经济学人54:必须做的一件事

 　　Still in Books and Arts; Book Review;Tax reform in America;A simple bare necessity;

　　文艺；书评；美国税改;必须做的一件事;

　　The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform—Why We Need It and What It Will Take. By Bruce Bartlett.

　　《效益与负担：税改——我们为什么需要税改，推行税改需要什么》。布鲁斯·巴特利特著。

　　Few subjects match tax reform for economic importance and utter lack of sex appeal. With a government bleeding red ink, an ageing population and growth lagging, reform is back on America's political agenda. Bruce Bartlett, a supply-side economist¹, tax expert and former adviser² to President Reagan, is among those best equipped to help navigate³ the murky⁴ terrain⁵. Mr Bartlett held influential⁶ economic positions during the country's last great spasm⁷ of reform in the 1980s, but he is now held an apostate⁸ by many Republicans, for whom the only acceptable tax changes are cuts. His balanced, well-researched primer on America's tax system, “The Benefit and the Burden”, will not endear him further to ideologues, but it is a refreshing⁹ entrée to a difficult subject.

　　很少有话题能像税收改革那样具有经济意义，也很少有话题能像税收改革这样枯燥无味。政府赤字还在增加，人口老龄化还在加剧，经济增长依然迟缓，税收改革又重新回到美国的政治议程。一些人秣马厉兵帮助美国共渡难关，供应学派经济学家布鲁斯·巴特莱特就是其中的一位，他是一位税务专家，曾在里根政府里担任顾问。在上世纪80年代的美国改革阵痛中，巴特莱特先生确立了他在经济领域的重要地位，然而现在许多共和党人视他为“叛徒”，因为唯一可以接受的税改方案因他而被删除。他那本结构平衡、条分缕析介绍美国税制的普及读本《福利及税负》不再使他更受理论家的追捧，但把这本书当作一个困难话题的“开口小菜”倒是不错。

　　The book's no-nonsense approach to tax policy proves surprisingly engaging. Mr Bartlett walks readers through discussions on income and spending—basic concepts made baffling within the context of the tax code. He offers a dose of history and the useful perspective of a seasoned Washington hand. America's labyrinthine¹⁰ tax rules are hardly the product of intelligent design, he explains. The popular deduction¹¹ for home-mortgage interest that helped create suburban¹² America, for example, was not adopted to boost home-ownership but included quite innocently in a 1913 income-tax law that spared interest of any kind. Where economics has useful things to say about tax Mr Bartlett is quick to cite research. And he is prepared to let empirical analysis speak for itself.

　　该书对税收政策的讲述比较严肃，后经证明这是一种引人入胜的方式。巴特莱特先生让读者领会了财政收支问题，在税收法典中这些基本概念常让人感到困惑。他提供的是一剂历史良药，他提供给读者的是身经百战的政府官员才能具备的有用视角。巴特莱特先生解释说，美国的税收规则如迷宫一般，几乎不是智慧设计的产物。例如，帮助美国郊区快速发展的按揭贷款利息扣除的流行做法，就没有被采用以提高住房的自有率，但却被十分天真地写到美国1913年所得税法当中，按照该方法，各类利息都可以免除。经济学中谈及税收的有用章节都会很快被巴特莱特先生引用。他准备让经验分析自己证明这一切。

　　Mr Bartlett's critique of America's tax system is that it creates a deceptive¹³ picture of the influence of government, and is far too costly¹⁴. On revenues as a share of GDP, America's government looks small relative to its European peers. The difference is illusory. European health spending shows up on the government's ledgers¹⁵ whereas America's tax preferences for health insurance do not. But the government intervention¹⁶ is there all the same. In 2012 the deduction for employer-provided insurance cost some $434 billion, or roughly 3% of GDP. Include these “tax expenditures” in the budget, Mr Bartlett says, and America's state looks as bloated as any in Europe. Net social spending rises to 27.2% of GDP—above the level in Italy and Denmark and higher than the OECD average.

　　巴特莱特先生对美国税制提出批评，认为它制造了一种政府影响力的假象，而且成本太高。看上去美国税收收入与GDP之间的比率比欧洲国家要低。两者之间的区别是不真实的。欧洲国家的保健支出在政府账上显示为增加，而美国健康保险的税收优惠却没有增加。但美国和欧洲国家政府的介入一直是一致的。2012年，雇主提供的保险成本扣除数为4340亿美元左右，约占GDP的3%。巴特莱特先生表示，包括这些预算中“税收支出”在内，美国的状况看起来与欧洲任何国家一样庞大。社会净支出增加到GDP的27.2%，超过了意大利和丹麦，也高于经合组织的平均水平。

　　It is also needlessly costly, riddled¹⁷ with quirks¹⁸ of the sort that allow Warren Buffett, an American billionaire, and the Republican presidential contender, Mitt¹⁹ Romney, to pay a lower average tax rate than many poorer households. Rates should be cut, Mr Bartlett argues, but one must also broaden the tax base, leaving few loopholes through which revenue might escape. The value-added tax (VAT²⁰) that is common in Europe is a better way. VAT is a tax on consumption; firms receive credits for tax paid on business supplies. The structure improves compliance²¹ and efficiency. Europe raises more money than America at less cost to growth; some high-tax countries like Denmark outperform America in real growth per head.

