美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why rural Americans feel inflation's effects more than people in cities and suburbs

Why rural Americans feel inflation's effects more than people in cities and suburbs

Transcript¹

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to professor Dave Peters, an economist² and sociologist³ with Iowa State University's extension service, about the pain rural Americans are feeling because of inflation.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Inflation has touched every part of this country, but it hits different people differently depending on factors like your income and where you live. Dave Peters has studied the effects on people in rural America, specifically rural Iowa, which is where he lives. He works with the Iowa State University's Small Towns Project and the Iowa State University extension service. That means that he drives from town to town, across the state, wherever he may be invited when local people want to use the university's knowledge to help things like their economic development.

DAVE PETERS: We call it chasing the radiator⁴, so yes...

INSKEEP: (Laughter).

PETERS: Drive all over. And, you know, Iowa is a very traditional state and so virtual doesn't work. They like to see you in person. They like to shake your hand and size you up. And (laughter) - but it's good. It gets us out of Ames. And I enjoy it.

INSKEEP: When it comes to inflation, what have you been seeing as you've been chasing the radiator, driving around?

PETERS: Yeah, mainly fuel prices, particularly among the farmer and agricultural community. They really are worried about the price of gas and diesel⁵. And then even on the non-farm economy, since rural people have to drive long distances for their work, for school, for health care, just to get the daily necessities of life like groceries, you know, it's taking a hit in rural America.

INSKEEP: It's worse when it comes to fuel costs for rural America right now?

PETERS: Yeah, absolutely. So by the numbers of the federal government that I pieced together, by my estimates over the past two years, it costs rural households $2,500 more for gasoline than it did two years ago.

INSKEEP: And I guess you're just not in a situation generally where you can drive less or take the bus?

PETERS: Yeah, there is no public transportation. Exactly. People don't buy fuel efficient or electric cars or hybrids⁶. But, yeah, I mean, it's - you have to drive. And people are trimming elsewhere. They're taking it out of savings⁷ right now, at this point. So that financial cushion that I like to call it, that extra money after all their expenses and taxes are paid, they're dipping into that. And so that's down to about $5,000 right now for the typical rural household.

INSKEEP: You're saying the average person had $10,000 on hand a couple of years ago. And they've been losing money.

PETERS: Right. And so they're dipping into savings now. But if these prices continue, they're soon going to expend⁸ whatever discretionary income they have. Then they're going to start going into debt, likely credit card debt. But a lot of people here in the upper Midwest, what they're doing is they're beginning to take out home equity⁹ lines of credit because their home values have gone up. And that's particularly dangerous if home prices fall back down, you know, then they're left with a mortgage that, you know, the value of their home doesn't cover.

INSKEEP: What other significant factors are there besides the transportation costs that you mentioned, which have been driving some people into the red?

PETERS: Fuels for heating your home in rural areas. So most rural homes have to buy tanks of liquefied petroleum¹⁰ or liquefied propane. Or they have to get fuel oil. And those have really risen in costs as well. That's, I think, something like $1,000 more. And then health insurance costs have really increased, as well as veterinarian services (laughter. So rural areas, a lot of livestock¹¹, a lot of horses, a lot of kind of animals - and veterinarian services and supplies has also increased more for rural households.

INSKEEP: Anecdotally or otherwise, is it getting bad enough that it's driving some people out of rural areas, they need to move to a city, they need to rearrange their lives?

PETERS: Yeah, it's complicated. So there are people that I've talked to in Iowa and in Nebraska, where I do some work as well, that they're really trying to do that financial calculation, you know? They would love to work and get city wages, but they can't commute¹². It's too expensive with the gas prices. And the, really, thing that's holding them back is the cost of homes. It's not so easy to pick up and move to an urban area because housing costs are expensive.

But a lot of people are really beginning to say - think, if I have to continue to drive for everything and these fuel costs remain high and my wages aren't going up as fast as they are in cities, some people are contemplating¹³ moving closer to a city, moving to the suburbs or moving to, you know, a small community, you know, 45 minutes from a city. So yeah, it'll probably, if it continues, accelerate rural depopulation in parts of the Midwest and Great Plains.

INSKEEP: Well, Dave Peters, I sure hope that Iowa State University reimburses¹⁴ your fuel costs as you drive around to small towns.

PETERS: They have not yet (laughter).

INSKEEP: This is not good.

PETERS: (Laughter) No, it's not good.

INSKEEP: Well, hang in there.

PETERS: Yeah, I will. Thank you for talking.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

4 radiator   

n.暖气片，散热器

参考例句：

• The two ends of the pipeline are connected with the radiator.管道的两端与暖气片相连接。
• Top up the radiator before making a long journey.在长途旅行前加满散热器。

5 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

6 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

7 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

8 expend   

vt.花费，消费，消耗

参考例句：

• Don't expend all your time on such a useless job.不要把时间消耗在这种无用的工作上。
• They expend all their strength in trying to climb out.他们费尽全力想爬出来。

9 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

10 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

11 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

12 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

13 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

14 reimburses   

v.偿还，付还( reimburse的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Reimburses the actual medical expenses due to an accidental injury or sickness. 赔偿因罹患疾病或意外事故，而导致的实际医药费用。 来自互联网
• ACE reimburses the insured's loss under policy term. ACE依保单承保责任补偿被保险人之损失。 来自互联网