The taped conversations between three executives of Anglo Irish Bank leaked to the Irish Independent newspaper offer a depressing insight into the thinking of Ireland’s bankers during the crash.

盎格鲁-爱尔兰银行(Anglo Irish Bank)三名高管之间的对话录音被泄露给了《爱尔兰独立报》(Irish Independent)，于是世人得以了解爱尔兰银行家在金融危机期间的所思所想，他们的言行令人忧心沮丧。

In one exchange, John Bowe, head of capital markets, and Peter Fitzgerald, director of retail banking, candidly admit asking for €7bn from the government despite knowing the needs of their troubled bank were larger. In a later call, Mr Bowe and David Drumm, chief executive, mocked foreign governments and the Irish regulator. These feared that Anglo Irish was abusing a blanket guarantee the government had issued in an attempt to restore confidence in its banks before asking the eurozone for a €67.5bn rescue.

在一段对话中，资本市场主管约翰•鲍(John Bowe)与零售银行主管彼得•菲茨杰拉德(Peter Fitzgerald)坦然承认向政府提出了70亿欧元的求助，尽管他们知道这家陷入困境的银行需要更大规模的救助。在后来的一通电话中，鲍与首席执行官戴维•德拉姆(David Drumm)嘲笑外国政府和爱尔兰监管机构。人们担心，盎格鲁-爱尔兰银行在滥用政府许下的全面担保，而政府此举是为了在请求欧元区提供675亿欧元救助款之前，恢复人们对爱尔兰银行业的信心。

The executives deny they have misled the regulators. It is for the courts to decide whether their behaviour was a criminal offence. Yet, had the government been told the truth, it could have decided to let the bank fail instead of pouring in taxpayers’ money.

这几名高管否认他们曾误导监管方。他们的行为是否构成犯罪要交给法院定夺。然而，如果当初政府了解了真相，本来可以放任这家银行破产，而不会倾纳税人之囊施与援手。

That bankers appear to have abused the guarantee in order to chase deposits from Germany and the UK is diplomatic dynamite for Irish politicians. It will be harder for them to convince eurozone partners to lift some of the debt still burdening Irish taxpayers.

银行家似乎为了吸引德国与英国的存款而滥用了担保，这成了投向爱尔兰政府官员的外交炸药。他们将更难说服欧元区伙伴解除依然压在爱尔兰人肩头的部分债务。

The executives of Ireland’s failed banks were not the only ones who lived in a bubble of hubris and easy money. Across the Irish Sea, several bankers in the City also showed little or no regard for the public purse which eventually came to rescue them. But the British authorities have produced a string of reports, investigating what went wrong during the crisis. In Ireland there has been no full public inquiry to date.

生活在狂妄自大与低息贷款的泡沫之中的，不仅限于爱尔兰破产银行的高管。跨过爱尔兰海，伦敦金融城的一些银行家也对最终救助他们的公众资金吝于感激，甚至毫无感恩之心。但英国当局拿出了一连串报告，调查危机期间问题出在哪里。而爱尔兰迄今尚未展开全方位公开调查。

Many executives and regulators who brought Ireland to its knees enjoy gold-plated pensions. Last year, Allied Irish Banks, a nationalised bank, wrote to more than 15 of its former directors asking them to forgo part of their retirement pots. Their response was decidedly underwhelming.

把爱尔兰压垮的很多银行高管与监管人员享有不菲的养老金。去年，国有银行爱尔兰联合银行(Allied Irish Banks)向15名以上前高管致函，要求他们放弃部分退休金。这些人毅然决然的回绝令人失望。

Conversely, the Irish people have stoically accepted the barrage of tax rises and spending cuts which came as a condition for the rescue. There is no evidence that the government tried to abuse the bank guarantee. By taking on the liabilities of its banking system in full, Irish taxpayers have rescued foreign creditors, who should have taken a hit for the crash.

相反，爱尔兰人民一直坚忍地接受着接二连三的增税减支，这是欧元区提供救助的条件。尚无迹象显示爱尔兰政府试图滥用银行担保。爱尔兰纳税人全面承担起爱尔兰银行体系的债务，因此拯救了外国债权人，而这些债权人原本应为危机付出代价。

When eurozone leaders decide about Ireland’s bank debt, they should not use the behaviour of a few reckless bankers as an excuse to punish an entire country.

当欧元区领导人就爱尔兰银行债务做出决定时，他们不应该以少数几名鲁莽银行家的行为做借口，惩罚整个爱尔兰。