美国国家公共电台 NPR--'Planet Money': Will the Inflation Reduction Act really fight inflation?

'Planet Money': Will the Inflation Reduction Act really fight inflation?

Transcript¹

The Inflation Reduction Act includes a number of provisions to tackle climate change and health care costs. But whether it really fights inflation is less clear.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The recently signed Inflation Reduction Act has a lot of provisions for things such as tackling climate change and health care costs. But whether it really fights inflation is a little less clear. Mary Childs of our Planet Money team wanted to take the act at its word and find out what effect will all of these new provisions have on rising costs. Mary, all right, so first off, how does one go about reducing inflation?

MARY CHILDS, BYLINE²: So this is one area where economists³ basically agree. Inflation is a mismatch between supply and demand for all the goods and services in the economy - too much demand, not enough supply. So the main way for the government to fight inflation is to slow down demand, to get everyone to stop spending so much money, even removing money from the economy.

MART?NEZ: And does this law do that?

CHILDS: Well, yes and no. It takes money out of the economy in a few ways, most notably⁴ through new taxes on big companies. It also ramps⁵ up tax enforcement, enabling the IRS to, for example, investigate people who haven't been paying their taxes. The government itself is also spending less, namely in health care through Medicare. This law lets Medicare haggle⁶ with pharma companies to get lower drug prices and gives other new mechanisms⁷ to keep drug prices down. But the new law also spends a lot in health care, too, by providing new subsidies⁸ and caps on prescription⁹ costs for people covered by Medicare. And so all this so far does save more than it spends in the end for a grand total of $660-ish billion out of the economy over the next 10 years, which is good to fight inflation.

MART?NEZ: All right. Now, there's another part of this law, so tell us about the climate stuff.

CHILDS: Yes, so it's a lot of spending. It's more than $350 billion on clean energy alternatives and technologies and other things. And it's great if you're worried about climate change, but if you are thinking narrowly about inflation, it's a lot of credits and subsidies to encourage people to go buy things, which means more demand, more money into the economy right now, which is what we don't want when it comes to inflation. So the net savings¹⁰ in the law are too small to make much of a difference in fighting inflation. All the economists we talked to and also researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business say that this law's overall effect from an inflation standpoint is basically zero.

MART?NEZ: So, Mary, I am not a Wharton School graduate...

CHILDS: (Laughter) Yet.

MART?NEZ: ...But it definitely sounds like the climate section is a tough sell as inflation-reducing.

CHILDS: That's right, yeah, at least in the short term. But there is this kind of other element to it that's harder to price, and indeed, a lot of the analysis that you'll see doesn't take this into account because, yes, those subsidies mean spending now and soon, but they can also help create a larger market for the things being subsidized. They can spur innovation, create greater supply, all of which should help bring costs down, which is good to fight inflation. But also, everyone having more energy-efficient things will mean less spending on energy in the long term.

So as an example, say you use the tax credit in the law to go spend money on new energy-efficient windows. So that's bad for curbing¹¹ inflation now. You're spending money now. But your house will retain heat better for years, so your energy bills will be lower. And that's going to be disinflationary, just not right away.

MART?NEZ: All right, that's Mary Childs from Planet Money. Mary, thanks.

CHILDS: Thank you.

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 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

5 ramps   

resources allocation and multiproject scheduling 资源分配和多项目的行程安排

参考例句：

• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。
• He has the upper floor and ramps are fitted everywhere for his convenience. 他住在上面一层，为了他的方便着想，到处设有坡道。

6 haggle   

vi.讨价还价，争论不休

参考例句：

• In many countries you have to haggle before you buy anything.在许多国家里买东西之前都得讨价还价。
• If you haggle over the price,they might give you discount.你讲讲价，他们可能会把价钱降低。

7 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

10 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。

11 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。