew up in the same street as me in London. We went to the same school. He used to be called Gideon, before changing his name to George. I once interviewed him for a job. But the odd thing is, I hardly know the guy. The reason for this is rather humiliating. The chancellor, as I will have to learn to call him, is much younger than me. Eight years younger, to be precise; he has only just turned 39. So the first time I really met George Osborne was when I interviewed him for a job at The Economist in 1997.
理論上，我應該認識英國新任財政大臣，事實上應該相當熟悉。我和喬治•奧斯本(George Osborne)在倫敦同一條街上長大。我們上的是同一所學校。他曾經也用過吉狄恩(Gideon)這個名字，後來才改成了喬治。我曾經爲一份工作面試過他。但奇怪的是，我對他知之甚少。原因有點讓人覺得慚愧。這位財政大臣（我以後不得不習慣於這麼稱呼他）比我年輕得多。確切地說是比我小8歲；他剛剛39歲。所以我第一次真正見到喬治•奧斯本是在1997年，當時他來應聘《經濟學人》(The Economist)的一份工作，而我是面試官。