原文標(biāo)題：
Great Danes
To fix broken mortgage markets, look to Denmark
Rising interest rates have exposed the problems with many home loans
偉大的丹麥人
要修復(fù)崩潰的抵押貸款市場(chǎng)，請(qǐng)向丹麥看齊
利率上升暴露了許多住房貸款的問題

[Paragraph 1]
?IT MATTERS WHEN mortgages malfunction.
抵押貸款問題事關(guān)重大。

Home loans underpin tens of trillions of dollars of financial assets, not to mention some of life’s most important transactions.
抵押貸款是支撐數(shù)萬(wàn)億美元金融資產(chǎn)的基石，更不用說這是許多人一生中最重要的交易。

And though the rich world is mercifully free of the tearaway lending that caused the global financial crisis of 2007-09, mortgage markets remain riddled with problems.
雖然發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家幸運(yùn)地避免了導(dǎo)致2007-2009年全球金融危機(jī)中的恣意放貸行為，但抵押貸款市場(chǎng)仍然充滿了問題。

The sharp rise in interest rates over the past year and a half has exposed them.
在過去的一年半里，利率的急劇上升暴露了抵押貸款市場(chǎng)的問題。

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In America buyers have long enjoyed 30-year fixed-rate prepayable mortgages courtesy of the federal government.

在美國(guó)，購(gòu)房者長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)一直享受聯(lián)邦政府提供的30年期固定利率且可提前還款的抵押貸款。

It implicitly guarantees mortgage-backed securities that are sold to investors through agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

聯(lián)邦政府為房利美和房地美等機(jī)構(gòu)出售給投資者的抵押貸款證券提供隱性擔(dān)保。

The average 30-year rate stands at over 7.2%, the highest since 2001.

30年期平均利率超過7.2%，為2001年以來(lái)的最高水平。

It is now clear that anyone who borrowed in, say, early 2021, when the rate was 2.7%, secured the deal of a lifetime—especially as house prices have gone on to rise by nearly a third.
現(xiàn)在可以明確地說，任何在2021年初以2.7%的利率貸款的人，都獲得了終生難忘的最佳交易機(jī)會(huì)--尤其是房?jī)r(jià)上漲了近三分之一的情況下。

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The trouble is that the system has gummed up the housing market.

問題在于這個(gè)系統(tǒng)阻礙了住房市場(chǎng)的交易。

Moving home means borrowing afresh at much higher rates. So homeowners who might usually up sticks are instead staying put.

換房意味著以更高的利率重新貸款。因此，通?？赡軙?huì)搬家的業(yè)主們反而選擇繼續(xù)住在原地。

In an otherwise hot economy, sales of existing homes are almost as rare as they were during pandemic lockdowns in 2020.

盡管目前整體經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況良好，但二手房成交量幾乎與2020年疫情封鎖時(shí)期一樣少得可憐。

Buyers have been left competing for the much smaller stock of new homes, sales of which are nearly a third higher than a year ago.

購(gòu)房者只能競(jìng)相爭(zhēng)購(gòu)新房的存量，新房成交量比一年前增長(zhǎng)近1/3。

And house prices, having dipped briefly after rates first rose, are once again reaching all-time highs.
房?jī)r(jià)在利率首次上升后短暫下跌，如今又再次創(chuàng)下歷史新高。

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If America offers a case study in how government intervention can distort the market, other systems show how severely higher rates threaten some households.

如果說美國(guó)制度表明政府干預(yù)扭曲了市場(chǎng)，那么其他國(guó)家的制度則表明利率上升會(huì)對(duì)一些家庭造成嚴(yán)重威脅。

In Britain borrowers typically fix their interest rate for only a few years. As a result the screw is steadily turning on borrowers as they refinance cheap loans.

在英國(guó)，貸款人的利率通常只固定幾年。因此，當(dāng)他們重新借廉價(jià)貸款時(shí)，壓力也逐漸加大。

By the end of 2026, 2m of them will have faced a rise in annual mortgage payments of more than ￡3,600 ($4,570)—over 10% of median household income.

到2026年底，有200萬(wàn)人將面臨每年多繳3600英鎊（4570美元）的房貸款，占據(jù)了中位數(shù)家庭收入的10%以上。

The situation is similar in Sweden, where almost 90% of loans have a fixed-rate period of two years or less. In New Zealand interest costs alone could soon exceed a fifth of borrowing households’ disposable income.
瑞典的情況也類似，近90%的貸款利率固定期為2年或更短。在新西蘭，僅利息成本很快就會(huì)超過借款家庭可支配收入的1/5。

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Nobody forced homeowners to borrow, and they tend to be well-off.

