STOCKMARKETS are the public face of finance; indices like the S&P 500 are widely reported proxies for economic health. But they are dwarfed by the corporate-bond markets. In 2016 American equity issuance amounted to just under $200bn; for corporate bonds the total was $1.5trn.economic essay写作assignment.lxws.net
股票市场是金融的门面。作为经济健康状况的指标，标准普尔500这样的指数被广泛报道。但它们和公司债券市场一比全都相形见绌。2016年美国股票发行额接近2000亿美元，而公司债发行额达1.5万亿美元。
The market for corporate debt is not just vast, at $50trn globally, it has also been growing fast as a result of ultra-cheap borrowing. Issuance in America has risen by half over the past five years. Yet despite its importance as a source of financing for companies, the corporate-bond market is shockingly archaic.
全球公司债市场的规模为50万亿美元，不仅大，而且由于借贷成本极低，增长速度也很快。过去五年来，美国的公司债发行量增长了一半。然而，尽管公司债是企业融资的重要来源，但公司债市场的落后程度令人震惊。
Even basic price data are hard to come by. Whereas stocks can be traded at the click of a button, buying and selling corporate bonds often requires a phone call to a trading desk at an investment bank. This method of trading still accounts for over 80% of volume in America. Processes are correspondingly slow: 8% of trades in Europe fail to settle in the allotted two days.
即使是基本的价格数据也难以获取。点击按钮就可以交易股票，但买卖公司债券往往需要打电话给投资银行的交易台，这种方式仍占据美国公司债交易额的80%以上。交易流程因而也相当缓慢：欧洲有8%的交易都未能在两天限期内结算。
Such inefficiencies partly reflect the particularities of bond markets. An individual firm may have one or two types of shares, but issue dozens of bonds that differ by maturity, date and seniority in its capital structure. Any given bond is thus traded only rarely.
maturity (business 商) (of an insurance policy, etc. 保险单等) the time when money you have invested is ready to be paid 到期（应付款）
这种低效一定程度上反映出债券市场的特殊性。某家公司的资本结构中可能有一两种股票，却发行了数十种长期和清偿优先级各不相同的债券。因此任何一种债券的交易量都很小。
In the past, banks made markets by holding an inventory of bonds on their balance-sheet until a buyer came along. Those electronic platforms that do exist have largely stuck to this dealer-based model: under “request for quote” systems that account for almost 95% of electronic trading, dealers are still the only ones with the power to provide a quote and to buy or sell.
过去，银行通过在自己的资产负债表上持有一批债券来做市，直到买方出现。市场上确实存在一些电子交易平台，但大多采用此种交易商模式：“请求报价”系统几乎占到电子交易的95%，在这种系统内，只有交易商可以提供报价，并买进卖出。
But this system is creaking. Tougher capital regulations implemented after the financial crisis sought to discourage banks from holding bonds. Trading desks now hold just 1% of all bonds, down from 2.4% as recently as 2007. Average trade sizes have also fallen.
但这个系统已经运转不灵。金融危机后实施的资本法规越来越严，意在阻止银行持有债券。现在交易台的债券持仓量只占总量的1%，低于2007年的2.4%，平均每笔交易量也有所下降。
Demand from central banks, in places where corporate-bond purchases were part of quantitative-easing (QE) programmes, may have obscured the extent to which marketmakers have pulled back. As QE unwinds, shortfalls in liquidity may become apparent.
购买公司债是量化宽松政策的一部分，央行对公司债的需求可能掩盖了做市商退出的影响。随着量化宽松政策的退出，流动性短缺可能会变得明显。
Restoring the banks to their market-making role by relaxing capital rules is no answer. If trouble strikes, it is better for banks to be out of harm’s way. Instead, corporate-bond markets need to learn from equities and help buyers and sellers to meet and trade.
通过放松资本规则来恢复银行充当做市商的角色解决不了问题。如果遇到麻烦，银行最好还是能远离危害。相反，公司债券市场需要学习股票市场，为买卖双方牵线搭桥，协助交易。
Regulators can do their bit by requiring prices to be reported for completed transactions, as incoming European rules will from early 2018, and as America has in a more limited fashion since 2002. But the market is also showing the way.
监管机构可以要求上报已完成交易的价格，新引入的欧洲规则将从2018年初开始有此要求，美国自2002年以来一直有此类要求，但比较有限。不过市场也在指明方向。
A new technology known as “all-to-all” trading allows one institutional investor in a network to trade bonds with any other. There are also systems to help dealers keep track of inquiries across time, turning them from risk-takers into matchmakers.
一种叫做“多对多”的交易新技术允许一个网络内的任意两个机构投资者彼此交易债券。还有一些系统能帮助交易商追踪历史“请求报价”数据，将其从风险承担者转变为牵线搭桥者。
These innovations will not suit everyone. The automation of equity markets has cut the earnings of brokers; an end to those chummy phone calls will do the same in the bond markets. But investors can only gain from an environment where it is easier and cheaper to buy and sell bonds.
这些创新不会让所有人都开心。股票市场自动化减少了经纪商的收益；在债券市场，终结密切电话沟通的历史也将带来同样的效果。但唯有债券交易变得更容易、成本更低，投资者才能获利。
Issuers will also benefit from markets that can smooth out turbulence rather than turn it into a full-scale panic and, in normal times, from a lower cost of capital. The corporate-bond market will never be as simple or liquid as the stockmarket. But it can still learn lessons from its higher-profile cousin.
如果市场能够消除动荡，而不是引起全面恐慌，发行人也将受益；而且在正常情况下，较低的资本成本也会让发行人受益。债券市场永远不会像股票市场那样简单，流动性也不会那么高，但仍可从这位更受瞩目的“表亲”身上汲取些经验。
