Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
glaubt BIZ-Denker
English translation:
says/believes BIS chief economist
Added to glossary by
Sebastian Witte
Jul 5, 2019 06:32
5 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term
glaubt BIZ-Denker
German to English
Bus/Financial
Economics
Central banking
Hi,
DE:
Das würde die These des Nobelpreisökonomen Milton Friedman auf den Kopf stellen, der überzeugt war, dass Inflation stets das Ergebnis schlechter Geldpolitik ist.
„Inflation“, lautet einer seiner berühmtesten Sätze, „ist immer und überall ein rein monetäres Phänomen.“ Das war im Jahr 1970.
Heute weiß man:
Auch ohne lockere Geldpolitik wird es keine Inflation geben.
Und wenn es Inflation gibt, kann die Notenbank sie eindämmen.
Wenn es aber wie heute keine Inflation gibt, dann wird es schwierig.
„Die Zentralbanken müssen sich fühlen, als wären sie durch einen Spiegel getreten“, ***glaubt BIZ-Denker*** Borio.
„Früher haben sie die Inflation bekämpft, heute mühen sie sich, die Preise anzutreiben.“ Früher fürchteten sie höhere Löhne, jetzt werben sie dafür.
EN:
“The central banks must feel as though they had stepped through a mirror”, ***comments leading BIS's-think tank man*** Borio.
Could you please provide informed feedback on the expression in asterisks?
Thanks,
Cheers,
Sebastian Witte
DE:
Das würde die These des Nobelpreisökonomen Milton Friedman auf den Kopf stellen, der überzeugt war, dass Inflation stets das Ergebnis schlechter Geldpolitik ist.
„Inflation“, lautet einer seiner berühmtesten Sätze, „ist immer und überall ein rein monetäres Phänomen.“ Das war im Jahr 1970.
Heute weiß man:
Auch ohne lockere Geldpolitik wird es keine Inflation geben.
Und wenn es Inflation gibt, kann die Notenbank sie eindämmen.
Wenn es aber wie heute keine Inflation gibt, dann wird es schwierig.
„Die Zentralbanken müssen sich fühlen, als wären sie durch einen Spiegel getreten“, ***glaubt BIZ-Denker*** Borio.
„Früher haben sie die Inflation bekämpft, heute mühen sie sich, die Preise anzutreiben.“ Früher fürchteten sie höhere Löhne, jetzt werben sie dafür.
EN:
“The central banks must feel as though they had stepped through a mirror”, ***comments leading BIS's-think tank man*** Borio.
Could you please provide informed feedback on the expression in asterisks?
Thanks,
Cheers,
Sebastian Witte
Proposed translations
(English)
3 | says/believes BIS chief economist |
Steffen Walter
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4 +1 | according to BIS guru / in the opinion of BIS guru |
D. I. Verrelli
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3 +1 | BIS brain |
Ramey Rieger (X)
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4 | says the BIS's |
philgoddard
![]() |
Proposed translations
2 hrs
Selected
says/believes BIS chief economist
You might use the more neutral "chief economist", which has been Borio's role at the BIS since 2014 according to https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_für_Internationalen_Zahlu...
Regarding the wording of your sentence, you could also turn it around by saying "According to BIS chief economist (Claudio) Borio, ...".
See also https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-10/bis-chann...
"The world’s dollar-dominated monetary order has serious instabilities that can best be fixed by central banks explicitly coordinating policy, Claudio Borio, the chief economist of the Bank for International Settlements, argued in a new paper."
BTW, its "Bank for International Settlements" (plural) - see https://www.bis.org/about/areport/areport2019.pdf among many other sources accessible at the BIS website.
Regarding the wording of your sentence, you could also turn it around by saying "According to BIS chief economist (Claudio) Borio, ...".
See also https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-10/bis-chann...
"The world’s dollar-dominated monetary order has serious instabilities that can best be fixed by central banks explicitly coordinating policy, Claudio Borio, the chief economist of the Bank for International Settlements, argued in a new paper."
BTW, its "Bank for International Settlements" (plural) - see https://www.bis.org/about/areport/areport2019.pdf among many other sources accessible at the BIS website.
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
philgoddard
: I have a feeling the article has already told us who he is.
