GUIDONIA, Italy — Emanuele Tedeschi wiped sawdust from his hands and gestured around the cavernous woodworking factory that has been in his family for two generations. The big machines, which used to run overtime carving custom furnishings for private homes, Roman palazzi and even the Vatican, sat idle on a shop floor nearly devoid of workers.

意大利圭多尼亞——埃馬努埃萊·泰代斯基(Emanuele Tedeschi)擦去了手上的木屑，揮手展示着其家族已經營了兩代的巨大的木材加工廠。龐大的機器閑置在車間里，幾乎沒有工人。而在過去，這些機器加班運轉，為私人家庭、羅馬宮殿、甚至是梵蒂岡生產定製的傢具。

“A year and a half ago, the noise from production was so loud that you had to shout to be heard,” said Mr. Tedeschi, walking amid pallets of cherry and other fine woods stacked up and waiting for a purpose.

“一年半前，生產時的噪音如此之響，你得大聲叫別人才能聽見，”泰代斯基說，一邊走在堆滿櫻桃木和其他優質木材的貨板中間，這些木材高高堆起，等待着發揮作用。

Since a government austerity plan took hold last year, the Italian economy has tumbled into one of the worst recessions of any euro zone country. Mr. Tedeschi’s orders have all but dried up. 

自從政府的一項財政緊縮計劃去年起生效，意大利經濟迅速下跌，已成為歐元區衰退最嚴重的國家之一。泰代斯基的訂單所剩無幾。

His company, Temeca, is still in business, but barely.

他的公司Temeca還在繼續運營，但已舉步維艱。

But among Italy's estimated 6 million companies, businesses of all sizes have been going belly up at the rate of 1,000 a day over the last year, especially among the small and midsize companies that represent the backbone of Italy’s $2 trillion economy.

據估計，意大利有600萬家公司，但在過去一年中，每天都有約1000家不同規模的公司宣告破產，特別是那些作為意大利經濟（總量為2萬億美元[約合12萬億元人民幣]）支柱的小型和中等規模的公司。

Economists worry that the pace of business closings may accelerate as long as the country lacks a functioning government. Although the technocratic prime minister Mario Monti was ousted by austerity-weary voters, the currently gridlocked Parliament seems unlikely to pass growth-enhancing policies anytime soon.

經濟學家擔心，只要該國還沒有一個正常運作的政府，企業關閉的速度就可能會加快。儘管深受緊縮之苦的選民們把技術官僚出身的總理馬里奧·蒙蒂(Mario Monti)趕下了台，但目前深陷僵局的議會似乎也不太可能很快出台促進增長的政策。

“With no one governing the country, there will be more paralysis, so things will get worse,” said Mr. Tedeschi, 49, casting a worried glance at his wife and their 23-year-old son. They help fill the trickle of orders, now that Mr. Tedeschi has had to lay off six of the 11 full-time employees he had in mid-2011.

“在無人治國的情況下，還會出現更多癱瘓局面，事態還會進一步惡化，”49歲的泰代斯基說，一邊憂心忡忡地看了一眼妻子和23歲的兒子。如今，他們也幫着廠里完成寥寥無幾的訂單，因為泰代斯基不得不辭去11名全職工人中的六名，這些人是他在2011年中雇的。

A new caretaker government, which could be installed in weeks, is unlikely to be strong enough to pass growth-enhancing reforms, deepening problems for Italy, and for Europe, that could take years to reverse.

一個新的看守政府將在數周內成立，但該政府也不太會有能力通過促進增長的改革計劃，這將加深意大利和歐洲的困局，而這種局面可能需要多年才能扭轉。

“This underscores the likelihood of Italy having a Japan-like decade with phenomenally slow growth,” said Kenneth S. Rogoff, a professor at Harvard and a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. “And it raises painful questions about the long-run stability of growth in the euro zone over all.”

“這凸顯了這樣一種可能性，即意大利會像日本那樣經歷增長異常緩慢的10年，”哈佛大學教授、國際貨幣基金組織(International Monetary Fund)前首席經濟學家肯尼思·S·羅格夫(Kenneth S. Rogoff)說。“這對整個歐元區增長的長期穩定性提出了令人痛苦的質疑。”

Last year, nearly 365,000 businesses failed. One in 2 small firms cannot pay their employees on time, according to CGIA di Mestre, a research institute.

去年，大約有36.5萬家企業破產。根據研究機構CGIA di Mestre的數據，小規模公司中有一半不能按時支付員工工資。

With layoffs surging, unemployment hit a record 11.7 percent in January. Youth unemployment has jumped to 38.7 percent. And while Italians are big savers, a recent study by the Bank of Italy showed that more than 60 percent now worry that their income is no longer enough to cover their needs.

隨着裁員激增，失業率在1月創下了11.7%的最高記錄。年輕人的失業率飆升至38.7%。儘管意大利人的儲蓄率很高，意大利銀行(Bank of Italy)最近的一項研究表明，如今有超過60%的民眾擔心他們的收入不再能保障生活所需。

Without growth, Italy will have a harder time paying down its 2 trillion euro pile of debt, equal to 127 percent of economic output, one of the largest debt burdens in the eurozone. And while no one right now is talking about the need for an Italian bailout or a default on that staggering debt, on Friday the ratings agency Fitch cut Italy's sovereign credit rating by a notch, citing the risk that prolonged political uncertainty could further erode growth and the nation's finances.

