2022年经济学人 劳动力与资本的抬价之战(2)

The second group consists of most other rich countries outside America. There, neither labour nor capital seems able to triumph. After correcting for pandemic-related distortions Japan’s pay growth appears to be slowing to below 1% a year, suggest data from Goldman Sachs, a bank.

第二类包括除美国之外的大多数富裕国家。在这些国家，劳动力和资本谁也赢不了谁。高盛银行(Goldman Sachs)的数据显示，修正了与疫情相关的失真后，日本的薪酬增长似乎正在放缓至每年1%以下。

Pay settlements in Italy and Spain are treading water, while wage growth in Australia, France and Germany remains¹ well below where it was before the pandemic. Workers in these places are not really joining in with the inflationary party.

意大利和西班牙的薪资水平停滞不前，而澳大利亚、法国和德国的薪资增长仍远低于疫情前的水平。这些地方的工人并没有真正加入通胀的阵营。

But businesses are not soaring either. In Europe pre-tax profit margins², as measured in the national accounts, have risen in recent months but remain below where they were just before the pandemic.

但企业利润也没有大幅增长。在欧洲，按国民经济核算计算的税前利润空间近几个月有所上升，但仍低于疫情爆发前的水平。

In Japan the “recurring” profits before tax of large and medium-sized companies recently returned to pre-pandemic levels. The profits of smaller companies remain well below, however.

在日本，大中型企业的“经常性”税前利润最近恢复到了疫情前的水平。然而，小型企业的利润仍远低于疫情前。

In the third group sits America. Here wage growth is rapid, at about 5% a year. But as shown in their most recent financial results, big listed American companies are doing a better job of protecting margins than analysts³ had expected.

第三类是美国。美国的工资增长很快，大约是每年5%的增速。但其最近的财务业绩表明，美国大型上市公司对利率的保护超过了分析师们的预期。

A series of unusually large stimulus⁴ payments may mean that households are able to absorb the higher prices that companies impose.

一系列异乎寻常的巨额刺激支出可能意味着百姓能够承受企业强加的更高价格。

In early February Amazon said it would increase the price of its Prime membership package by 17% in its home market—even as it chose not to announce price rises in other parts of the world.

2月初，亚马逊宣布将美国市场上的Prime会员套餐的价格提高17%，不过在世界其他地区，它没有宣布涨价信息。

Some firms are increasing their margins despite soaring costs.

尽管成本飙升，一些公司的利润仍在增加。

Tyson, an American meat producer, reported an 18% jump in the costs of its inputs⁵ in the most recent quarter compared with a year earlier, a 19.6% increase in its average selling prices, and a 40% rise in its adjusted operating profits. It says that rising meat prices have not slowed demand.

美国肉类生产商泰森(Tyson)报告称，与去年同期相比，其最近一个季度的投入成本上涨了18%，平均销售价格上涨了19.6%，调整后的营业利润增长了40%。该公司表示，不断上涨的肉价并没有减缓需求。

An economy-wide measure of corporate⁶ margins is rising fast. Dario Perkins of ts Lombard, a financial-services firm, breaks down America’s rise in unit prices since the start of the pandemic into companies’ labour costs, non-labour costs and profits.

衡量企业利率的经济指标正在迅速上升。金融服务公司ts Lombard的达里奥·帕金斯(Dario Perkins)分析了自疫情爆发以来美国单位价格的上涨，并将其拆分为企业的劳动力成本、非劳动力成本和利润。

Wages are rising, but nonetheless markups are responsible for more than 70% of inflation since late 2019, he finds. In a recent report, analysts at Bank of America argue that greater pricing power helps explain why American equities⁷ have a higher price-earnings ratio than European ones.

他发现，工资正在上涨，但尽管如此，自2019年末以来，超过70%的通胀都是由抬价造成的。在最近的一份报告中，美国银行的分析师认为，更大的定价权解释了为什么美国股票的市盈率比欧洲股票的高。

The story is not over yet. Some economists⁸ wonder if workers will before long demand even higher wages to compensate⁹ for higher prices in the shops. There is some evidence of this in America and Britain, where wage growth seems to be accelerating.

故事还未结束。一些经济学家想知道，工人们是否会在不久之后要求更高的工资，以对冲更高的物价。美国和英国出现了相关迹象，那里的薪资增长正在加速。

Businesses’ expectations for future wage settlements remain fairly conservative, though that could soon change. If wages do start to grow more quickly, the cycle of price rises and compensating¹⁰ wage demands might start up all over again. Before long the post-lockdown economy could look like the ultimate compromise—where nobody is satisfied.

企业对未来的薪资预期仍然相当保守，不过这可能很快就会改变。如果薪资真的开始快速增长，可能会再次启动抬价与涨薪之间的循环。用不了多久，疫情封锁后的经济可能会像是终极妥协——没有一个人满意。

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

5 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 equities   

普通股，股票

参考例句：

• These are invested mainly in the OECD bonds and equities. 这些资产主要投资于经济合作及发展组织的债券与股票市场。
• They are also advantage of the global rebound in equities. 它们还在利用全球股市反弹的机会。

8 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》

9 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

10 compensating   

补偿，补助，修正

参考例句：

• I am able to set up compensating networks of nerve connections. 我能建立起补偿性的神经联系网。
• It is desirable that compensating cables be run in earthed conduit. 补偿导线最好在地下管道中穿过。