4 hrs
|
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "This is one of the few term queries I have posted in more recent times (last three to four years) where none of the answers work for me. I, then, would come to the conclusion, that this is so hard to put into fine English by way of of the service of translation that I requested that transcreation as done in this here answer might be the only way to go in commercial translation with its associated time constraints for this particular term. I am pleased that indirectly one native speaker approved the verb "to comment", which might be a working/feasible alternative to "to say/to believe" (are the latter two really equivalent here? To believe might involve an intended assessment of the statement, which might be a good thing.)"
+1
32 mins
BIS brain
Perhaps
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Note added at 2 hrs (2019-07-05 08:34:24 GMT)
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believes/claims/propounds BIS brain
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Note added at 2 hrs (2019-07-05 08:34:24 GMT)
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believes/claims/propounds BIS brain
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
D. I. Verrelli
: "glaubt" was missing: in the subsequent note I prefer "claims". The alliteration is nice :-) ...But note that the person's name in this instance is Borio — "believes BIS brain Borio" might be too much alliteration, unless for a 'tabloid' headline.
1 hr
|
Better?
|
|
agree |
dkfmmuc
: That's great. It avoids the discussion which position Mr. Borio really holds and is as near to the source as possible.
4 hrs
|
Hi Bro! HOW are you?
|
|
neutral |
philgoddard
: I think this is too colloquial, and the alliteration is an inappropriate distraction.
6 hrs
|
8 hrs
says the BIS's
It looks like Borio has been mentioned earlier in the article, and this is a reminder in case we've forgotten who he is. That's why his first name and job title are not given.
This is a common journalistic trick in English and German, though in English I think you can ignore "Denker" and just give his name and that of the organisation.
I would give his full name, "says the BIS's Claudio Borio."
This is a common journalistic trick in English and German, though in English I think you can ignore "Denker" and just give his name and that of the organisation.
I would give his full name, "says the BIS's Claudio Borio."
Note from asker:
That might have worked OK so, basically, I'm saying "Thank you for that". However, this guy has not been mentioned earlier in the article. |
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
D. I. Verrelli
: As the Asker has now confirmed that Borio was not introduced earlier, therefore your suggestion "says the BIS's Claudio Borio." is the best of the proposals that don't attempt to translate "Denker".
1 day 22 hrs
|
+1
2 hrs
according to BIS guru / in the opinion of BIS guru
I think "according to" would be a pretty standard phrase in journalism.
Somehow to me that phrase seems more natural at the start of a sentence:
According to BIS guru Borio, “The central banks must feel as though they had stepped through a mirror.”
It can also work at the end, though:
“The central banks must feel as though they had stepped through a mirror,” according to BIS guru Borio.
A slightly wordier option is "in the opinion of", which I think works well at the end.
“The central banks must feel as though they had stepped through a mirror,” in the opinion of BIS guru Borio.
And it's probably fractionally closer to "glaubt".
For "Denker", "Guru" is just one option, suggesting a person with much wisdom (and who probably spends a fair bit of time thinking).
Others could include:
* "wonk", suggesting much knowledge of (and interest in) technical/policy details;
* "oracle", suggesting the one person everybody turns to for deep, almost supernatural insight;
* "sage", suggesting someone a bit more studious or academic, perhaps;
* "expert" — a safe, generic option, albeit less connected to "Denker";
* ...
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Note added at 2 hrs (2019-07-05 08:48:39 GMT)
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Definitions of guru for the above context in point 2 at:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guru
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Note added at 2 days 6 hrs (2019-07-07 13:31:29 GMT) Post-grading
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Upon reflection, I think the possessive may work a little better in English, yielding
according to (the) BIS's guru, ... / in the opinion of (the) BIS's guru, ...
Note the obligatory addition of a comma ahead of the name, in this construction.
Note also the optional addition of the definite article ("the").
Some always use the definite article ahead of the abbreviation "BIS" ...
"Bringing the BIS to Asia - and Asia to the BIS" "In 2003, [...], the BIS formed the Asian Consultative Council."
https://www.bis.org/speeches/sp181018.htm
... some use it only in the article text (not the headlines) ...
"Passive Bond Funds Rewarding Debt Danger Stability, Says BIS" "In a report issued Sunday, the BIS warned that [...]."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-11/passive-b...
... and some don't use it at all.
