雅思扩展阅读--经济学人赏析之英国民众却并未感受到经济复苏

历届政府都通过税收抵免政策提高了40%的公民可支配收入。通过“智囊团”——英国决议基金会(theResolution Foundation)的商定，自1977年起，将国家收入的一个百分点补贴公民收入，直至2008至2009年，最高曾一度达到3.7个百分点。该行为很好地掩饰了公民收入从占国家原有收入的30%下降至22%的这一事实。

Today the government crows about the failings of past administrations while presiding over anintensification of the same problems. At current rates, real earnings will have shrunk by￡6,660 ($10,250) over the 2010-15 parliament. The hourglass shape of the labour market hasbecome more pronounced: research by the Trades Union Congress shows that four in five netjobs created up to December 2012 were in low-wage sectors. As before, the squeezed middle isturning to credit cards to compensate; in the first quarter of 2013 the savings ratio fell to4.2%, its lowest since 2009.

如今英国政府一边在“哭诉”曾经管理层的失败，一边又在同样的问题上栽了更大的跟头。就目前利率来看，在2010至2015年议会期间，公民真实收入将缩减至6,660欧元(折合美元10,250元)。劳务市场需求沙漏化更加明显：英国总工会(Trades Union Congress)的一项研究表明，至2012年11月，由低工资部门提供的净就业机会占总数的五分之四，而那些被限制的中等水平求职者只好利用信用卡来支付各项费用。2013年第一季度英国储蓄率跌至4.2%，是自2009年以来的最低水平。

Solihull's economy is a microcosm of the national one. Job vacancies are up 2% on pre-recessionlevels, but mortgage and secured-loan arrears are 30% higher. The collapse of a localvanmaker, LDV, pushed many into low-quality service jobs. A noticeboard in a local CAB iscrammed with advertisements for part-time or temporary work in supermarkets and cleaningagencies. “It's hard for someone used to a job as a production manager on ￡25,000 to findthemselves stacking shelves on minimum wage,” says Kerry Turner, the local head of CitizensAdvice.

索利赫尔的经济仅仅是英国国家经济的一个缩影。空缺的职位数比经济衰退前上涨了2%，但抵押款和抵押款拖欠却增加了30%。当地一家面包车制造厂(LDV)倒闭造成了许多人不得不选择低质量的服务行业。当地公民咨询局(CAB)的一块公告牌上贴满了超市和清洁公司招收兼职或临时工的广告，其领导人克里·特纳(Kerry Turner)表示，对于那些曾经挣着25,000欧元，比如生产部门经理来说，很难接受自己整理货架并且挣着最低工资的工作。

Desperate times, plastic measures

艰难时期的脆弱对策

Such struggling voters are electorally crucial, especially in the southern and Midlands seatsthat swing national results (in Solihull the Liberal Democrat MP has a majority of just 175).Politicians are right to call the nationwide polls scheduled for 2015 the “living-standardselection”.

这些处于困境的选民是选举的关键点，尤其是南方和内陆的席位更是会影响全国的选举结果(在索利赫尔，自由派民主党人议员拥有绝大多数的选票，但总人数也仅有175人)。政客们将定于2015年的全国选举称为“基于生活水平的选举”。

Coining a phrase is one thing, living up to it is another. The Labour Party's recent offensive onliving costs was long on point-scoring and short on detailed solutions. The government boastsof its remedies (increasing the income-tax threshold and cutting beer tax, for example), butmost are more than offset by the fall in real incomes. Recent education and welfare reforms arebroadly commendable, but do little to change the fundamentals. Britons lack vocational skillsand are underemployed. As the firms they work for invest at an alarmingly low rate, theirproductivity stagnates.

喊口号是一回事，而能否实现却是另外一回事。工党近来在公民生活费用问题上咄咄逼人，但是却很少提出详细的解决方法。政府在一味吹嘘他们诸如提高收入的个税起征点、削减啤酒税等补救策略，但多数却由于公民真实收入减少造成这些补偿款的入不敷出。虽然最近的教育及福利改革被大众所接受，但这对于基本问题没有任何改善。英国人依然缺乏职业技能且就业岗位不足，原因是他们工作的公司投入率惊人地低，从而导致生产停滞不前。

Ruminating on the state of the nation, Mrs Turner describes the increasing number of peoplewho come to the CAB with plastic bags stuffed with unopened post from creditors. Theyignore the letters, and take out more loans to make ends meet. Unable to kick the debt habitand unwilling to face reality, they are a reminder of what is wrong with Britain's recovery.

深入剖析国家现状，特纳女士说，越来越多的人提着塞满债主寄来的还未开封邮件的塑料包，来到公民咨询局(CAB)。他们不去理会那些催款单，却继续申请更多贷款来维持收支平衡。他们无法摆脱债务但又不愿面对现实，而这恰巧折射出英国经济复苏时的问题所在。译者：尤熠 校对：袁航