　　也不必说它的成本高昂了，有很多奇怪的制度设计使得美国亿万富翁巴菲特、共和党总统竞争者罗姆尼比许多贫困家庭支付的税率还要低。巴特莱特先生认为，税率应该降低，但税基必须扩大，使得收入没有太多的漏洞可钻。欧洲普遍实施的增值税就是一个比较好的方法。增值税是一种消费税，公司收到供应商的货物，也就收到了的税收信用，这种设计能够加强人们对税法的遵守，能够提高效率。欧洲比美国的税收更高，而税收成本增长更小。像丹麦这样的高税收国家，人均实际增长比美国要好。

　　Mr Bartlett favours the introduction of VAT, but reckons that politics will make this hard to do. It is doubly abhorrent²² to Republicans, who oppose any new taxes, and who fear that the “painless” efficiency of VAT may make the American government too eager to spend. Democrats²³, on the other hand, worry that VAT will harm low-income households relative to income tax, which is more progressive. European welfare states often rely on tax systems that are flatter than America's, using welfare spending to smooth out inequities.

　　巴特莱特先生倾向于引进增值税，但他认为美国政治将为这个问题增加难度。也会增加共和党的憎恶，因为他们反对任何新的税种，他们担心增值税的“无痛”功效可能促使美国政府急于花钱。另一方面，民主党则担心增值税会损害到与所得税这个更先进的税收相关的低收入家庭的利益。欧洲福利国家常依靠比美国更低的税收制度，使用福利支出来弥合社会不公。

　　America's politics seem ill-prepared for such reforms. Democrats, riding populist outrage²⁴ at the rich, want to protect the welfare state and pay for it through tax rises on the wealthy. On the right, well-heeled Americans fume²⁵ that nearly half of all households pay no federal income tax. Mr Bartlett's political diagnosis²⁶ is perhaps the book's least satisfying aspect. Little will be accomplished²⁷ until congressional Republicans are willing to compromise, he writes, and America's best chance may be to elect a reform-minded Republican president and a Democratic Congress—and to hope. In the end, the weaknesses in America's tax code are not half as debilitating²⁸ as those in its politics.

　　面临税制改革，美国政府似乎准备不足。民主党将平民主义的愤怒发泄到富人身上，他们想要保住福利制度，通过对富人增税解决这个问题。在右派这边，富有的美国人愤怒地说，将近一半的美国家庭不缴联邦所得税。巴特莱特先生对美国政治的诊断也许是该书是不能令人满意的地方。他在书中写道，除非国会中的共和党人愿意作出妥协，否则很难取得进展，美国最好的局面可能是，由一位具有改革精神的共和党人做总统，由民主党人领导国会。他希望如此。最后，美国税典中的缺点所带来的负面影响远不及美国政治大。

1 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。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

4 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

5 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

6 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

7 spasm   

n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作

参考例句：

• When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后，他虚弱无力，一直冒汗。
• He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦，一脚踢向椅子。

8 apostate   

n.背叛者，变节者

参考例句：

• He is an apostate from Christianity.他是一个基督教的背信者。
• The most furious anarchist become the most barefaced apostate.最激烈的无政府主义者，居然成了最露骨的变节者。

9 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

10 labyrinthine   

adj.如迷宫的；复杂的

参考例句：

• His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink.他的思绪，早滑进到双重思想迷宫般的世界里去。
• The streets of the Old City are narrow and labyrinthine.老城区的街道狭促曲折，好似迷宫一般。

11 deduction   

n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎

参考例句：

• No deduction in pay is made for absence due to illness.因病请假不扣工资。
• His deduction led him to the correct conclusion.他的推断使他得出正确的结论。

12 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

13 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

14 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

15 ledgers   

n.分类账( ledger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The ledgers and account books had all been destroyed. 分类账本和账簿都被销毁了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ledgers had all been destroyed. 账簿都被销毁了。 来自辞典例句

16 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

17 riddled   

adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式)

参考例句：

• The beams are riddled with woodworm. 这些木梁被蛀虫蛀得都是洞。
• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 quirks   

n.奇事，巧合( quirk的名词复数 )；怪癖

参考例句：

• One of his quirks is that he refuses to travel by train. 他的怪癖之一是不愿乘火车旅行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All men have their own quirks and twists. 人人都有他们自己的怪癖和奇想。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

19 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

20 vat   

n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶

参考例句：

• The office is asking for the vat papers.办事处要有关增值税的文件。
• His father emptied sacks of stale rye bread into the vat.他父亲把一袋袋发霉的黑面包倒进大桶里。

21 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

22 abhorrent   

adj.可恶的，可恨的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• He is so abhorrent,saying such bullshit to confuse people.他这样乱说，妖言惑众，真是太可恶了。
• The idea of killing animals for food is abhorrent to many people.许多人想到杀生取食就感到憎恶。

23 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

25 fume   

n.(usu pl.)(浓烈或难闻的)烟，气，汽

参考例句：

• The pressure of fume in chimney increases slowly from top to bottom.烟道内压力自上而下逐渐增加，底层住户的排烟最为不利。
• Your harsh words put her in a fume.你那些难听的话使她生气了。

26 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

27 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

28 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。