France’s government and business
法國政府和商業(yè)
Angry pigeons
憤怒的鴿子
An online revolt forces the government into an embarrassing tax climbdown
在線的抗議活動(dòng)迫使政府陷入稅收讓步的窘境
Usually it takes millions of demonstrators on the streets to force a French government to back down. This time it took just 65,000 supporters of a social media campaign. Calling themselves les pigeons, or “suckers”, French entrepreneurs mounted an online revolt last week against the government’s plan to double capital-gains tax to some 60%. In an embarrassing climbdown just days later, Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister, announced he would think again.
在通常情況下,幾百萬的群眾在大街上進(jìn)行抗議游行才會(huì)迫使政府為此做出讓步。但是這次只有65000名在社交網(wǎng)站上自稱“鴿子”,意為“傻瓜”支持者就完成了此項(xiàng)壯舉。那是由法國企業(yè)家所發(fā)起的一次網(wǎng)上抗議活動(dòng),用來反抗上周對(duì)資本利得稅翻倍至升至60%的政府法案。幾天后政府窘迫的做出了一個(gè)讓步,社會(huì)黨人——財(cái)政部長 Pierre Moscovici,宣布,他將會(huì)就此作出討論。

These indignés of the start-up generation, protesting not at capitalism but at the Socialist government’s plans to limit their ability to make lots of money, were inspired by a newspaper article by Jean-David Chamboredon, a venture capitalist, denouncing new rules in the 2013 budget. In line with a campaign promise by Francois Hollande, the Socialist president, to tax “work and capital” equally, the budget taxes all financial income—whether from interest, dividends or capital gains—at top marginal rates for higher-band earners.
對(duì)于憤怒的創(chuàng)業(yè)一代來說,這一系列的抗議行為反抗的并不是資本主義本身,而是對(duì)社會(huì)黨政府的計(jì)劃經(jīng)濟(jì)限制了他們賺取更多的財(cái)富感到不滿。而這一切都是受到了一位風(fēng)險(xiǎn)資本家——Jean-David Chamboredon刊登在報(bào)紙上的一篇文章鼓動(dòng),他公開強(qiáng)烈譴責(zé)了2013年的政府預(yù)算報(bào)告中的新規(guī)定。社會(huì)黨Francois Hollande競選時(shí)承諾對(duì)勞資雙方平等征稅,與此承諾相符的是,預(yù)算對(duì)利息、股息或資本利得等各項(xiàng)金融所得進(jìn)行征稅,而征稅范圍越廣泛,邊際稅率越高。
The article touched a raw nerve. A Facebook page was created, as was the Twitter hashtag #geonpi, French slang for pigeon, and the revolt went viral. “I’ve never seen people so depressed. They’ve had enough, they are leaving,” warned Marc Simoncini, an internet entrepreneur. The “pigeons” begged the government to understand that when an entrepreneur invests his money and hard work in a start-up and then sells it, that investment is not quite the same as the “sleeping capital” in shares that the government wants to tax so heavily.
這篇文章觸發(fā)了人們的脆弱神經(jīng)。人們甚至在Facebook和Twitter上建立了相關(guān)頁面(在后者的標(biāo)簽為“#geonpi”,意為法語俚語中的鴿子),反對(duì)之聲鋪天蓋地。跨國企業(yè)家Marc Simoncini說警告說:“我從未見過人們?nèi)绱司趩剩麄兯坪跏軌蛄耍郎?zhǔn)備離開”。那群“鴿子們”希望政府們能理解企業(yè)家們篳路藍(lán)縷后出售家業(yè)。而這些投資并不像那些“沉睡資本”,但是政府卻想對(duì)這一部分征稅。
Mr Moscovici now says that he will lighten the burden on capital gains for entrepreneurs, though he has ruled out altering his plans to tax capital and work equally. “What we want to tax isn’t risk, but rent,” he insisted. The plan, still under debate, is to revert to the previous tax rate, but only if an entrepreneur holds on to his business for, say, five years.
但是Moscovici稱他將資本利得上的的負(fù)擔(dān),盡管他要拒絕修改稅收征管計(jì)劃,他堅(jiān)稱:“我們的征稅對(duì)象并非風(fēng)險(xiǎn),而是租金”。而現(xiàn)在,這項(xiàng)備受爭議的計(jì)劃將要回到過去的稅率水平,但其前提是企業(yè)家們持續(xù)經(jīng)營達(dá)到約五年時(shí)間。
Had the fiscal revolt been led by established employers’ groups, it might have been dismissed as special pleading. The government was not much impressed by bosses who argued that the new 75% top income-tax rate was a disaster. But the pigeon movement captured the imagination thanks to its spontaneity, its grass-roots nature and its youth. The biggest single age-group backing the movement on Facebook was 25- to 34-year-olds.
而這次抗議活動(dòng)如果是由那些商業(yè)巨頭們領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的,可能會(huì)被當(dāng)做一場特殊的請(qǐng)?jiān)付获g回。而目前,當(dāng)企業(yè)家們認(rèn)為最高達(dá)75%的所得稅率對(duì)于他們來說是場災(zāi)難的時(shí)候,政府卻對(duì)此不以為然。但是這場“鴿子運(yùn)動(dòng)”卻因其自發(fā)性,草根性以及年輕化引起了政府的注意。多為25~34歲的個(gè)人在Facebook支持此項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)。
The French, who gave the English language the word “entrepreneur”, are deeply ambivalent about business. In popularity polls, they seldom cite any businessmen. School textbooks rarely portray companies favourably. The angry pigeons may help win entrepreneurs more sympathy in France. If not, if will not be just the pigeons who are stuffed.
法國,這個(gè)在英語中賦予了“企業(yè)家”一詞的國家,卻對(duì)商業(yè)有如此復(fù)雜的情緒。在一項(xiàng)民意調(diào)查中,他們很少用“商人”去稱呼別人。而學(xué)校的教科書上幾乎沒有對(duì)公司有任何的贊美之詞。“憤怒的鴿子”的運(yùn)動(dòng)可能會(huì)使得企業(yè)家在法國獲得更多的同情。不然的話,被剝削的可就不僅僅只是這些‘鴿子’了。 翻譯:周穎