2023考研英語閱讀西方國家的失業情況

　　Unemployment in the West

　　西方國家的失業情況

　　A LITTLE geographical imagination helps to conveythe scale of joblessness in the West. If the 44mpeople who are unemployed in the mainly rich members of the OECD lived in one country, itspopulation would be similar to Spains. In Spain itself, which has the Wests highest joblessrate , the number of people without work matches the combined population of Madridand Barcelona. In America the 14m people officially jobless would form the fifth-most-populousstate in the union. Add in the 11m underemployed, who are working less than they would like,and it is the size of Texas.

　　一張小的地理圖片便能有助于映射出西方國家的失業情況。在經濟合作組織中，如果一些主要的發達成員國有4400萬失業人口居住在一個國家，這就相當于西班牙的總人口數。而就西班牙本身而言卻有著西方國家最高的失業率，達到21%。這些沒有工作的人口加起來相當于皇家馬德里和巴塞羅那兩城市人口的總和。在美國，官方統計的失業人口為1400萬，足以組成該國的第五大州。另外還有1100萬未充分就業的人口，這相當于田納西州的人口規模。

　　The landscape is not uniformly bleak. Germany, for example, now has a lower jobless ratethan before the financial crisis. But in most of the rich world the proportion of peopleunemployed, though down a bit from its peak in 2009, is still alarmingly high, even as fearsmount that several countries may be slipping back into recession. And the human cost of theeconomic crisis is paid largely by those who are out of work, for joblessness increasesdepression, divorce, substance abuse and pretty much everything that can go wrong in a life.

　　情況并不都是慘不忍睹的。例如，德國較金融危機之前相比，如今失業率卻相對較低。但是在大多數富裕國家，失業人口的比重較2009年頂峰時相比，盡管有所降低，但仍然居高不下，令人擔憂，甚至一些國家隨著恐懼的加深，會再次滑落到經濟衰退時期。經濟危機中人類所付出的代價主要有失業者們買賬，他們的抑郁癥狀增加，離婚率上升，濫用物質，很多東西會使他們的一生誤入歧途。

　　Worse, todays joblessness is a particularly dangerous sort. A disproportionate share of thoseout of work are young, and youth unemployment leaves more scars, in terms of lower futurewages and greater likelihood of future unemployment ). Joblessness is also becoming more chronic. InAmerica, famous for its flexible labour market, the average jobless spell now lasts 40 weeks,up from 17 in 2007. In Italy half of those without work have been so for more than a year.Long-term unemployment is harder to cure, as peoples skills atrophy and they becomedetached from the workforce. Its shadow lingers, reducing future growth rates, damagingpublic finances and straining social order for years to come.

　　更為糟糕的是，當今的失業是一個特別危險的因素。由于失業造成的分配不公攤在年輕人身上，考慮到未來的低工資和可能性較高的失業，年輕時期的失業情形留下了更深的傷疤。失業也正在變得極重難返。以靈活市場就業出名的美國如今平均失業時間會持續40個周，與2007年的17個周相比有所上升。在意大利，一半的失業者遭遇這種情形不止一年。由于人們的技術會不斷萎縮，而他們又變得與世隔絕，所以長期的失業很難治愈。陰影未來的經濟增長率有所下降、公共財政遭到損壞及未來的社會秩序變的歪曲揮之不去。

　　This mess will not be fixed quickly. Even if growthaccelerates, unemployment will remain worryinglyhigh for several years. Many remedies, such asretraining workers, take time. But that only makes itall the more shocking that politicians have done solittle. America is stuck in a sterile debate, with theleft claiming that the government is not spendingenough, while the right insists that big governmentis destroying jobs. An increasingly unpopularBarack Obama was due to address Congress on thesubject just after The Economist went to press ). Across the Atlantic many of theresponses to the euro crisis ) seemdesigned to drive up joblessness. The Wests leaders can and must do better.

