America’s former and possible future first lady Melania Trump brought out a memoir last week called Melania. Her publisher, Skyhorse Publishing, told CNN that a short interview with her would cost $250,000. This was something of a novelty. Public figures do not generally demand fees to market their own product. Skyhorse later said its commercial and non-disclosure contract had been a “miscommunication”. 

美国前第一夫人、可能的未来第一夫人梅拉尼娅•特朗普(Melania Trump)上周出版了一本名为《梅拉尼娅》(Melania)的回忆录。她的出版商Skyhorse Publishing告诉美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)，对她进行一次简短采访的费用为25万美元。这是件新鲜事。公众人物通常不会为推销自己的产品收费。Skyhorse后来表示，其商业和保密合同是“误传”。

Trump may herself have supplied a better explanation as first lady in 2018 when she wore a jacket with a message scrawled on the back: “I really don’t care, do you?”

梅拉尼娅本人在2018年作为第一夫人时可能给出了更好的解释，当时她穿了一件外套，背后写着：“我真的不在乎，你呢？”

Not giving a damn — or shamelessness — has become an American political malaise in the past few years. Outrageous words and deeds that would have incited uproar in the fairly recent past are now so frequent that apathy more often outweighs shock. In 1987, Joe Biden had to withdraw from the Democratic primaries because he had lifted stories from a speech by the British Labour leader Neil Kinnock. 

在过去几年里，不屑一顾——或者说无耻——已经成为美国的一种政治弊病。在不久前还能引起轩然大波的出格言论，如今却如此频繁，以至于冷漠往往超过了震惊。1987年，乔•拜登(Joe Biden)不得不退出民主党初选，是因为他引用了英国工党领袖尼尔•金诺克(Neil Kinnock)演讲中的故事。

——本文2024年10月16日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Has America lost its shame?

Kamala Harris has insisted her presidency would “not be a continuation” of Joe Biden’s during a pitch to conservative voters in a combative interview on Fox News.

作客福克斯新闻(Fox News)接受一次火药味十足的采访的卡玛拉•哈里斯(Kamala Harris)，在向保守派选民推介自己时坚称，其总统任期“不会是乔•拜登(Joe Biden)总统任期的延续”。

In her first sit-down interview on the conservative news channel, the vice-president repeatedly locked horns with interviewer Bret Baier on Wednesday over the Biden administration’s handling of immigration and whether she represented a genuine change from the Democratic president.

在与该保守派新闻频道的首次面对面采访中，副总统周三与采访者布雷特•拜尔(Bret Baier)就拜登政府处理移民问题的方式以及她是否与这位民主党总统有真正的区别展开了多次激烈交锋。

“Let me be very clear, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency, and like every new president that comes in to office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas,” Harris said. “I represent a new generation of leadership.”

哈里斯说：“让我非常明确地告诉大家，我的总统任期将不会是乔•拜登总统任期的延续，就像每一位上任的新总统一样，我将带来我的人生经验、职业经历和全新的理念。我代表着新一代领导层。”

——本文2024年10月17日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Kamala Harris pledges break from Joe Biden in feisty Fox News interview

UK inflation fell more than expected to a three-year low of 1.7 per cent in September, prompting the pound to fall and traders to increase bets on further rate cuts from the Bank of England this year.

英国9月通货膨胀意外下降至1.7％的三年低点，导致英镑下跌，并促使交易员增加对英国央行(Bank of England)今年进一步降息的押注。

Wednesday’s data release by the Office for National Statistics shows that inflation has come back under the BoE’s 2 per cent target for the first time since April 2021.

英国国家统计局(Office for National Statistics)周三发布的数据显示，通胀率自2021年4月以来首次回落至英国央行2%的目标以下。

The annual increase in consumer prices is less than the 1.9 per cent forecast in a Reuters survey of economists and compares with August’s figure of 2.2 per cent. The retreat was driven by lower airfares and petrol prices.

消费者价格年增幅低于路透社(Reuters)经济学家调查中预测的1.9%，也低于8月份的2.2%。这一回落是由航空票价和汽油价格下降所致。

——本文2024年10月17日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Pound falls as UK inflation declines more than expected to 1.7%

The biggest US investment banks generated $36bn in revenues from deals and trading in the last quarter, as volatile markets and corporate debt issuance fuelled a rebound on Wall Street.

随着市场波动和企业债务发行推动华尔街反弹，美国最大的投资银行在上一季度从交易和交易中获得了360亿美元的收入。

The combined figure was 11 per cent higher than a year ago, with Morgan Stanley on Wednesday rounding out the industry’s earnings season with positive results that followed JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Citigroup.

总和数据比去年同期增长了11%，摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)以积极的业绩为该行业的财报季画上了圆满的句号，此前是摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)、高盛(Goldman Sachs)、美国银行(Bank of America)和花旗集团都发布了业绩。

The strongest business was underwriting debt and overall the five banks made $8bn in revenues in the third quarter of 2024 from advising on debt and equity deals and acquisitions, 31 per cent higher than a year ago and comfortably ahead of analysts’ expectations.

最强劲的业务是债务承销，总体而言，这五家银行在2024年第三季度通过为债务和股权交易及收购提供咨询获得了80亿美元的收入，比一年前增长了31%，远远超出了分析师的预期。

——本文2024年10月17日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Wall Street banks enjoy bumper fees as debt issuance and deals activity rebound