Once upon a time they used to be called “emerging markets”. But that was before Goldman Sachs packaged four of the largest – Brazil, Russia, India and China – in a presentation box and labelled it with the snappy acronym “Bric”.
　　从前，它们常常被称作“新兴市场”。但后来，高盛将其中最大的四个——巴西、俄罗斯、印度和中国——放到了同一个展示盒里，并贴上“金砖”这个短小精悍的首字母缩写。

　　As a shorthand the category has taken off further than almost anyone might have guessed. The four economies collectively had a great decade and even a pretty good financial crisis, so much so that the Bric governments have started having their own summits.
　　以缩略语代表的这四个经济体的发展几乎比所有人猜想的都要好。它们共同走过了辉煌的十年，甚至相当安然地度过了金融危机，以至于四国政府已经开始举行自己的峰会。

　　Rapid growth in developing countries, as long as the environmental and social stresses can be managed, can be good for all. It is good for their citizens, whose living standards are transformed, and good for the rich nations, who gain cheap imports and bigger export markets. It should also be good for the image of the market economy to show that the ladder to prosperity has not, contrary to the views of some, been kicked away.
　　只要能够管理环境和社会压力，发展中国家的快速发展就能对所有人都有利。它有利于本国国民，让他们的生活水平发生转变；也有利于富裕国家，让它们赢得廉价进口和更大的出口市场。它还有利于市场经济的形象——向世人证明，与一些人的观点相反，通往繁荣的阶梯并没有被抽掉。

　　But with power needs to come responsibility, and the Bric countries' record so far is one more of posturing than constructive dialogue. Little has emanated from the Bric summits except the familiar demand for emerging markets to be given more voting power at the International Monetary Fund – an eminently justifiable call, but one needing no new configuration of nations to argue for it.
　　但有了实力就要承担责任。迄今为止，金砖四国的过往记录更多地是在摆姿态，而不是开展建设性的对话。金砖四国峰会几乎没有提出什么动议，除了人们熟知的在国际货币基金组织给予新兴市场更多投票权的要求——这是一项非常合理的要求，但不需要以新的国家形态去争取。

　　The first thing to do is accept that the entire notion of a single emerging markets view, or even a Brics view, is nonsense. Interests often clash. For example, China's continued insistence on holding down its currency inflicts significant damage on Brazil's manufacturers and dissuades it from diversifying away from commodities.
　　首先，不要听信有关新兴市场或者金砖四国拥有一种统一观点的说法。各国的利益常常会发生冲突。例如，中国继续坚持压低人民币汇率，给巴西制造商造成严重伤害，并阻止了巴西从大宗商品转向多样化发展。

　　Pretending that a single “developing country view” holds has retarded progress in other fields such as trade and climate negotiations. At the World Trade Organisation, the G20 developing nations grouping, containing both agro- exporters like Brazil and defensive smallholder farming nations like India, has often sunk to a lowest common denominator, calling on rich nations to make the running.
　　假定“发展中国家观点一致”的说法言之成理已经妨碍了贸易和气候谈判等其它领域的进展。由发展中国家组成的20国集团，既包括巴西这样的农业出口国，也包括印度这样的防御性小农国家。在世贸组织，20国集团经常降低至最低共同标准——呼吁富国带头行动。

　　Similarly, during the Copenhagen climate talks, China was widely accused of scuppering a compromise that other developing countries might have welcomed.
　　同样，在哥本哈根气候谈判期间，人们广泛指责中国破坏了可能受到其它发展中国家欢迎的妥协。

　　Good luck to the Brics, and they deserve their proper say. But they should recognise that, as they grow richer and more powerful, huddling inside the banner of developing country solidarity will help neither them nor the world economy in which they look set to play such a central role.
　　祝金砖四国好运。它们应当有自己的发言权，但也应该认识到，随着它们日益富裕和强大，聚集在发展中国家团结的旗帜下，将既不利于它们自己，也不利于它们看来必将在其中扮演关键角色的全球经济。