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Reparation 经济学人:四十亩地和一头骡子 -2020-6-25
In a survey last year 29% of Americans supported the idea that the government
在去年的一次调查中，29%的美国人支持政府
should make cash payments to black Americans who were descendants of slaves—twice the share that agreed in the early 2000s.
应该向身为奴隶后裔的美国黑人支付现金——这一比例是本世纪初的两倍。
As protests have rocked America in recent weeks, the idea of reparations to atone for the atrocity of slavery,
近几周的抗议活动撼动了美国，用赔款抵偿奴隶制的暴行
as well as to reduce the persistent gaps in income and wealth between people of different skin colours, has gained further prominence.
并减少不同肤色人群之间持续存在的收入和财富差距的这种想法更加显著。
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has said he wants to explore it.
有望成为民主党总统候选人的乔·拜登曾表示，他希望探索这一问题。
On June 11th California's state lawmakers passed a bill that establishes a task-force to study and propose recommendations for reparations.
6月11日，加利福尼亚州的立法者通过了一项法案，建立一支特别小组，对赔偿进行研究，并提出建议。
The chances of the federal government implementing such a policy seem remote. But how would such a scheme work?
联邦政府执行这项政策的机会似乎渺茫。但这样的计划如何运作呢？
As "From Here to Equality", a new book written by William Darity, a scholar on reparations at Duke University, and A. Kirsten Mullen,
杜克大学研究赔款的学者William Darity以及A. Kirsten Mullen写的一本新书《From Here to Equality》表明
shows, the practicalities tend to take a back seat to philosophical arguments over whether reparations are needed in the first place.
针对是否需要赔偿的问题，实践性往往让位于哲学论证。
Genealogists would face the tricky task of determining who would be eligible for them.
系谱专家将面临一项棘手的任务，即决定谁有资格获得赔款。
Economists, meanwhile, would have to consider two questions: how much to pay, and how best to spend the money?
与此同时，经济学家将不得不考虑两个问题：支付多少钱，以及如何最好地使用这笔钱？
History offers a guide to the first question. Past claims for reparations have relied on the notion that
对于第一个问题，历史提供了指导。过去的索赔依赖这样一种观念：
people were wrongly deprived of income or property, or were unfairly forced to incur costs.
人们被不当地剥夺了收入或财产，或者被迫承担损失。
For instance, Israel calculated its claims for reparations from Germany after the second world war in part
例如，二战后，以色列通过预估重新安置纳粹受害者所需的开支
by estimating the expenditure it incurred in order to resettle Jewish victims of Nazi persecution.
来计算其向德国提出的赔偿要求。
An official report into America's forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese-Americans during the war
一份关于战争期间，美国强迫日裔美国人迁居和监禁的官方报告得出结论称，
reached the conclusion that they had been unfairly deprived of income and property worth $3bn (in today's prices).
他们被不公平地剥夺了价值30亿美元（以今天的价格计算）的收入和财产。
In 1988 the American government issued a formal apology and eventually compensated 80,000 victims.
1988年，美国政府正式道歉，并最终向8万名受害者进行赔偿。
Many scholars have tried to work out what would count as sufficient compensation for the descendants of slaves, but there is little agreement between them.
很多学者曾试图为奴隶后代计算出充足的赔款，但他们几乎没有达成一致。
One approach is to focus on compensation promised by the Union Army to freed slaves in 1865—the value of 40 acres of land and a mule—which was never realised.
一种方法是专注联邦军在1865年解放奴隶时所承诺的赔偿——40英亩土地和一头骡子的价值——但这从未兑现。
The amount of cropland required to meet that commitment today has a value of about $160bn (0.7% of American GDP in 2019).
如今，实现这一承诺所需的耕地价值约为1600亿美元（占2019年美国GDP的0.7%）。
Other approaches lead to much bigger sums. One calculates the difference between what slaves were given by way of maintenance, and what free workers were paid.
