每日一篇:《经济学人》读译参考 Day27

英语是一门需要慢慢积累的学科，想要学好它，速成是不可取的。跟着聚英考研信息网小编每天学一点英语，一起为考研筑起坚实的地基。

经济学人:六大经济学原理:通胀与失业的关系(1)

Economics Brief  Six Big Ideas:

The relationship between inflation and unemployment

经济学简介  六大经济学原理：

通胀与失业的关系

The relationship between inflation and unemployment was first studied by Irving Fisher in 1926.But the “Phillips curve”, as it came to be known, owes its name to a study in 1958 by William Phillips of the London School of Economics.

译文

1926年，通胀与失业之间的关系在欧文·费雪(Irving Fisher)那里得到了第一次研究。但是，作为它后来为人所熟知的“菲利普斯曲线”(Phillips curve)，却是得名于伦敦政治经济学院的威廉·菲利普斯(William Phillips of the London School of Economics)在1958年进行的一项研究。

 

In his study, Phillips traced the relationship between unemployment and wage growth in Britain over the course of almost a century.He found that from 1861 to 1957 the relationship had been pretty stable: the lower the unemployment rate, the faster wages rose.This was remarkable, given the changes over that period in workers' rights.In 1861 most workers could not vote; by 1957 the post-war Labour government had nationalised much of the economy.

译文

在他的研究中，菲利普斯梳理了英国在将近一个世纪的时间中的失业和工资增长之间的关系。他发现，在1861年到1957年间，这种关系是相当稳定的：失业率越低，工资涨得越快。鉴于工人权利在那段时间中的变化，这是不同寻常的。大多数工人在1861年时还不能投票；到了1957年，战后的工党政府已经国有化了经济体的巨大多数部门。

 

Paul Samuelson and Robert Solow, two other economic luminaries, subsequently investigated the relationship in America, and reported that there was no such stability there.The Phillips curve shifted around.

译文

随后，另外两位经济学泰斗——保罗·萨缪尔森(Paul Samuelson)和罗伯特·索洛(Robert Solow)调查了这种关系在美国的情况。他们在报告中称，那里没有这种稳定性。菲利普斯曲线反转了。

 

But in any given era, Samuelson and Solow wrote, “wage rates do tend to rise when the labour market is tight, and the tighter the faster.”They described the relationship as a “menu”, encouraging the idea that the job of Keynesian policymakers was to pick a point on the curve that best aligned with their preferences.How low unemployment could fall, in other words, depended only on what level of inflation was tolerable (for rising wages would surely end up lifting prices, too).

译文

但是，萨缪尔森和索洛写道，在任何给定时代，“工资比率在劳动力市场紧缩时的确往往是上升的，而且是越紧缩越快。”他们把这种关系描绘成一份“菜单”，鼓励了凯恩斯主义决策者的工作是在与其偏好最一致的曲线上找一个点的观点。也就是说，失业可能跌倒多低，仅仅取决于什么水平的通胀是可以容忍的(因为不断上涨的工资肯定也会导致涨起来没完的物价)。

 

It is unclear whether policymakers actually thought of the relationship between inflation and unemployment as a menu.But the idea was prominent enough by the late 1960s to attract withering criticism.Its two main detractors, Edmund Phelps and Milton Friedman, would each go on to win a Nobel prize.

译文

决策者是否真就认为通胀与失业的关系是一份菜单不得而知。但是，这一思想之杰出，以致到上世纪60年代末引来越来越少的批评。它的两为主要的批评者——埃德蒙·菲尔普斯(Edmund Phelps)和米尔顿·弗里德曼(Milton Friedman)——每一个人都会继而获得一次诺贝尔奖。

 

注释

1.unemployment rate 失业率

例句:The nation's unemployment rate has been climbing steadily since last June.

自去年6月以来，该国的失业率一直在不断上升。

2.ended up 结果；导致

例句:The result was that the engine ended up at the bottom of the canal.

结果引擎最终沉到了运河底。

3.in other words 换句话说

例句:In other words, the system broke.

换句话说，系统瘫痪了。

4.came to be known 为人所知的

例句:The event came to be known as the Blaine invasion and was of some significance at the time.

这次事件后来被称为“入侵布莱恩”，并且在当时，还有些影响的。

 

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