Credibility gap 信任危机
Trusbusters say they are after the tech giants. Markets don't take them seriously.反垄断者说他们正在追捕科技巨头公司。但市场没把他们当回事。
“Five years ago antitrust was a backwater. In America complacent trustbusters had failed to spot the rise of big tech firms.
antitrust :反垄断,反垄断事业
backwater :一滩死水，停滞不进的状态
complacent trustbusters :自满的反垄断机构/执行人
spot :发现
“五年前，反托拉斯还是一片空白。在美国，自满的信托机构没有发现大型科技公司的崛起。
“In the European Union they noticed it, but didn’t do much. But the competition cops have at last sprung. On December 15th the eu unveiled two draft digital-services laws that would create a sweeping supervisory apparatus to control Silicon Valley. In America the federal government has just launched antitrust cases against Google and Facebook. These moves mark the biggest shift in competition policy in a generation, so you might expect investors to be worried that big tech firms are under serious threat. Instead, their reaction has been Olympian indifference.
cops :警察
sprung :涌现，出现
unveiled :公布
sweeping supervisory apparatus :全面监督机构
Olympian indifference :奥林匹克式的冷漠
“在欧盟，他们注意到了这一点，但没有做什么。但竞争警察终于出手了。12月15日，欧盟公布了两项数字服务法草案，将建立一个全面的监督机构来控制硅谷。在美国，联邦政府刚刚启动了针对谷歌和Facebook的反垄断案件。这些举动标志着一代人的竞争政策发生了最大的转变，因此你可能会期待投资者担心大型科技公司受到严重威胁。相反，他们的反应是奥林匹克式的冷漠。
“The market value of the five biggest Silicon Valley firms has risen by 46% in 2020, to reach $7.2trn. Antitrust’s credibility deficit reflects a lack of transatlantic unity and the flaws of two very different strategies.
deficit :赤字
transatlantic :跨大西洋
“硅谷五大公司的市值在2020年增长了46%，达到7.2万亿美元。反垄断的信誉赤字反映了跨大西洋团结的缺乏和两种截然不同的战略的缺陷。
“In America the chances of new laws being passed are low because of a gridlocked Congress and because some politicians think that having dominant American tech firms is a strategic advantage in the contest with China. Instead, trustbusters have to demonstrate in court that the tech firms have broken existing laws. The case against Google is more likely to succeed—it focuses on a web of $10bn or more in annual payments made by Google to Apple and manufacturing firms to ensure that its services got prominence on device screens. The case against Facebook argues that it illegally acquired WhatsApp and Instagram to kill off competition; this is more of a stretch, because both were small firms at the time. Do not expect any decisions soon. Microsoft’s antitrust case began in 1998 and took six years to resolve. Recently the courts have been sceptical of big antitrust suits, including those against American Express and at&t Time Warner.
gridlocked :陷入僵局的
stretch :夸张；夸大（to say something that is not exactly true）
sceptical :怀疑
suits :诉讼案
“在美国，由于国会陷入僵局，而且一些政客认为拥有美国科技公司的主导权是与中国竞争的战略优势，因此新法律通过的几率很低。相反，反垄断者必须在法庭上证明科技公司违反了现有法律。针对谷歌的案件更有可能成功--它的重点是谷歌每年向苹果和制造企业支付100亿美元或更多的费用，以确保其服务在互联网设备屏幕上获得突出地位。针对Facebook的案件认为，它非法收购WhatsApp和Instagram是为了扼杀竞争；这比较牵强，因为当时这两家公司都是小公司。不要指望很快有任何决定。微软的反垄断案始于1998年，花了六年时间才解决。最近，法院对大的反垄断诉讼持怀疑态度，包括对美国运通和at&t时代华纳的诉讼。
“If America’s strategy is narrow and backward-looking, the eu’s is broad and forward-looking. It tends to put more faith in regulation—and does not have any home-grown tech giants to worry about. Big tech firms will be designated as systemically important, and in some cases as “gatekeepers” too, and face obligations over data, content and the treatment of other firms which use their platforms. The danger is that an ill-defined and sprawling regime muffles dynamism and entrenches incumbents. Yet even if the eu eventually passes new laws, it may have problems enforcing them. The five biggest tech firms make 25% of their sales in Europe, versus 51% in America, and may prefer to run their European arms under local rules, rather than adopt eu policy globally. The maximum fine the eu is contemplating is just 1% of big tech’s market value. It is hard to imagine how the eu could break up an American company on its own.
backward-looking :落后的
designated :指定
gatekeepers :看门人
obligations :义务
sprawling :广阔的，不规则展开的（这里指不成体系但很宽泛的意思）
muffles :压抑，抑制
entrenches incumbents :巩固现任者（这里指巩固现有公司的地位）
contemplating :考虑
“如果说美国的战略是狭隘的、落后的，那么欧盟的战略则是宽泛的、前瞻性的。它倾向于更相信监管--而且没有任何本土科技巨头需要担心。大型科技公司将被指定为具有系统重要性的公司，在某些情况下还会被指定为 "守门人"，并在数据、内容和使用其平台的其他公司的待遇方面面临义务。危险的是，一个定义不清、规模庞大的制度会扼杀活力，并巩固现有企业的地位。然而，即使欧盟最终通过了新的法律，也可能在执行上存在问题。五家最大的科技公司25%的销售额在欧洲，而在美国则占51%，他们可能更愿意在当地规则下经营其欧洲业务，而不是在全球范围内采用欧盟政策。欧盟正在考虑的最高罚款额度只是大科技公司市值的1%。很难想象欧盟如何能独自拆散一家美国公司。
“On paper it is possible to pick the best of both approaches. The goal should be to catalyse competition, rather than accept monopolies and mitigate their cost through regulation. Prising open closed markets should be the priority: America’s trustbusters are right to focus on the ways in which Google and others have locked out competitors.
catalyse :催化
mitigate :减轻
“从纸面上看，可以选择两种方法中最好的一种。目标应该是催化竞争，而不是接受垄断，并通过监管减轻其成本。撬动开放的封闭市场应该是首要任务。美国的反垄断者们关注谷歌和其他公司是如何锁定竞争对手的是正确决定。
“Taking a sceptical line on future acquisitions by big tech firms is essential, too. America should copy the eu’s effort to give individuals power over their data, which could also help unlock competition. Last, both sides should agree that policing content—for example, fake news—is a matter for media policy, not trustbusters.
Taking a sceptical line on :持怀疑态度
acquisitions :收购
policing:流量监管，监控
“对大型科技公司未来的收购采取怀疑的态度也是必不可少的。美国应该复制欧盟赋予个人数据权力的努力，这也有助于释放竞争。最后，双方应该同意，监管内容--例如，假新闻--是媒体政策的问题，而不是反垄断机构的问题。
总结
这篇文章主要讲的是反垄断机构再次声称将对科技巨头公司展开调查，但市场已经不再信任他们的话了。
一是由于这样的话已经出现了很多次，但直到至今，科技巨头们仍然屹立不倒。二是由于反垄断机构分别在美国和欧洲的体系都存在缺陷，无法给科技巨头们真正造成威胁，
作者最后还对反垄断机构到底该何去何从提供了建议。文中一些有关“监控”，“反垄断”，“收购”等词汇经常出现在类似科技新闻的杂志中，应当熟悉。