　　這種雜亂無章的局面不會立即得到解決。即使經濟增長加速，失業率在未來幾年內仍會居高不下，令人堪憂。許多像再次培訓工人這樣的解決方案非常耗時。然而那樣做只會使情況更加糟糕，而政客們做的非常少。美國依然沉浸在毫無結果的爭論中，左派分子宣稱政府花錢不夠，而 右派分子堅持聲稱龐大的政府計劃正在損壞工作。就在本期《經濟學家》出版后，越來越不受歡迎的美國總統巴拉克奧巴馬就這一主題向國會發表演講。為了抬高失業情形，環大西洋的許多國家對歐元危機的反應似乎是故意的。西方國家領導人能夠也必須做得更加出色。

　　Go for growth

　　一切為了增長

　　The immediate priority should be supporting demandor at least not doing harm to it. Theleft is right on one thing: the main cause of the current high joblessness is the severity of thelast recession and the weakness of the subsequent recovery. Yet the Wests economies haveembarked on contractionary policies. In some cases the fault lies with monetary policy: theEuropean Central Bank should reverse its recent rate rises. But the main culprit is a collective,premature shift to fiscal austerity by governments.

　　眼下應該將重點放在支持需求上或至少不能做不利于需求增長的事。左派的觀點在此是正確的。當前企高不下的失業率應主要歸結為上次經濟衰退的嚴重性和隨之而來疲軟的經濟復蘇。然而西方經濟體卻實施收縮銀根的政策。在一些情況下，錯誤就產生于貨幣政策：歐洲央行應該扭轉它最近上揚的匯率。但是最主要的罪魁禍首是各國政府實施集體的不成熟的向財政緊縮的轉變。

　　As this newspaper has repeatedly argued, politicians need to strike a bargain with the bondmarkets: combine policies that cushion growth now with measures that will bring deficits undercontrol in the medium term. Raise the retirement age, for instance, and that leaves more roomto stimulate growth in the short term. A minimal test of Mr Obamas jobs agenda will bewhether it is big enough to counter the fiscal tightening, equivalent to 2% of GDP, that isslated for next year.

　　由于信息被不斷的爭論，政客們需要和債券市場達成協議：將緩解增長的政策與控制財政赤字在中期內相結合。例如，提高退休年齡及在短期內騰出更多空間以刺激增長。對奧巴馬工作日程變最低的測試便是它是否大到足以抵抗財政緊縮的程度，那相當于國內生產總值的2%，明年將會實施。

　　Unemployment in the West

　　西方國家的失業情況

　　A LITTLE geographical imagination helps to conveythe scale of joblessness in the West. If the 44mpeople who are unemployed in the mainly rich members of the OECD lived in one country, itspopulation would be similar to Spains. In Spain itself, which has the Wests highest joblessrate , the number of people without work matches the combined population of Madridand Barcelona. In America the 14m people officially jobless would form the fifth-most-populousstate in the union. Add in the 11m underemployed, who are working less than they would like,and it is the size of Texas.

　　一張小的地理圖片便能有助于映射出西方國家的失業情況。在經濟合作組織中，如果一些主要的發達成員國有4400萬失業人口居住在一個國家，這就相當于西班牙的總人口數。而就西班牙本身而言卻有著西方國家最高的失業率，達到21%。這些沒有工作的人口加起來相當于皇家馬德里和巴塞羅那兩城市人口的總和。在美國，官方統計的失業人口為1400萬，足以組成該國的第五大州。另外還有1100萬未充分就業的人口，這相當于田納西州的人口規模。

　　The landscape is not uniformly bleak. Germany, for example, now has a lower jobless ratethan before the financial crisis. But in most of the rich world the proportion of peopleunemployed, though down a bit from its peak in 2009, is still alarmingly high, even as fearsmount that several countries may be slipping back into recession. And the human cost of theeconomic crisis is paid largely by those who are out of work, for joblessness increasesdepression, divorce, substance abuse and pretty much everything that can go wrong in a life.

　　情況并不都是慘不忍睹的。例如，德國較金融危機之前相比，如今失業率卻相對較低。但是在大多數富裕國家，失業人口的比重較2009年頂峰時相比，盡管有所降低，但仍然居高不下，令人擔憂，甚至一些國家隨著恐懼的加深，會再次滑落到經濟衰退時期。經濟危機中人類所付出的代價主要有失業者們買賬，他們的抑郁癥狀增加，離婚率上升，濫用物質，很多東西會使他們的一生誤入歧途。

　　Worse, todays joblessness is a particularly dangerous sort. A disproportionate share of thoseout of work are young, and youth unemployment leaves more scars, in terms of lower futurewages and greater likelihood of future unemployment ). Joblessness is also becoming more chronic. InAmerica, famous for its flexible labour market, the average jobless spell now lasts 40 weeks,up from 17 in 2007. In Italy half of those without work have been so for more than a year.Long-term unemployment is harder to cure, as peoples skills atrophy and they becomedetached from the workforce. Its shadow lingers, reducing future growth rates, damagingpublic finances and straining social order for years to come.