其他方法的赔偿金额更大。一种方法是计算奴隶维持生活的所需与自由工人工资之间的差价。
An estimate puts that at roughly $4trn in today's money (19% of GDP),
根据现在的钱计算，预计需要约4万亿美元（占GDP的19%），
once you account for the financial returns that could have been made if the money had been paid on time.
如果算上按时支付这笔钱可能带来的经济回报的话。
But some argue that slaves held down the wages of free workers, meaning that the true value of slaves' lost wages is higher.
但一些人认为，奴隶压低了自由工人的工资，这意味着奴隶失去的工资的真正价值更高。
Mr Darity and Ms Mullen say that the difference in mean net wealth between white and black households ($795,000 in 2016)
Darity先生和Mullen女士表示，白人和黑人家庭之间平均净资产的差距（2016年为795000美元）
is the "most robust indicator of the cumulative economic effects of white supremacy". That points to reparations of nearly $8trn, or 37% of GDP.
是“白人至上主义累积经济效应最有力的指标”。这意味着将近8万亿美元的赔款，相当于GDP的37%。
(The authors suggest that this should be partly financed by printing money, something that will make most wonks queasy.)
（作者建议，这部分资金应该通过印钞票来筹集，而这将使大多数学院派们感到不安。）
Another area of disagreement concerns the form that reparations should take.
分歧的另一个方面涉及应采取的赔偿形式。
Mr Darity and Ms Mullen argue that for "both symbolic and substantive reasons, an effective programme of restitution must include direct payments".
Darity先生和Mullen女士认为，“从象征和实质性原因来看，有效的赔偿方案必须包括直接赔款”。
But cash transfers may do less to reduce inequality than their supporters hope.
但汇款对减少不平等的作用可能没有其支持者所希望的那么大。
Research on inheritances, for instance, suggests that most heirs consume their windfall within a few years (purchases of cars are especially popular).
例如，遗产研究表明，大分部继承者会在几年内花光他们的这笔意外之财（买车尤为受欢迎）。
A sizeable part of the income gap between black and white Americans reflects differences in education levels; big one-off payments alone cannot alter that.
美国黑人和白人之间的收入差距很大一部分反映了教育水平的差异；单靠一次性的支付无法改变这一点。
And research by Mr Darity and Dania Francis of the University of Massachusetts Boston finds that
Darity和马萨诸塞大学波士顿分校的Dania Francis的研究发现
reparation payments could increase non-black incomes relative to black ones, if the spending thus facilitated flowed largely to non-black-owned firms.
如果由此促成的支出大部分流向了非黑人所有的公司，那么相对于黑人群体，赔款会增加非黑人群体的收入。
"Our paper points to the need to improve the infrastructure of black-owned businesses and banking
“我们的论文指出有必要改善黑人公司和银行业的基础设施建设，
so that dollars from reparations can flow into black communities," says Ms Francis.
这样赔款才能流向黑人社区，”Francis女士说到。
To this end, some economists argue that reparations should fund training and education programmes, or subsidise business lending.
为此，一些经济学家认为赔款应该用于培训和教育项目，或是补贴企业贷款。
Others point to "baby bonds", which would be targeted at poor children and help them pay for university or to start up a business.
一些人则指向“小额债券”，以贫困家庭的孩子为目标，帮助他们支付大学学费或创业。
Naomi Zewde of the City University of New York finds that baby bonds could substantially reduce racial wealth gaps among young people.
纽约市立大学的Naomi Zewde发现，小额债券可以从实质上减少年轻人之间的种族财富差距。
Reparation payments could be spent in other ways.
赔款可以用在其他方面。
Money paid out to Japanese exinternees has been used to fund academic chairs and historical archives.
支付给前日本战俘的钱被用来资助学术讲座和历史档案。
Reparations from Germany pay for food and medicine for Holocaust survivors.
从德国获得的赔款用于为大屠杀幸存者支付食物和药品。
But before America can widen support for reparations, it will have to debate what works.
但在美国可以扩大对赔款的支持之前，它将不得不讨论什么是有效的。
reparations四十亩地和一头骡子 中英.docx