"BIS noted that [...]." "[...] before the publication of BIS’s report."
https://www.forexcrunch.com/bank-of-international-settlement...
The definite article is obligatory with the full name — even when not used with the abbreviation, as in the last link above.
(I also found one example using an erratic mixture within the article text, which is a mark of inconsistency rather than style: https://www.cryptoworldjournal.com/the-bis-concerned-over-fa... )
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days 18 hrs (2019-07-08 01:31:17 GMT) Post-grading
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One more option for "Denker" is "analyst".
An analyst would implicitly be doing a lot of thinking about the matters under their consideration. A disadvantage is that "Analyst" has also become a job title (e.g., "Business Analyst"), which doesn't apply to Borio, and so it might be misconstrued.
Somehow to me that phrase seems more natural at the start of a sentence:
According to BIS guru Borio, “The central banks must feel as though they had stepped through a mirror.”
It can also work at the end, though:
“The central banks must feel as though they had stepped through a mirror,” according to BIS guru Borio.
A slightly wordier option is "in the opinion of", which I think works well at the end.
“The central banks must feel as though they had stepped through a mirror,” in the opinion of BIS guru Borio.
And it's probably fractionally closer to "glaubt".
For "Denker", "Guru" is just one option, suggesting a person with much wisdom (and who probably spends a fair bit of time thinking).
Others could include:
* "wonk", suggesting much knowledge of (and interest in) technical/policy details;
* "oracle", suggesting the one person everybody turns to for deep, almost supernatural insight;
* "sage", suggesting someone a bit more studious or academic, perhaps;
* "expert" — a safe, generic option, albeit less connected to "Denker";
* ...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2019-07-05 08:48:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Definitions of guru for the above context in point 2 at:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guru
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days 6 hrs (2019-07-07 13:31:29 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
Upon reflection, I think the possessive may work a little better in English, yielding
according to (the) BIS's guru, ... / in the opinion of (the) BIS's guru, ...
Note the obligatory addition of a comma ahead of the name, in this construction.
Note also the optional addition of the definite article ("the").
Some always use the definite article ahead of the abbreviation "BIS" ...
"Bringing the BIS to Asia - and Asia to the BIS" "In 2003, [...], the BIS formed the Asian Consultative Council."
https://www.bis.org/speeches/sp181018.htm
... some use it only in the article text (not the headlines) ...
"Passive Bond Funds Rewarding Debt Danger Stability, Says BIS" "In a report issued Sunday, the BIS warned that [...]."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-11/passive-b...
... and some don't use it at all.
"BIS noted that [...]." "[...] before the publication of BIS’s report."
https://www.forexcrunch.com/bank-of-international-settlement...
The definite article is obligatory with the full name — even when not used with the abbreviation, as in the last link above.
(I also found one example using an erratic mixture within the article text, which is a mark of inconsistency rather than style: https://www.cryptoworldjournal.com/the-bis-concerned-over-fa... )
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days 18 hrs (2019-07-08 01:31:17 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
One more option for "Denker" is "analyst".
An analyst would implicitly be doing a lot of thinking about the matters under their consideration. A disadvantage is that "Analyst" has also become a job title (e.g., "Business Analyst"), which doesn't apply to Borio, and so it might be misconstrued.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Ramey Rieger (X)
: guru is gooood!
7 mins
|
Thanks :-)
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neutral |
dkfmmuc
: I am convinced the term "guru" is not fine in combination to Claudio Borio. Although the BIZ always tries to set standards in international banking it is only a very small state-backed entity. Warren Buffet would be a guru....
2 hrs
|
Buffet is most definitely known as an "oracle". https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/oracleofomaha.asp I am not familiar with Claudio Borio's work, but journalists can use "guru" to refer to a thoughtful expert willing to share wisdom, as Borio may be.
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Discussion
As Ramey Rieger has correctly noted, the original construction in the Question is part of a phrase (I would call it a noun phrase¹), where the possessive doesn't work:
"comments leading BIS think tank man Borio"
The hyphen after BIS was also atypical. If I were going to hyphenate at all (which I wouldn't), it would probably be:
"comments leading BIS think-tank-man Borio"
On the other hand, the possessive is necessary if the word order is changed as follows:
"comments BIS's leading think tank man, Borio"
Note also the introduction of a comma.
¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun_phrase