Z:Good afternoon!
& C, |8 f6 Y1 k* y7 G 张:下午好!
5 a8 v' L) {+ M/ b- q7 K A:Good afternoon!
9 m2 D3 V! y! T4 Y" a V" V 全体:下午好!
& u! j }$ ~- ~' T Z:Today I'll introduce something about the history of banking in the west.
4 b4 J& `4 U9 S5 M4 Z' U$ N" B 张:今天我要讲点西方银行史。
5 _4 o1 q4 z& X: j& `# X Well, that's very interesting, the earliest banks started in Babylon almost 4 000 years ago.
' T5 e. E+ P6 E" `: F 这是很有意思的,最早的银行大约是四千年前在巴比伦建立的。# ]% x, G. i& q% G) T+ H( f7 R$ a) L
They were really temples which collected deposits and made loans.5 B# }6 j( o* l
实际上,那些银行只是一种收集存款并进行的放款的场所。& G7 L( p7 G T. |) a
S1:I see, but I had always thought that banking started during the Renaissance in Europe.
) q$ f5 z' q9 I- W$ T 学1:我明白了,但我原来一直以为银行业务始于欧洲文艺复兴时期。
2 _# i+ @1 j k8 l% r4 O8 Q N:No, it was much earlier than that. Then, there were banks in ancient Greece and Rome, too.
( l, ?5 G; \( G8 U: [! U) c 周:不,比那个时期早多了。古希腊和罗马都有许多银行,
; ~3 b8 O9 U1 g: @( W7 U( a/ E It wasn't until the breakup of the Roman Empire and the decline in trade and commercial transactions that banking lost its previous importance.) ]5 L9 f. q. y" Z; \ ^
直到罗马帝崩溃和商贸业务的衰落,银行业才失去了它以往的重要性。: @# k8 M- W' y; q& `6 f A# x
S2:What about the laws against usury during the Middle Ages?
* t! ?' |1 J5 X' K# S/ ~! R; U 学2:中世纪时,放禁止放高利贷是怎么回事?
$ J/ s0 }! [& c Didn't such laws make it illegal to charge interest on loans?
, @: T4 p& b$ s, d1 ] 这些法律没有规定贷款收取利息是非法的吗?$ @9 Z, R8 r+ a
Z:Yes, they did, but these laws were gradually changed during the 14th and 15th centuries and banking functions started appearing again in Italy and Belgium and later in France,! b& V6 N, S) X
周:是的,规定了,但是这些法律在14,15世纪时逐步地改变了,银行的作用又在意大利和比利时开始出现,后来又在法国,( B6 g6 Z" u/ [" F4 y6 ?4 p4 v
Germany and England.0 c1 s3 S/ }% |; j# z
德国和英国。
) D V6 }) ^+ t, x S3:So we can really say that banking restarted during the Renaissance.
+ r" [0 y0 D, l( w2 [ 学3:所以实际上我们可以说,银行业在文艺复兴时期又重新开始了。
9 k7 Q0 Q. K4 M' q Z:You are right. We can easily see the need for the development of the banks during that period.
: A# H5 M; N3 a 张:对的。显而易见,银行的发展正是出于那个时期的需要。当欧洲从中世纪封建制度的禁锢中挣脱出来时,
7 N4 r* {) _. j* X& Y) V Commercial and financial transactions had once again started to become more complex as Europe emerged from the feudal system of the Middle Ages.6 I7 w9 @$ j* f9 O0 b, N2 I
商业和金融交易再一次开始变得复杂起来了。
& G6 F6 o: P, U1 Y; V S4:Could you tell us more in detail?8 Q. n1 `, d6 z. k! |9 A
学4:您能说得再具体些吗?) Y8 ~2 M7 f/ e$ [$ ~: L0 ]
Z:Yeah. For one thing, many banks started that way, especially in France and England,
( i: H; B6 o l( J! t# m 周:是的。一方面很多银行就是这样兴起的,特别是在法国和英国。# p: Q8 C* t: ]
but they gradually expanded their activities to handling deposits and loans,- j( K u, {& z8 L
可是他们逐渐地扩展他们的经营活动,发展到从事储蓄,贷款,
9 [" a, b6 a8 n; \" S( E issuing and trading bills of exchange and even issuing their own notes;" t* U3 ?0 {; s. C+ F/ f6 R6 F
发行和买卖汇票,甚至发行他们自己的货币。
: M; W. N# v9 G! @6 s for another thing, they started the fractional reserve system which is the central feature of modern banks.5 H F3 x5 |# b2 B
另一方面他们开始建立起部分储备制度,而这一点正是现代银行的主要特征。 n, M4 i3 K, i7 [/ T$ p
S5:When did the idea of central banks get started?
- v1 M5 ~4 N8 _6 S 学5:建立中央银行的想法是什么时候开始的?8 u% G1 e4 g3 P, `' L( B
Z:Well, the first bank that was partially owned and controlled by a state government was established in Venice in 1587.
' m& V' ~4 k) a% o- D, Q 张:哦,第一个由国家政府部分拥有和控制的银行是1587年在威尼斯建立起来的。
`, N! H5 H3 W( M Then, the bank of England appeared. We could call them semi-public.7 U7 X" X5 z! I- @, S7 Z2 M
后来英格兰银行出现。我们称这种银行为半公立银行。
" Q$ n* ^2 u) u4 u w' Z As a matter of fact, the central banks with specific regulatory functions were created in the middle of 19th century. OK, we call it a day., r- M9 k4 Q: e f- P
事实上在19世纪中叶具有明确常规作用的中央银行已建立起来。好吧!下课。
7 l$ Z+ s9 I# Y6 p! F% e2 @2 N K1 b A:Good-bye!
: a+ ^# y# u$ Q* x, _ 全:再见 |