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This is not an academic point, but a matter for public interest.
這不是一個學術觀點，而是一個公共利益問題。
To pocket Boots, Pessina and KKR had to outbid another private-equity baron, Guy Hands.
為了收購博姿，佩西納和科克羅公司不得不以高于另一位私募股權巨頭蓋伊·漢茲的出價。
His outfit, Terra Firma, went on to buy Four Seasons Health Care, the biggest care home operator in the UK.
他的集團泰豐資本隨后收購了英國最大的護理院運營商四季保健。
It shares certain similarities with Boots: both private-sector providers of public services;
它與博姿有某些相似之處：都是提供公共服務的私營部門；
both weighed down by the expense of running old-fashioned bricks and mortar, both controlled by tax exiles (Hands uses Guernsey as his base).
兩家公司都被經營老式實體店的費用所拖累，都受到逃稅者的控制（漢茲以根西島為基地）。
Four Seasons, too, was landed with outsize debt – and over the last few months, the group has gone into meltdown:
四季保健也背負了巨額債務——在過去幾個月里，該集團陷入了崩潰：
struggling to pay the interest on its loans, castigated by government inspectors for providing “inadequate” care in 125 of its homes, forced to sell some properties and overhaul others.
由于難以支付貸款利息，政府檢查人員嚴厲指責其對125套住房提供“不充分”的護理，迫使其出售部分房產并對其他房產進行翻修。
Four Seasons is now a prime example of what happens when private equity – big borrowing, hard charging – goes wrong,
如今，當私人股本——大筆借款、硬收費——出問題時，四季保健就是一個典型例子。
with results that may be paid for by its residents and families and even taxpayers over the coming months and years.
其結果是，欠款可能會在未來幾個月或幾年里由其居民和家庭甚至納稅人來償付。
This is not likely to happen to Boots.
這種情況不太可能發生在博姿身上。
But Haslam sees the same conflict between outsize profit-seeking and public interest, claiming:
但哈斯拉姆也看到了過度追求利潤與公眾利益之間的矛盾，他聲稱：
“Boots is now about immuring tax, squeezing labour costs and taking out the dividends rather than reinvesting in the business.”
“博姿現在的目標是降低稅收、壓縮勞動力成本和提取股息，而不是對業務進行再投資。”
Whether as residents or patients, relatives or members of the public, we need our care homes and pharmacies to be reliably dull.
無論是住院醫生還是病人，無論是親戚還是公眾，我們都需要養老院和藥房絕對不景氣。
When financiers get excited over such sectors, the rest of us should worry.
當金融家對這些行業感到興奮時，我們其他人應該感到擔憂。
Yet Pessina came to Boots promising double-digit growth.
然而，佩西納來到博姿時承諾將實現兩位數的增長。
“There’s so much to do – the products are fantastic, the spirit of the people is fantastic,” he fizzed in a 2008 interview.
“要做的事情太多了——產品棒極了，人們的精神棒極了，”他在2008年的一次采訪中說。
“The important thing now is to motivate them and to convince them they can succeed.”
“現在最重要的是激勵他們，讓他們相信他們可以成功。”
