2016考研英語最新時文精讀精析：美國人的工資

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本文老師給大家推薦一篇選自2015年4月13日的《經(jīng)濟學(xué)人》的文章。原文的標(biāo)題為：Why American wage growth is so lousy? 為什么美國人的工資才漲了這么一點?這又是一個經(jīng)濟類的話題，我們不僅要從中了解這一經(jīng)濟現(xiàn)象的表現(xiàn)和原因，還需要學(xué)習(xí)并記住一些核心詞匯及表達(dá)方式。下文給了一個結(jié)論：工資之所以沒有再上漲，是因為在許多情況下，工資早已太高了。Wages, in other words, are not rising by more because in many cases they are already too high.

【經(jīng)濟學(xué)人原文】

To understand current patterns one first has to remember how American firms behaved during the 2007-09 recession. At that time, they were desperate to cut costs. They would like to have foisted pay cuts on their staff. But cutting pay is harder than it sounds. Meanwhile, were squeezed in order to boost their productivity, so as to manage too-high wage rates without having to lay off the cream of the payroll. As conditions improved after the recession ended, firms' prior response left them with a wage hangover. Rather than continue to pump workers for extra productivity, firms preferred to return to more normal management conditions, and to let too-high wages adjust over time: “pent-up” wage cuts have been achieved simply by not granting raises. Wages, in other words, are not rising by more because in many cases they are already too high.

【參考譯文】

為了理解當(dāng)前的模式，有必要回憶一下美國企業(yè)在2007-2009年衰退中的表現(xiàn)。當(dāng)時，它們曾不顧一切地去降低成本它們本想強行削減職工的工資。但是，削減工資這種事比聽上去要難得多。與此同時，為了提高生產(chǎn)力，較好的工人受到了擠壓，因而使得企業(yè)可以在不削減工資的情況下維持過高的工資率。衰退結(jié)束后，隨著條件的改善，企業(yè)的第一反應(yīng)就是將職工的工資放置不動。與其為了額外的生產(chǎn)力而繼續(xù)給工人增加工資，企業(yè)更傾向于回歸更正常的管理情況，任由過高的工資隨著時間而調(diào)整：“被壓抑的”工資削減已經(jīng)通過沒有保證提高工資這種方式簡單地得到了實現(xiàn)。也就是說，工資之所以沒有再上漲，是因為在許多情況下，工資早已太高了。

另外還存在一些其他的原因：一是許多工人沒有要求提高工資many workers are not demanding high wages. 這或許可以被歸結(jié)為在2013年年底對美國失業(yè)保險項目的一次改革，這次改革大大地降低了美國人能夠領(lǐng)取失業(yè)救濟的最長時間。大約130萬美國人受到了直接的影響。由于無以求助，許多失業(yè)者的工資預(yù)期就降了下來。(that may be down to a reform to America's unemployment-insurance scheme taken at the end of 2013, which slashed the maximum time for which Americans could draw unemployment benefits. About 1.3m Americans were affected immediately. With nothing to fall back on, the wage expectations for many unemployed people fell.)2013年多的失業(yè)保險改革這個背景信息是在15年的真題當(dāng)中涉及過的，大家一定要引起重視。

文章最后指出，工資停滯不前( sluggish wages)的最大原因仍舊是近年來主要問題：美國病態(tài)的勞動力市場( America's sickly labour market)。同以前相比，現(xiàn)在的美國勞動力市場非常強勁，但是這種強勁離著完全健康還有很長的一段距離。產(chǎn)生快速且持續(xù)的工資增長將需要更長時間的強勁的工作增長。希望大家認(rèn)真研讀今天的時文精析，祝愿大家百尺竿頭，更進一步!Fighting!