Last Thursday, the UK government unveiled a £15bn-plus policy package to address energy prices, big enough to redistribute close to one per cent of national output. That a Tory chancellor, Rishi Sunak, should preside over such massive redistribution and market interference illustrates the scale of the challenge faced by most European governments today.
上周四，英国政府宣布了总金额超过150亿英镑的一揽子政策措施，以应对能源价格的上涨。这样大的手笔，相当于对接近国民产出1%的收入进行再分配。一个保守党财政大臣——里希•苏纳克(Rishi Sunak)——能拿出这么庞大的再分配方案来干预市场，说明当今多数欧洲国家政府面临的挑战有多大。
Addressing the cost of living crisis is their most acute political imperative. It is tempting to do so with short-term solutions. But this risks aggravating even greater medium-term challenges: the carbon transition and the need to resist Russian President Vladimir Putin’s designs on the balance of power in Europe. Both require fundamental reform of our energy systems, not financial sticking plasters.
解决生活成本危机是他们当前最紧迫的政治任务。他们也许会忍不住采用短期解决方案，但这样一来，中期内势必越来越突出的两个挑战可能因此变得更加严重。这两个挑战是：向低碳的转型，以及抵制俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)改变欧洲均势的居心。两者都需要对我们的能源体系进行根本改革，而不是在财政上贴几块“创可贴”就可以了。
Sticking plasters are needed too, of course. The rise in energy prices in Europe has been breathtaking. Prices for natural gas have grown five to tenfold higher than normal since last autumn, when Putin began to tighten supplies. Electricity has followed suit, because gas-fired power plants often provide the balance of fluctuating energy demand in Europe’s power markets. Global oil prices are double their 2019 levels.
“创可贴”式的措施当然也是需要的。欧洲能源价格的上涨已到了惊心动魄的地步。自去秋普京开始收紧供应以来，天然气价格涨到了正常水平的五至十倍。电力紧跟着涨价，因为在欧洲电力市场，能源需求起伏不定，而使用天然气作燃料的发电厂往往起到平衡的作用。国际石油价格是2019年时的两倍。