大衆醜聞比安然醜聞更惡劣
It has only been a week since the stunning revelation that the Volkswagen group equipped millions of diesel-powered cars with software designed to fool anybody testing their emissions, and just days since the company’s chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, resigned.
大衆汽車(Volkswagen)在數百萬輛柴油動力車上安裝軟件、以騙過車輛尾氣排放檢測系統的事情曝光（並震驚世界）才一週，而該公司首席執行官文德恩(Martin Winterkorn)辭職還不到一週。
And yet there are reasons to believe that the fallout from this scandal will be as big as Enron, or even bigger. Most corporate scandals stem from negligence or the failure to come clean about corporate wrongdoing. Far fewer involve deliberate fraud and criminal intent.
然而，我們已經有理由相信，這樁醜聞的後果將和安然(Enron)醜聞相同，或更大。大多數企業醜聞源於失職或者未能坦白企業的不當行爲。涉及故意欺詐或者犯罪意圖的醜聞要少得多。
Enron’s accounting manipulation is often held up as a prime example of the latter and cases featuring the US energy company’s massive financial fraud are therefore taught in business schools around the world.
安然的會計作假案常被作爲後一種情況的主要案例，因此，全世界各地的商學院都在講授有關這家美國能源企業大規模財務欺詐的案例。
Here are seven reasons why the Volkswagen scandal is worse and could have far greater consequences.
以下是大衆醜聞爲何比安然醜聞更爲惡劣、影響可能遠大於後者的七個原因。
First, whereas Enron’s fraud wiped out the life savings of thousands, Volkswagen’s has endangered the health of millions. The high levels of nitrogen oxides and fine particulates that the cars’ on-board software hid from regulators are hazardous and detrimental to health, particularly of children and those suffering from respiratory disease.
第一，儘管安然欺詐案讓許多人的畢生積蓄化爲烏有，大衆的造假則危及更多人的健康。這些汽車上安裝了一種能夠不讓監管機構發現汽車排放高濃度氮氧化物和細顆粒物的軟件，這些有害物質會危害人的健康，尤其是兒童和呼吸道疾病患者。
Second, led by Volkswagen, Europe’s car manufacturers lobbied hard for governments to promote the adoption of diesel engines as a way to reduce carbon emissions. Whereas diesel engines power fewer than 5 per cent of passenger cars in the US, where regulators uncovered the fraud, they constitute more than 50 per cent of the market in Europe thanks in large part to generous government incentives.
第二，以大衆爲首的歐洲汽車製造商曾努力向許多政府遊說，希望政府推進柴油發動機的採用，作爲減少碳排放的手段。儘管在監管機構發現了大衆尾氣造假行爲的美國，只有不到5%的乘用車採用柴油發動機，但在歐洲市場，這個比例超過了50%，主要原因是政府慷慨的激勵措施。
It was bad enough that Enron’s chief executive urged employees to buy the company’s stock. This, however, is the equivalent of the US government offering tax breaks at Enron’s behest to get half of US households to buy stock propped up by fraudulent accounting.
當年安然首席執行官敦促其員工購買安然股票的事情已經夠惡劣了。然而，歐洲的柴油車激勵措施相當於美國政府應安然要求提供稅收優惠，讓半數美國家庭購買了靠假賬支撐起來的股票。
Third, the fines and lawsuits facing Volkswagen are likely to surpass Enron in both scale and scope. Volkswagen’s potential liability to Environmental Protection Agency fines is $18bn. Add to this fines in most or all of the 50 US states and class action lawsuits by buyers and car dealers who have seen the value of their cars and franchises diminish overnight and you have a massive legal bill.
第三，大衆面臨的罰款和官司在規模和範圍上都可能超過安然。大衆可能面臨美國國家環境保護局(Environmental Protection Agency) 180億美元的罰款。再加上美國50個州中大多數或全部州的罰款，以及因大衆汽車及其特許經營權的價值一夜間縮水而吃虧的汽車購買者和經銷商發起的集體訴訟，大衆將面臨一筆龐大的法律費用。
No jury in the US will be lenient with a foreign car company that touted its “clean diesel” technology when the technology on board instead served to hide the fact that particulate emissions were up to 40 times greater. And that is before expert testimony about the effects on children with asthma. Yet crucially, fewer than 5 per cent of the cars in question were sold in the US and regulators in Europe, South Korea and elsewhere have already launched investigations. This is a truly global fraud and global scandal.