　　更為糟糕的是，當今的失業是一個特別危險的因素。由于失業造成的分配不公攤在年輕人身上，考慮到未來的低工資和可能性較高的失業，年輕時期的失業情形留下了更深的傷疤。失業也正在變得極重難返。以靈活市場就業出名的美國如今平均失業時間會持續40個周，與2007年的17個周相比有所上升。在意大利，一半的失業者遭遇這種情形不止一年。由于人們的技術會不斷萎縮，而他們又變得與世隔絕，所以長期的失業很難治愈。陰影未來的經濟增長率有所下降、公共財政遭到損壞及未來的社會秩序變的歪曲揮之不去。

　　This mess will not be fixed quickly. Even if growthaccelerates, unemployment will remain worryinglyhigh for several years. Many remedies, such asretraining workers, take time. But that only makes itall the more shocking that politicians have done solittle. America is stuck in a sterile debate, with theleft claiming that the government is not spendingenough, while the right insists that big governmentis destroying jobs. An increasingly unpopularBarack Obama was due to address Congress on thesubject just after The Economist went to press ). Across the Atlantic many of theresponses to the euro crisis ) seemdesigned to drive up joblessness. The Wests leaders can and must do better.

　　這種雜亂無章的局面不會立即得到解決。即使經濟增長加速，失業率在未來幾年內仍會居高不下，令人堪憂。許多像再次培訓工人這樣的解決方案非常耗時。然而那樣做只會使情況更加糟糕，而政客們做的非常少。美國依然沉浸在毫無結果的爭論中，左派分子宣稱政府花錢不夠，而 右派分子堅持聲稱龐大的政府計劃正在損壞工作。就在本期《經濟學家》出版后，越來越不受歡迎的美國總統巴拉克奧巴馬就這一主題向國會發表演講。為了抬高失業情形，環大西洋的許多國家對歐元危機的反應似乎是故意的。西方國家領導人能夠也必須做得更加出色。

　　Go for growth

　　一切為了增長

　　The immediate priority should be supporting demandor at least not doing harm to it. Theleft is right on one thing: the main cause of the current high joblessness is the severity of thelast recession and the weakness of the subsequent recovery. Yet the Wests economies haveembarked on contractionary policies. In some cases the fault lies with monetary policy: theEuropean Central Bank should reverse its recent rate rises. But the main culprit is a collective,premature shift to fiscal austerity by governments.

　　眼下應該將重點放在支持需求上或至少不能做不利于需求增長的事。左派的觀點在此是正確的。當前企高不下的失業率應主要歸結為上次經濟衰退的嚴重性和隨之而來疲軟的經濟復蘇。然而西方經濟體卻實施收縮銀根的政策。在一些情況下，錯誤就產生于貨幣政策：歐洲央行應該扭轉它最近上揚的匯率。但是最主要的罪魁禍首是各國政府實施集體的不成熟的向財政緊縮的轉變。

　　As this newspaper has repeatedly argued, politicians need to strike a bargain with the bondmarkets: combine policies that cushion growth now with measures that will bring deficits undercontrol in the medium term. Raise the retirement age, for instance, and that leaves more roomto stimulate growth in the short term. A minimal test of Mr Obamas jobs agenda will bewhether it is big enough to counter the fiscal tightening, equivalent to 2% of GDP, that isslated for next year.

　　由于信息被不斷的爭論，政客們需要和債券市場達成協議：將緩解增長的政策與控制財政赤字在中期內相結合。例如，提高退休年齡及在短期內騰出更多空間以刺激增長。對奧巴馬工作日程變最低的測試便是它是否大到足以抵抗財政緊縮的程度，那相當于國內生產總值的2%，明年將會實施。