VOA常速英语2019--特朗普将美国经济强势增长归功于“拉弗曲线”（在线收听）

In his address at the White House ceremony, Trump praised the state of the US economy and gave much credit for it to the economic policies promoted by Laffer and put in practice by former President Ronald Reagan. Today our nation is stronger, our people more prosperous and the world a much better place because of the brilliance and boldness of Doctor Arthur Laffer. Laffer is best known for the so-called “Laffer Curve”, a drawing he once made on a napkin to illustrate the relationship between tax rates and the amount of tax revenue collected by the government. Art showed that if tax rates are too high, people stop spending and they stop investing. The result is less growth and lower tax revenues. The theory not originated by Laffer has been popular with Republicans. But experts say there is no conclusive study to prove it. Critics also point out that the US economy has grown in some periods when the top marginal tax rates were as high as 90 percent. Earlier Wednesday the Federal Reserve which is the US central bank announced that interest rates will remain unchanged for the remainder of the year.

在白宫仪式上发表演讲时，特朗普赞扬了美国经济的状态，并表示美国经济能有今天，很大程度上归功于拉弗推动的经济政策以及前总统里根对政策的施行。今天，美国更强大了，美国人民更富裕了，世界更美好了，这都是因为亚瑟·拉弗博士的才智和勇敢。拉弗最为人所知的是“拉弗曲线”。他曾在一张纸巾上画过拉弗曲线，是为了讲解税率与政府税收之间的关系。该曲线表明，如果税率过高，那么人们就会停止消费、停止投资。结果就是增长下滑、税收减少。虽然拉弗并非该理论的创始人，但拉弗让该理论在共和党中颇受欢迎。不过，一些专家表示，目前还没有研究结论能证实这一点。一些评论家还指出，美国经济增长的时期是最高边际税率高达90%的时候。周三早些时候，美联储（美国央行）宣布，今年下半年，利率将保持不变。

So far, this year the economy has performed reasonably well with solid fundamentals supporting continued growth and strong employment. Inflation has been running somewhat below our objective, but we’ve expected it to pick up supported by solid growth in a strong job market. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the US economy is expected to remain strong, but it could change course due to trade developments and concerns about global growth. We’re quite mindful of the risks to the outlook and are prepared to move and use our tools as needed to sustain the expansion. Economists expect that the central bank will cut the interest rates once or twice this year for the first time in a decade. The federal fund rates affect the rates of consumer and business loans and can have an impact on the economy.

目前为止，今年，美国经济表现良好，坚实的基础保证了经济的持续发展和高就业率。通胀程度没有想象的高，不过，我们预计通胀率会提升，因为强劲的经济增长促使了就业市场的活跃。美联储主席杰罗米·鲍威尔表示，美国经济预计会一直保持强劲。不过，也有可能下滑，因为贸易发展问题和全球经济增长问题的忧虑依然存在。我们十分关注未来可能出现的风险，也准备好采取行动并动用必要的工具来保证经济增长。一些经济学家认为，美联储今年会进行一次或两次降息，这将是10年来的首次。联邦基金利率会影响消费者和企业贷款利率，也会对经济产生影响。