沒有人強(qiáng)迫房主們貸款，而且他們通常相對(duì)富裕。

But it is not ideal that, in countries where homeownership is prized, households take enormous, perhaps unwitting, bets on interest rates almost as a rite of passage.

但在那些崇尚擁有房產(chǎn)的國(guó)家，家庭買房幾乎成為了一種儀式感，這很不明智，因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)谶M(jìn)行一場(chǎng)對(duì)利率毫不知情的豪賭。

Many would take out interest-rate fixes if they could—as many Americans do.
如果可以的話，很多人都會(huì)選擇選擇固定利率 —— 就像很多美國(guó)人一樣。

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Fortunately there is a proven middle ground between the distorted American system and a floating-rate free-for-all.

幸運(yùn)的是，在扭曲的美國(guó)制度和浮動(dòng)利率的自由市場(chǎng)之間，有一個(gè)行之有效的折中方案。

In Denmark homebuyers can borrow at 30-year fixed rates, and mortgages are prepayable. About half of borrowers fix for three decades.

在丹麥，購(gòu)房者可以選擇30年期固定利率貸款，而且可以提前還清。大約有一半的借款人選擇了30年期的固定利率。

Yet there is no problem of “l(fā)ocked in” homeowners because a seller can end a mortgage by buying it back at its market value, which falls when rates rise, thereby cashing out the value of their interest-rate fix.

然而，這不存在“鎖定”房主的問題，因?yàn)橘u家可以通過按市值回購(gòu)來(lái)終止抵押貸款，當(dāng)利率上升時(shí)，市場(chǎng)價(jià)值會(huì)下降，從而可以兌現(xiàn)其固定利率的價(jià)值。

Alternatively they can transfer their mortgage to the home’s new owners.

或者，他們可以將抵押貸款轉(zhuǎn)移給房屋的新主人。

The result is greater dynamism: in the first quarter of 2023 housing transactions were down by only 6% on a year earlier, compared with 22% for existing homes in America.
這樣做的結(jié)果是帶來(lái)了更大的市場(chǎng)活力：2023年第一季度的住房交易僅比去年同期下降了6%，而美國(guó)二手房交易量則下降了 22%。

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The government provides no guarantees.

政府不提供任何保證。

The role that Fannie and Freddie play in America is fulfilled in Denmark by highly capitalised mortgage banks.

房利美和房地美在美國(guó)扮演的角色，在丹麥由資本雄厚的抵押貸款銀行承擔(dān)。

Their thick safety buffers meant that, unlike Fannie and Freddie, they did not require a full-scale government rescue in 2007-09.

與房利美和房地美不同的是，丹麥的抵押貸款銀行具有很強(qiáng)的安全緩沖能力，這意味著它們?cè)?2007-2009 年不需要政府的全面救助。

And unlike America’s agencies, they originate the loans whose payments to investors they guarantee, which encourages prudent lending.
與美國(guó)的機(jī)構(gòu)不同的是，他們發(fā)放貸款并對(duì)投資者的款項(xiàng)進(jìn)行擔(dān)保，這鼓勵(lì)了謹(jǐn)慎貸款（而不是恣意貸款）。

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There are catches: mortgage banks are protected from losses by creditor-friendly rules, including swift foreclosure procedures and barriers to declaring bankruptcy.

然而，也有一些條件：抵押銀行受債權(quán)人友好規(guī)則保護(hù)以免受損失，包括快速的強(qiáng)制執(zhí)行程序和宣布破產(chǎn)的障礙。

But the flexibility and protection the Danish system offers is enviable when many mortgage markets are either distorting economies or causing hardship. Other countries would do well to try it.
但當(dāng)許多國(guó)家的抵押貸款市場(chǎng)影響經(jīng)濟(jì)或造成困難時(shí)，丹麥體系提供的靈活性和保護(hù)令人羨慕。其他國(guó)家也不妨試一下這種方式。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語(yǔ)詞匯量672左右）
原文出自：2023年9月2日《The Economist》Leaders版塊

