PBS高端访谈:工资与物价的不相称危及商业安全

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN: One factor contributing to poverty, stagnating¹ wages. As this graphic² shows, wages adjusted for inflation have been virtually flat for 45 years, but consumer prices have been rising sharply during that same period. For more about this and its connection to poverty we’re joined now via skype from Richmond, Virgina by Roben farzad. He’s a contributor for Bloomberg Businessweek. So let’s talk about this gap between wages and purchasing power. Why is that different?

　　ROBEN FARZAD: Because if you’re just tempted³ to look at the fact ‘Oh, I made $50 a week’, let’s say for argument sake, ‘in 1970 and I make $60 right now so it’s not bad,’ in reality you’re fooling yourself in real terms. Because inflation is pernicious even if it’s growing in the low single digits⁴ like 2 percent or 2.5 percent, like we’ve been used to for the past decade. When you compound it over several decades it’s like singeing⁵ off three quarters of your dollar every time you take it out of your pocket. People tend to look at things in nominal⁶ terms and in the end when they can’t buy as much as they’re used to on what they were making, they get blindsided.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: But what are some of the factors contributing to it? People will say, ‘listen now I have access to goods and services from all over the world at even cheaper prices, so maybe I don’t need to make as much.’

　　ROBEN FARZAD: Well that has tempered the pain certainly. But that is also a function of really aggressive offshoring and outsourcing. And these jobs, these decent manufacturing jobs, used to be able to be a high school graduate, or at worst you know maybe have an associates degree from a two-year program at a college and get a decent living wage, and maybe get benefits and have hopes of raising a family of four and putting kids through high school and what not. And that has so deteriorated⁷ in a cloud over the past several decades. You can’t count on there being good paying jobs. People are realizing that their pension programs are no longer guaranteed, that companies are using increasingly part-time workers and contract workers.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Okay, let’s talk finally about the cliff effect. This urge for people to not want to raise or not make a dollar more than what actually gets them in the poverty zone?

　　ROBEN FARZAD: It’s one of the evergreen⁸ and very valid⁹ criticisms of the social safety net in the United States. It’s so frustrating¹⁰ for people who are on the brink¹¹ of being able to get out of assistance, whether you’re talking about food stamps or Medicaid, but they know that for every incremental¹² 10 dollars that they make, they’re gonna lose all their benefits, and they can’t do that. Suppose you’re making 19,000 dollars a year and you have a chance to make 22,000 dollars a year, but you’re going to have to pay for out-of-pocket health insurance, or go uninsured, and then pay out-of-pocket groceries when you were getting food stamps before. So it gives you a disincentive to go out and find better paying work. and until the system becomes more proportional you’re going to have millions of Americans, especially during a time of record food stamp use, sticking to that cliff.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Alright, Robert Farzad, thank you so much for your time.

1 stagnating   

v.停滞，不流动，不发展( stagnate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I feel I'm stagnating in this job. 我觉得，干这份工作我没有长进。
• ITT was stagnating when Geneen became the chief executive officer in 1959. 1959年吉宁出任行政总负责人时，国际电话电报公司正处于不景气时期。 来自辞典例句

2 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

3 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

4 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 singeing   

v.浅表烧焦( singe的现在分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿]；烧毛

参考例句：

• The smell of the singeing clothes and burning leather was horrible. 衣服烧焦和皮革燃烧的味儿十分浓烈。 来自辞典例句
• I can smell something singeing. 有东西烧焦了。 来自互联网

6 nominal   

adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的

参考例句：

• The king was only the nominal head of the state. 国王只是这个国家名义上的元首。
• The charge of the box lunch was nominal.午餐盒饭收费很少。

7 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

8 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

9 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

10 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

12 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句