當一家外國汽車公司鼓吹其“清潔柴油”技術，而車輛實際裝載的技術其實是隱瞞了車輛顆粒物排放量最多可比法定上限高出40倍的時候，沒有哪個美國陪審團會心慈手軟。這還是在專家們就這對哮喘病患兒的影響作證之前。更關鍵的是，在美國賣出的涉事車輛佔這些車輛總數的比例還不到5%，歐洲、韓國和其他地方的監管機構已經着手調查。這是一場貨真價實的全球性欺詐和全球性醜聞。
Fourth, Enron was wiped out when the revelation of its accounting fraud showed the company had been suffering massive losses. Volkswagen could get wiped out even though the company is financially healthy. The stock collapse is only the beginning. Potentially irreparable reputational damage, a crisis of confidence and massive legal liabilities could do the company in.
第四，當安然的會計造假曝光，該公司此前一直鉅虧的事實暴露後，安然就倒掉了。大衆也可能倒掉，就算其財務狀況是健康的。股價暴跌僅僅是開始。可能無法挽回的名譽損失、信任危機和巨大的法律責任可能讓這家公司走到壽命終點。
And whereas Enron was a young, though admittedly admired company, Volkswagen is the 78-year-old centrepiece of Germany’s most important industry.
儘管安然可以說曾經是一家受到尊敬的企業，但其歷史並不長，而大衆卻擁有78年曆史，並且是德國最重要的汽車行業的標誌。
Fifth, because of Volkswagen’s central role in Germany’s automobile industry, the scandal is a devastating blow to the country’s global image. For years, Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen have used German slogans and tag lines in their English-speaking advertising to link their products to the country’s engineering prowess. Expect to see “Das Auto” and “Vorsprung durch Technik” to be wiped off billboards as fast as value has been wiped off German car manufacturers’ market caps.
第五，由於大衆在德國汽車業中的核心地位，大衆醜聞是對德國國際形象的毀滅性打擊。多年來，梅賽德斯(Mercedes)、寶馬(BMW)、奧迪(Audi)、大衆都在英語廣告中使用過德語口號和標語，將它們的產品和德國的製造業實力聯繫起來。可以預見，隨着德國汽車製造商的市值迅速蒸發，“Das Auto”（大衆的品牌口號，“車之道，唯大衆”）和“Vorsprung durch Technik”（奧迪的品牌口號，“突破科技，啓迪未來”）這樣的標語也將同樣迅速地從廣告牌上消失。
It was fairly easy for most US companies to distance themselves from Enron’s fraud. It will be much harder for the rest of German industry.
對多數美國企業來說，與安然欺詐案劃清界線相當容易。而對德國製造業其他企業來說，與大衆造假案劃清界線將要困難得多。
Sixth, even if it turns out that other European and Asian car manufacturers who have invested heavily in diesel technology did not commit such brazen fraud, the scandal will probably reestablish the perception of diesel engines as dirty after two decades of concerted effort to change that view.
第六，即便事後證明，在柴油技術上投入重金的其他歐亞汽車製造商並未實施這種無恥欺詐，該醜聞仍可能令人們重新建立起柴油發動機污染環境的印象，而這種看法是此前二十年業內曾一致努力改變的。
This will not only put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, but also deprive policymakers of a tool they counted on to reduce carbon emissions. In the long run, the impetus to develop even cleaner alternatives may be good but in the short run it is a massive problem for Europe in particular.
這種狀況不僅會令數十萬工作崗位面臨裁撤風險，還令決策者手中少了一個能用以降低碳排放的工具。從長期來說，由此激勵人們開發更清潔的替代手段，可能是件好事；但從短期來說，這是個大問題，尤其是對歐洲。
Seventh, and perhaps most importantly, whereas Enron tainted the accounting profession’s mantra of trustworthy financial reporting, Volkswagen’s fraud will for a long time confront anybody advocating technology and engineering as a means to achieving greater environmental sustainability.
第七點——或許也是最重要的一點是，安然玷污了會計專業人士常說的一句話，即財務報告可以信賴，而大衆欺詐案則會在很長一段時期內，成爲任何提倡以技術和工程爲手段，提高環境可持續性的人們不得不正視的問題。
“Clean diesel”, it turns out, is as much a lie as “clean coal”. Volkswagen’s abhorrent behaviour therefore threatens to delegitimise the countless and essential efforts by companies around the world to develop scalable environmental solutions.
該事件證明“清潔柴油”是個和“清潔煤炭”差不多的謊言。出於這個原因，大衆令人反感的行爲，可能會令世界各地企業開發可伸縮環境解決方案的無數必要努力喪失合法性。
Herein lies perhaps the biggest tragedy in this whole affair: Volkswagen has emboldened the cynics at a time when we need business efforts to save the planet more than ever.
這裏也許還蘊含着整個事件中的最大悲劇：在我們前所未有地需要企業界付出努力拯救地球之際，大衆卻讓那些不相信企業界可以爲拯救地球作出貢獻的人更加堅信自己的觀點。