精讀筆記來(lái)源于：自由英語(yǔ)之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene

本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來(lái)自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
2007-2009全球金融危機(jī)，也被稱為次貸危機(jī)，是自1929年的經(jīng)濟(jì)大蕭條以來(lái)最嚴(yán)重的金融危機(jī)之一。這場(chǎng)危機(jī)起源于美國(guó)房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)，主要由次貸違約引發(fā)的金融風(fēng)險(xiǎn)蔓延到全球金融市場(chǎng)所導(dǎo)致。這場(chǎng)危機(jī)的起因可以追溯到2007年美國(guó)次貸市場(chǎng)的泡沫破裂。在過去的幾年中，銀行和金融機(jī)構(gòu)借貸給信用風(fēng)險(xiǎn)較高的借款人，尤其是購(gòu)房者，而這些債務(wù)往往以房屋抵押為擔(dān)保。然而，由于房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)的價(jià)格開始下跌，借款人無(wú)法償還貸款，導(dǎo)致大量次貸違約。這場(chǎng)危機(jī)迅速蔓延到全球，許多國(guó)家和地區(qū)的金融機(jī)構(gòu)也受到了重創(chuàng)。股票市場(chǎng)崩盤，房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)衰退，全球貿(mào)易和投資活動(dòng)受到抑制，許多企業(yè)面臨倒閉和裁員的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。全球經(jīng)濟(jì)停滯不前，多個(gè)國(guó)家陷入經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退。

房利美（Fannie Mae）和房地美（Freddie Mac），是美國(guó)兩個(gè)最大的住房抵押貸款公司。這兩家機(jī)構(gòu)成立的目的是為了提供市場(chǎng)流動(dòng)性，通過購(gòu)買和保證抵押貸款，以促進(jìn)住房市場(chǎng)和房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)的發(fā)展。然而，隨著時(shí)間的推移，這兩家機(jī)構(gòu)逐漸發(fā)展壯大，并開始與私人金融機(jī)構(gòu)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。作為政府支持的實(shí)體，房利美和房地美享有許多特權(quán)和優(yōu)勢(shì)。最顯著的是，它們享有美國(guó)政府的擔(dān)保，這使得它們能夠以相對(duì)較低的成本融資，從而提供更便宜的住房貸款。此外，它們也能夠通過將抵押貸款打包成證券并出售給投資者來(lái)為自己籌集資金，從而進(jìn)一步增加了其流動(dòng)性。然而，房利美和房地美也面臨著一些風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和挑戰(zhàn)。特別是在2007年的全球金融危機(jī)中，它們因持有大量次貸資產(chǎn)而遭受重創(chuàng)，導(dǎo)致它們資本不足，需要政府救助。隨后，美國(guó)政府將這兩家機(jī)構(gòu)接管，并提供救助資金以防止它們破產(chǎn)。

existing homes 指的是已經(jīng)建成、已經(jīng)有人居住的房屋。這些房屋可能是二手房或者二手房市場(chǎng)上的房屋，可以直接購(gòu)買或者租賃。這些房屋通常已經(jīng)有了完善的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施和生活用品，并且可能已經(jīng)進(jìn)行過一些改造或裝修。

new homes 指的是新建的房屋，通常是開發(fā)商新建的房屋項(xiàng)目，尚未有人居住。這些房屋可以是新的建筑物或者未經(jīng)使用的建筑單元，可以直接購(gòu)買或者租賃。新房可能提供更多現(xiàn)代化的設(shè)施和技術(shù)，因?yàn)樗鼈兺ǔ７袭?dāng)今的建筑標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和設(shè)計(jì)趨勢(shì)。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3個(gè)）
Home loans underpin tens of trillions of dollars of financial assets, not to mention some of life’s most important transactions.
抵押貸款是支撐數(shù)萬(wàn)億美元金融資產(chǎn)的基石，更不用說這是許多人一生中最重要的交易。

Moving home means borrowing afresh at much higher rates. So homeowners who might usually up sticks are instead staying put.
換房意味著以更高的利率重新貸款。因此，通常可能會(huì)搬家的業(yè)主們反而選擇繼續(xù)住在原地。

And unlike America’s agencies, they originate the loans whose payments to investors they guarantee, which encourages prudent lending.
與美國(guó)的機(jī)構(gòu)不同的是，他們發(fā)放貸款并對(duì)投資者的款項(xiàng)進(jìn)行擔(dān)保，這鼓勵(lì)了謹(jǐn)慎貸款（而不是恣意貸款）。