2016考研英语最新时文精读精析：美国人的工资

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本文老师给大家推荐一篇选自2015年4月13日的《经济学人》的文章。原文的标题为：Why American wage growth is so lousy? 为什么美国人的工资才涨了这么一点?这又是一个经济类的话题，我们不仅要从中了解这一经济现象的表现和原因，还需要学习并记住一些核心词汇及表达方式。下文给了一个结论：工资之所以没有再上涨，是因为在许多情况下，工资早已太高了。Wages, in other words, are not rising by more because in many cases they are already too high.

【经济学人原文】

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.

【参考译文】

为了理解当前的模式，有必要回忆一下美国企业在2007-2009年衰退中的表现。当时，它们曾不顾一切地去降低成本它们本想强行削减职工的工资。但是，削减工资这种事比听上去要难得多。与此同时，为了提高生产力，较好的工人受到了挤压，因而使得企业可以在不削减工资的情况下维持过高的工资率。衰退结束后，随着条件的改善，企业的第一反应就是将职工的工资放置不动。与其为了额外的生产力而继续给工人增加工资，企业更倾向于回归更正常的管理情况，任由过高的工资随着时间而调整：“被压抑的”工资削减已经通过没有保证提高工资这种方式简单地得到了实现。也就是说，工资之所以没有再上涨，是因为在许多情况下，工资早已太高了。

另外还存在一些其他的原因：一是许多工人没有要求提高工资many workers are not demanding high wages. 这或许可以被归结为在2013年年底对美国失业保险项目的一次改革，这次改革大大地降低了美国人能够领取失业救济的最长时间。大约130万美国人受到了直接的影响。由于无以求助，许多失业者的工资预期就降了下来。(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年多的失业保险改革这个背景信息是在15年的真题当中涉及过的，大家一定要引起重视。

文章最后指出，工资停滞不前( sluggish wages)的最大原因仍旧是近年来主要问题：美国病态的劳动力市场( America's sickly labour market)。同以前相比，现在的美国劳动力市场非常强劲，但是这种强劲离着完全健康还有很长的一段距离。产生快速且持续的工资增长将需要更长时间的强劲的工作增长。希望大家认真研读今天的时文精析，祝愿大家百尺竿头，更进一步!Fighting!