glaubt BIZ-Denker

English translation: says/believes BIS chief economist

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:glaubt BIZ-Denker
English translation:says/believes BIS chief economist
Entered by: Sebastian Witte

06:32 Jul 5, 2019
German to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Economics / Central banking
German term or phrase: glaubt BIZ-Denker
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
Sebastian Witte
Germany
Local time: 23:00
says/believes BIS chief economist
Explanation:
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.

Selected response from:

Steffen Walter
Germany
Local time: 23:00
Grading 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.)
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1according to BIS guru / in the opinion of BIS guru
D. I. Verrelli
3 +1BIS brain
Ramey Rieger (X)
4says the BIS's
philgoddard
3says/believes BIS chief economist
Steffen Walter


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


32 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
BIS brain


Explanation:
Perhaps

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2019-07-05 08:34:24 GMT)
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believes/claims/propounds BIS brain

Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
Local time: 23:00
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
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
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
says/believes BIS chief economist


Explanation:
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.



Steffen Walter
Germany
Local time: 23:00
Does not meet criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 71
Grading 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.)

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  philgoddard: I have a feeling the article has already told us who he is.
4 hrs
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
says the BIS's


Explanation:
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."

philgoddard
United States
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 20
Notes to answerer
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 comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
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
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
according to BIS guru / in the opinion of BIS guru


Explanation:
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";
* ...

--------------------------------------------------
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... )

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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.

D. I. Verrelli
Australia
Local time: 09:00
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ramey Rieger (X): guru is gooood!
7 mins
  -> Thanks :-)

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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