沒有經濟增長，意大利在償還2萬億歐元（約合16萬億元人民幣）的債務時就會更加艱難，2萬億歐元相當於該國經濟產出的127%，是歐元區數額最大的債務之一。儘管如今還沒人談論需要援助意大利或這筆巨額債務可能違約，但評級機構惠譽(Fitch Ratings)周五把意大利的主權信用評級降了一級，稱對政局的長期不確定可能會進一步侵蝕該國的經濟增長和財政情況。

A new caretaker government may soon be necessary because the anti-establishment Five Star movement, led by the comedian-turned-activist Beppe Grillo, has ruled out any government-forming political alliances since his party won a quarter of the vote. But any new leader would probably fare no better than Monti at carrying out reforms needed to spur the economy.

意大利可能很快就需要一個看守政府，這是因為，由貝佩·格里洛(Beppe Grillo)領導的、反正統的政治團體五星運動(Five Star Movement)贏得了四分之一的選票，這排除了通過政治聯盟來組建政府的可能性。格里洛由喜劇演員轉變為活動人士。不過，在開展刺激經濟所需的改革上，任何一位新領袖的表現可能也不會比蒙蒂好。

  In some respects, Italy is not as hobbled as some other euro countries. It has an enviable primary surplus, a measure of the economy without counting debt payments, of 2.5 percent of gross domestic product.

在某些方面，意大利還不像某些歐元區國家那樣艱難。它有着令人羨慕的基本盈餘，即不考慮債務的一項經濟指標，該指標佔GDP的2.5%。

And the Italian government made progress in shrinking the budget deficit, which had been 4 percent in 2011, to 2.3 percent last year. That is under the 3 percent threshold that eurozone members are supposed to stay below, but few do. Industrial icons like Ferrari and Benetton and Ducati continue to help Italy maintain the eurozone's second-largest manufacturing base after Germany.

並且，意大利政府在縮小預算赤字方面取得了進展，2011年，意大利的預算赤字比例為4%，去年降到了2.3%。按規定，歐元區成員國應將其預算赤字維持在3%的上限以下，但沒有幾個成員國做到這一點，而意大利的數字低於這一標準。法拉利(Ferrari)、貝納通(Benetton)和杜卡迪(Ducati)等標誌性企業繼續幫助意大利維持着其歐元區第二大生產基地的地位，緊隨德國之後。

But it is businesses like Mr. Tedeschi’s — ones with fewer than 50 workers, which constitute the vast majority of Italy’s economy and long provided much of its vitality — that are buckling as banks halt lending and taxes rise. Credit issued by Italian banks fell in 2012 to the lowest level in more than a decade. And the government owes an estimated 70 billion euros in unpaid bills for goods and services to Italian companies.

然而，卻是像泰代斯基的公司這樣的、有不到50名員工的企業構成了意大利經濟的主流，並長期以來為意大利經濟帶來了許多活力，但隨着銀行停止放貸以及稅收上漲，這些企業卻正在倒閉。2012年，意大利銀行的放貸額跌到了十多年來的最低水平。意大利政府因各種產品和服務對本地公司欠賬估計達到700億歐元。

Mr. Tedeschi started feeling the pinch in late 2011 at his factory in Guidonia, an industrial town north of Rome in Lazio, a sprawling region that is in many ways a microcosm of Italy itself.

2011年末，泰代斯基開始感到經濟對他的影響，他的工廠位於圭多尼亞，是位於羅馬北部拉齊奧區的一個工業鎮。拉齊奧是一個龐大的地區，在很多方面，它是意大利的一個縮影。

Here, amid low-lying mountains and rolling green hills, are many midsize factories specializing in products stamped “Made in Italy.” But hundreds of those businesses have been shut lately.

在拉齊奧地勢低洼的山區和起伏的綠色丘陵之間，坐落着許多中等規模的工廠，它們專門生產打上“意大利製造”標籤的產品。不過，近來，有數百家這樣的企業關閉。

“In one and a half years, everything changed,” Mr. Tedeschi said. “People started feeling afraid, and they stopped spending money. All the promises Monti made to relaunch the economy and help us enhance productivity never materialized.”

“過去的一年半里，所有的事情都變了。”泰代斯基說。“人們開始感到恐懼，他們不再花錢。蒙蒂給出的所有重振經濟、幫助我們擴大生產力的承諾從來沒有兌現。”

Orders for Temeca’s custom-built bedrooms, kitchens, windows and doors slowed to a trickle. Even the Vatican, which commissioned a choir stand and furnishings for one of its palaces from Mr. Tedeschi’s company, stopped placing orders last year.

泰代斯基收到的定製卧室、廚房、門窗產品的訂單越來越少。甚至連梵蒂岡都在去年停止繼續下訂單，梵蒂岡曾從泰代斯基的公司為它的一所殿堂訂購了一個唱詩班合唱台和傢俱。

Recently, he took a step he had hoped never to have to make: laying off employees, including a man who had been with the company for more than 30 years.

最近，泰代斯基採取了一個他寧願永不實行的措施：解僱員工，其中包括一名已經在他的公司幹了30多年的男僱員。

“When I had to fire those people, I cried,” he said, sitting in his small office under a picture of Mother Teresa as his wife, Annarita Neroni, and his son, Lorenzo, looked on. Mr. Tedeschi said several members of a local trade group took their own lives last year when they could no longer maintain their business.

“當我不得不解僱這些人時，我哭了，”他坐在他的小辦公室里說，他的上方是特蕾莎修女(Mother Teresa)的照片，他的妻子安娜麗塔·內羅尼(Annarita Neroni)和兒子洛倫佐(Lorenzo)在一旁坐着。泰代斯基說，當地貿易團體的幾名成員去年在無法保住自己的企業之後自殺了。

“This is a moment where if you stay alone in this situation,” he said, “you will wind up by shooting yourself.”

“此時此刻，如果你只能獨自面對這個局面，”他說，“你最終會開槍自殺。”