Photograph by Gueorgui Pinkhassov / Magnum for TIME
跟狗仔討論中國的經濟，就像兩個正向的磁鐵無法互相吸引一樣。除非，有著一個魅力無窮的巨星。所以當法國經濟部長7月16日在巴黎舉行「中法共同的挑戰」會議時，大批攝影記者湧向禮堂，摩肩擦踵地擠向講台前，他們訓練有素的一致將鏡頭瞄準──一頭灰髮、十分知名，鎮靜地將閃光燈視之無物，正像個搖滾巨星的IMF國際金融銀行主席─多明尼克‧史特勞斯卡恩。
Discussions on Chinese economic relations are hardly a magnet for paparazzi — unless, of course, they include a star speaker. So when France's Finance Ministry hosted a conference in Paris on June 16 about China and Europe's common challenges, dozens of photographers crowded into the auditorium, elbowing each other for a spot in front of the stage, where they trained their cameras on the short, gray-haired man at the podium: International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. DSK, as he's widely known, ignored the flashbulbs with the sangfroid of a rock star.
一個法國的政治人物成為一個狗仔追著跑的名人，是這波金融風暴中最讓人驚訝的傳奇之一。喔，還有比這件更神奇的事，史特勞斯卡恩的死對頭──法國總統尼可拉斯‧沙維奇。經過2007年大獲全勝總統大選後，(那場選舉中史特勞斯卡未獲社會黨提名)沙維奇向當時身為法國經濟部長的史特勞斯卡恩，提出華府就任國際貨幣基金(IMF)主席職位。一些法國的好事評論家都揣測，IMF是個從組成之初就不斷被唱衰的組織，正顯示總統意欲將政敵外放的政治報復。就在史特勞斯到IMF的幾年間，全球股市全數崩盤，主要經濟市場也都變得一文不值。夾在經濟蕭條與各國國家首長之中，史特勞斯卡恩成為1930年代之後成立IMF，作為控制世界信債最後一道防線的重要人物。「在全球金融海嘯前，大家都有個想法『我們需要像IMF這樣的機構嗎？』」61歲的史特勞斯卡恩，坐在巴黎辦公室沙發上輕鬆說道。「這就好像平時沒有火災發生，卻能想到萬一出現緊急狀況時，也是需要消防員的。」(阿就「未雨綢繆」咩，我說外國人的比喻還是沒有中國成語簡單又貼切。)
How the French politician went from also-ran to celebrity is one of the more surprising tales to emerge from the global recession — no more so, perhaps, than for Strauss-Kahn's fiercest rival, President Nicolas Sarkozy. Flush with victory in the 2007 presidential election (in which Strauss-Kahn failed to secure his Socialist Party's nomination) Sarkozy put forward the former Finance Minister for the job of managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington. French pundits widely assumed the President was sending his nemesis into political exile, at an organization whose credibility had long since waned. But within a year of Strauss-Kahn's arrival at the IMF, the world's stock markets imploded and its major economies went into free fall. Darting between crisis meetings with heads of state, Strauss-Kahn became a key player in tackling the most severe downturn since the 1930s by casting the IMF as a lender of last resort in a world stripped of credit. "Before the crisis there was this idea, Do we need an institution like the IMF?" says Strauss-Kahn, 61, relaxing on a couch in his Paris office. "It was like wondering about the need for firefighters when you don't have a fire," he says.(See Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the TIME 100.)
史特勞斯卡恩花了好幾年時間撲滅金融風暴下的野火。從2009年4月開始，世界經濟開始被金融風暴席捲，G20的大國領袖們湊足了11億美金的救援方案，那是IMF的三倍多。這個救援方案強大了IMF的影響力，而史特勞斯卡恩，也因此能夠把這一大筆錢借給在金融海嘯中受難國，這是這次G20的核心任務，而在此時，世界的銀行業也在這次金融海嘯中紛紛垮台。
Strauss-Kahn has spent the past year extinguishing flames that threaten the global economy. In April 2009, with the world reeling from the crisis, leaders of the G-20 pieced together a $1.1 trillion rescue package and tripled the IMF's funds in the process. That hugely increased the IMF's power, and Strauss-Kahn's, by allowing the organization to lend big money to troubled countries — its core mission — at a time when banks were collapsing across the world.
