古老欧洲重获青春【《财富》杂志经典回顾，1963（节选）】

    但这种变化最显著的地方并不是美国对其施加的影响，而是欧洲人自己为之付出的努力。他们的成就远不止摆脱一场毁灭性战争造成的后果那么简单。要理解欧洲发生的事情，就必须得考虑一个问题：作为现代工业的起源地，这片高度文明、高度发达的大陆为什么会远远落后于美国？从来就没有任何确凿的证据表明，欧洲人的能量不如美国人，技术不如美国那般鬼斧神工。但他们所欠缺的，是一个横跨大陆、能够使其生产和销售充分利用20世纪杰出技术成就的大众市场。甚至在一战前，欧洲的发展步伐就因为经济民族主义将这片大陆分割为狭促的区域而滞后于美国。在这些狭促的区域内，大规模生产即使没有受到阻止，至少也受到了严重的抑制。在关税和其他保护性措施的庇护下，欧洲经济难以出现因竞争而产生的激发效应。工业界既无动力，也无机会实现真正的潜能。直到1957年，六个国家大胆地签署了开创历史的《罗马条约》（Treaty of Rome ），拆除了壁垒，组建欧洲经济共同体（European Economic Community）之后，这一切才成为了可能。

    But what is most significant about this change is not the influence the U.S. has had on it, but what the Europeans have done themselves. They have accomplished far more than staging a remarkable recovery from a devastating war. To understand what has happened, it is necessary to consider why this highly developed and eminently civilized continent, where modern industrialism got its start, found itself far behind the U.S. There never was any conclusive evidence that Europeans were less energetic or technically ingenious. But what they did lack was a continental mass market that would enable their production and distribution to take full advantage of the great technological developments of the twentieth century. Even before World War I, Europe's pace was lagging behind that of the U.S. because economic nationalism divided the Continent into cramped compartments, within which large-scale production was severely inhibited if not prevented. Sheltered by tariffs and other protective devices from the invigorating effects of competition, industry had neither the Incentive nor the opportunity to develop its true potential. This became possible only when six nations took the bold, history-making decision in the 1957 Treaty of Rome to tear down the compartment walls and form a European Economic Community.

一个让所有人惊讶的国家

    早在正式技术安排达成之前，共同市场（Common Market）这一理念就已产生作用。六个共同市场国家早早地降低了彼此之间的关税，但税率依然维持在过去的一半水平之上，还有其他一些更微妙的贸易限制措施仍然在发挥作用。尽管如此，商人们的活动还是让人觉得国家的边界似乎已经消失了。他们纵横捭阖，组建合资企业，建立生产基地以进军新市场。由此造成的动荡，或许正是欧盟的先知让•莫内在预言共同市场将引发“第二次工业革命”时浮现在脑海里的情景吧。

    如同任何一场革命一样，这场革命包含着大量的混乱、不确定性和伤亡。随着竞争模式的变化，人为设置的保护区逐渐开放，羸弱的公司必须寻求庇护，否则就会遭到蹂躏，而强大的公司亦不能把自己的实力视为理所当然之物。然而，每个人似乎都在兴致勃勃地期待着考验的来临。一些商人担心共同市场对其近期前景有可能造成的影响，但没人想阻止或扭转这一进程，连一丁点的暗示也看不出。

The country that surprised everybody

    The idea of the Common Market has taken effect well in advance of the formal technical arrangements. The reduction of tariffs between the six Common Market countries is well ahead of schedule, but they are still at 50 percent of their former levels, and a number of other, more subtle trade restrictions remain in force. Nevertheless, businessmen are behaving as if national borders had already disappeared. They are merging and consolidating, forming joint ventures, and setting up bases to assault new markets. The resulting upheaval must be what Jean Monnet, prophet of European union, had in mind when he predicted that the Common Market would touch off "a second industrial revolution."

    Like any revolution, this one has plenty of confusion, uncertainty, and casualties. As patterns of competition change and artificially protected preserves are opened up, weak firms must seek shelter or get trampled upon and strong ones cannot take their strength for granted. Yet everyone seems to be looking forward with gusto to the test. A few businessmen expressed concern about what the Common Market might do to their immediate prospects, but none even hinted that he would like to see the process stopped or reversed.