ACROSS THE rich world, investors are making governments pay up(付清欠款；付出代价). Bond yield(收益率)s have risen in Britain, France, Germany and Japan. On September 14th the yield on ten-year American Treasuries(美国国债) exceeded 5%, the highest it has been in two decades. The median(中位数) yield on rich countries’ ten-year government bonds is above 4%, its highest in more than 15 years and roughly five times its average in 2015-21 (see chart 1).
在整个富裕世界，投资者正迫使政府付出更高代价。英国、法国、德国和日本的债券收益率均已上升。9月14日，美国十年期国债收益率突破5%，创下二十年来的最高水平。富裕国家十年期政府债券收益率中位数超过4%，为15年多来最高，约是2015至2021年平均水平的五倍（见图表1）。
More worrying, borrowing costs are rising at a time when(在……的时候) countries’ debts are higher than ever. Gross(总的；毛的) public debt as a share of GDP in advanced economies stands near 110%, up from around 70% in the early 2000s. In America it has more than doubled over that period; in Britain it has nearly tripled. There is little appetite for belt-tightening(紧缩开支). America is expected to run a deficit(赤字) of around 6% of GDP this year and France of more than 5%.
更令人担忧的是，借贷成本上升之际，各国债务却处于历史最高水平。发达经济体的政府债务总额占GDP比重接近110%，而本世纪初约为70%。同期美国这一比重翻了一倍多，英国则几乎增长了两倍。各国几乎没有紧缩意愿。预计今年美国赤字约占GDP的6%，法国则超过5%。
Throughout much of the 2010s politicians could afford to dismiss warnings of a debt reckoning(清算；算总账), thanks to rock-bottom(最低的；谷底的) interest rates. Now rates are rising. On September 16th the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark(基准) rate by a quarter of a percentage point. The European Central Bank (ECB) did so the week before. And the bond market is signalling(发出信号；表明) that the era of cheap government finance is over. Big borrowers are about to discover just how painful those debt piles(债务堆积；债务大山) can be when interest rates can no longer be ignored.
在2010年代的大部分时间里，由于利率处于谷底，政客们可以放心无视债务清算的警告。如今利率正在上升。9月16日，美联储将基准利率上调25个基点。欧洲央行（ECB）此前一周也已加息。债券市场正发出信号：廉价政府融资的时代已经结束。当利率再也无法被忽视时，那些债务大山究竟有多痛，大型借款国即将亲身体会。
The new short-sellers
新型做空者