因此今年四月，他在雅典(希臘首都)、柏林(德國首都)、布魯塞爾(比利時首都)之間奔走，說服歐盟官方、以及掌控歐洲最大經濟體─德國，首相安潔拉‧梅克爾，保護缺錢的希臘免於脫離歐元區。史特勞斯卡恩在這次歐洲遭受最嚴重的金融風暴中，對這次歐盟以及IMF價值10億美金的的共同救援方案達成雙方協議。這項協議使得歐元貨幣得以保全，就像史特勞斯曾在1990年代時身為法國財政部長時所作的一樣。(註：史特勞斯卡恩在1990年代任職法國經濟部長時，在1998年增加了30萬個工作機會，成功的降低失業率、公債，同時也提昇GDP)
Then in April of this year, he shuttled between Athens, Berlin and Brussels, persuading E.U. officials and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who heads Europe's biggest economy, to bail out cash-strapped Greece and prevent its dire economy from destabilizing the euro. Strauss-Kahn's bargaining resulted in a joint E.U.-IMF rescue package worth about $1 trillion for Europe's hardest-hit economies. The deal secured the euro, which Strauss-Kahn had, as French Finance Minister, helped usher in during the late 1990s.(Read: "Greece Asks for a Bailout, but at What Cost?.")
然而，歐元的困境尚未結束，而且即使史特勞斯的角色可能也無法解決。史特勞斯的孩童時期在摩洛哥(非洲西北岸的回教王國)以及摩納哥(歐洲西南部國家)度過，他可以說幾近流利的英文及德文，他堅信大部分的問題需要經由多方不同的方式解決，這也包括歐洲。他也指出，歐盟，27個國家裡頭缺乏一個經濟合作模式統整所有的組織，強制執行所有財務規定。而這些也是所有歐洲國家領導人爭論的點。「歐元的整合過程還沒結束。」他說，「你不能有單一貨幣，但卻沒有一個整合的經濟政策。」
Europe's troubles are not over — and neither, probably, is Strauss-Kahn's role in solving them. Having spent part of his childhood in Morocco and Monaco, and speaking near flawless English and German, he says he firmly believes in multilateral approaches to tackling most problems, including Europe. The E.U., he says, lacks economic coordination across its 27 countries and needs an overall institution to impose fiscal rules — a contentious issue for many European leaders. "The completion of the euro process is still not done," he says. "You cannot have a single currency and almost no coordination in fiscal policy."
正當財務政策要花幾年的時間去架構時，經濟學家說還有其他更為急迫難題，在史特勞斯前急需處理的「美國與中國之間的戰爭」史特勞斯還未來得及表達他的意志力。「這才能真的考驗他如何與這些狡猾的狐狸對戰，過去他一直未與美國人、中國人交手過。」前IMF官員，現在華府彼得森國際經濟研究所就職的莫里斯高登史丹這樣說道。就像許多的經濟學家，高登史丹認為，要是低估人民幣威力及美國赤字，將會使世界經濟達到二次探底。(7/21北京當局宣布人民幣匯率將採自由匯率跳動機制)
While that coordination could take years to build, there are other — some say more urgent — issues facing Strauss-Kahn: namely China and the U.S. There, say economists, Strauss-Kahn has yet to prove his mettle. "The real test is whether he can battle the big cats, and he has not taken the battle to the Chinese and Americans," says Morris Goldstein, a former IMF official who is now senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. Like many economists, Goldstein believes the undervalued Chinese currency, the yuan, and the record U.S. budget deficit could both derail the global recovery. (On June 21, Beijing announced it would make the yuan somewhat more flexible.) (See pictures of the global financial crisis.)
就在7/26史特勞斯飛往多倫多參加G20會議時，他是否會與這兩位經濟大國交手還未定。但他正在G20主要會員國中積極尋找能協助IMF的對象。即使要在有如狡詐狐狸的政客前周旋，特別是法國，眾多人都在揣測，在法國總統大選開跑前，距沙維奇2012年總統任期還有2年多時間，，他還會擔任多久的IMF主席。分別在2月、3月進行的兩個不同民調都顯示，若現在進行投票，史特勞斯將能輕易打敗沙維奇成為下任法國總統。當沙維奇的人氣開始走下坡，有些人表示，史特勞斯在IMF的種種作為顯示，他能足當法國政府領導者的角色。
Whether Strauss-Kahn will take on those two economic giants when he flies to Toronto on June 26 for the G-20 summit is uncertain, in part because he is looking to boost the contributions to the IMF by the G-20's major members. And even if he does confront the big cats, some politicians — especially in France — are already wondering how long he will remain in Washington before attempting another run at the French presidency. With less than two years to go before Sarkozy's re-election campaign in 2012, two separate polls in February and March found that Strauss-Kahn would easily beat the President if France were to hold the vote today. While Sarkozy's popularity has been slumping lately, some respondents said they felt Strauss-Kahn's IMF role gives him authority as a leader.
這樣的民調結果很吸引任何一個政治家，特別是像史特勞斯卡恩這樣一個有野心的政治家。但他仍舊保持一貫的靦腆態度：「我每天都花很大精力當好這個主席職位。」他說，「我唯一想說的就是，讓我做好現在的崗位吧。」
Poll results like those can be tempting to a politician, especially one as ambitious as Strauss-Kahn. But he remains coy about his intentions. "I think most people understand this job takes my focus every day," he says. "The only thing I ask is, let me work in doing what I have to do."
About Dominique Strauss-Kahn
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