Most crises are known by their origin, from the Mexican peso crisis of 1994/5 to the Asian crisis of 1997/8. Given there is no doubt who caused our world’s latest troubles, it should adopt its logical name: the western financial crisis. This reluctance to call a spade a spade reflects an inability to reckon with changes the US and Europe have to make to avoid a repeat. This worries the rest of the world, and Asia in particular – even if western leaders are shockingly unaware of how they are viewed.
大多數危機都是以其發源地命名的,從1994-95年的墨西哥比索危機到1997-98年的亞洲金融危機都是如此。鑒于沒有人會對我們最近這次全球危機的始作俑者是誰提出質疑,我們就應當給它冠以一個合乎邏輯的名字:西方金融危機。西方領導人在這一點上不愿實事求是,這反映出,他們不可能認真思考美歐為避免危機重演而不得不進行的改革。這令全球其它地區、特別是亞洲感到擔憂——盡管西方領導人一點兒也沒有注意到別人是怎么看待他們的。