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In practice the fund rarely operates that way. It is reluctant to cut its members off, especially if they have powerful friends.
實際上，基金很少以這種方式運作。它不愿切斷與其成員的聯系，尤其是如果他們有強大的朋友。
This month, for example, it approved a $6bn loan to Pakistan, which has often flouted its prescriptions in the past.
例如，本月，IMF批準向巴基斯坦借貸60億美元，而巴基斯坦過去常常無視IMF開出的處方。
And even its biggest-ever loan, over $50bn approved for Argentina last year,
甚至是其有史以來最大的一筆貸款，去年批準給阿根廷的貸款超過500億美元，
was not enough to stop capital fleeing and the peso slumping in subsequent months.
也不足以阻止資本外逃，并且比索在接下來的幾個月里大幅貶值。
Rather than rely on the uncertain protection of the fund, many members have chosen to look after themselves,
許多成員國選擇照顧好自己，而不是依賴于IMF不確定的保護
accumulating over $11trn-worth of reserves between them.
他們彼此之間累積了價值超過110萬億美元的外匯儲備。
Its next boss will find its cupboard a little bare. America is opposed to increasing members' "quotas":
其下一任總裁將發現他的櫥柜有些空曠。美國反對增加成員國的“配額”：
their permanent financial commitments to the fund (which now come to $660bn).
他們對基金的永久財政承諾（現到6600億美元）。
Instead the IMF is trying to shore up alternative sources of financing, including $250bn it has borrowed for five years from 40 richer members.
相反，IMF試圖支持其他的融資來源，包括其向40個較富裕的成員國借出的2500億美元，期限為5年。
Limited firepower also threatens its legitimacy. A country's financial contribution to the IMF determines its share of votes in the institution.
有限的火力也威脅到了它的合法性。一個國家對IMF的財政貢獻決定了它在該組織中的投票權份額。
So without an overall increase in quotas,
所以如果整體配額不增加的話，
the fund will struggle to redistribute voting power from over-represented countries in Europe to faster-growing members elsewhere.
IMF就難以將投票權從代表超額的歐洲國家重新分配給其他增長更快的成員國。
To do so would require cutting some members' stakes in absolute terms, rather than merely freezing them as others expand.
要做到這一點，就需要削減一些成員國的絕對配額，而不是僅僅在其他成員國擴張時凍結它們。
China, according to the IMF's independent evaluation office,
根據IMF的獨立評估辦公室，
is now more under-represented than it was before the voting reform of 2008,
與2008年投票改革前相比，現在中國的代表人數更少，
because its share of global GDP has grown faster than its share of IMF votes.
因為它在全球GDP中所占的份額比在IMF投票中所占的份額增長得更快。
The fund's response to this impasse has been innovative.
IMF對此絕境的反應很新穎。
Just as it has sought alternative sources of financing, it has also sought alternative wells of legitimacy.
正如它尋求其他融資來源一樣，它也在尋找其他合法來源。
Ms Lagarde has energetically broadened its concerns to include inequality, gender and climate change.
拉加德女士積極擴大了IMF關注的范圍，包括不平等、性別和氣候變化。
Critics worry that the IMF is now spreading itself too thinly,
批評人士擔心IMF現在的擴張力度太單薄，
taking on new tasks when it has yet to master its customary responsibilities.
在尚未掌握日常職責的情況下承擔了新的任務。
It does not seem sure how to stop prices from rising in Argentina or those in Japan from threatening to fall.
它似乎不確定如何阻止阿根廷或日本的物價上漲，以免出現下跌的威脅。
Should it wage an additional crusade against rising temperatures worldwide?
它是否應該在世界范圍內發起一場反對氣溫上升的運動？
But its new preoccupations may also help it meet some of its core duties.
但它的新關注點也可能幫助它履行一些核心職責。
Its traditional advice to tighten belts, for example,
例如其勒緊褲腰帶的傳統建議
carries more weight in many parts of the world because it has shown that it is sensitive to broader social ills.
在世界許多地方更有分量，因為這表明它對更廣泛的社會弊病很敏感。
Good parents know that showing the cane is no substitute for showing that you care.
優秀的父母知道，揮舞藤條并不能代替你的關心。
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