【经济学人】迅速赚大钱丨2017.02.11丨总第809期

DISPOSING of government assets is a risky business. Despite his claim to have “saved the world” in 2008 by averting the collapse of the British banking industry, many voters instead remember Gordon Brown as the dupe who flogged Britain’s gold when prices were at a historical low. Now Jo Johnson, the universities minister, must hope for better luck. On February 6th he set out a plan to sell a slice of the student debt held by the government. It is a pioneering move: Britain is the first country to hawk income-contingent student loans to private investors.

处理政府资产是一笔有风险的买卖。即使戈登-布朗声称在2008年通过避免英国银行业的崩溃来拯救世界，许多选民反而把他看成当金价于历史最低点时把英国黄金抛售的骗子。如今，教育部长乔-约翰逊一定期望好运。在2月6日，他开始计划卖掉一部份政府持有的学生贷款。这是一次创新之举：英国成为第一个将按收入比例还款型的学生贷款兜售给私人投资者的国家。

• Hawk：vt.     通过叫卖主动兜售（货物）; 清除嗓子中的（痰）;vi.   叫卖; 清嗓，咳痰; 用训练好的鹰狩猎; 象鹰一样俯冲攻击
  

The proposed sale has been a decade in the making. In 2008 the Labour government passed the Sale of Student Loans Act, which laid the legal groundwork . The deal’s complexity is the main reason for the delay. It would involve around £4bn ($5bn) of loans made to nearly half a million students, who began making repayments between 2002 and 2006. There is little certainty about the repayment schedule: graduates pay money back only when they cross an earnings threshold, currently £17,495. They pay 9% of their earnings above the level; interest is the lower of inflation or the base rate plus one percentage point. All this makes it hard to work out what the loans are worth.

这次兜售提议在过去十年间不断完善。在2008年，工党政府递交了学生贷款出手的法案，这奠定了合法的基础。这个提案的复杂程度是其被推迟的主要原因，因为这将会涉及近乎的40亿英镑（约50亿美元）贷款——由50名万学生产生并且在2002年到2006年之间就已经开始进行还贷工作。有一点不确定的就是还款计划：大学毕业生只有当他们的收入超过17,495英镑的门槛时才需要还款。他们一般支付超过收入门槛以上的9%的额度，并且利率为通货膨胀率或基本利率的较低值再加上1%。这一切让人们很难算出这些贷款的价值。

• lay the groundwork：打基础; 奠定基础