2022年经济学人 拜登《降低通胀法案》真的能抗通胀吗？（在线收听）

The world this week--Politics

本周国际要闻--政治

After months of gridlock, America’s Senate passed a giant spending bill focusing on climate change, health care and tax reform.

僵持数月，美国参议院通过了一项庞大的开支法案，重点关注气候变化、医疗保健和税收改革。

In a big advance for Joe Biden’s green agenda, families and companies will be given incentives to buy electric cars and energy-efficient appliances, and clean-energy generation will be expanded.

作为乔·拜登环保议程的一大进展，政府将鼓励家庭和企业购买电动汽车和节能电器，并扩大清洁能源发电。

On health, the government will be allowed to negotiate lower prices with drug firms, which will benefit the elderly.

在医疗方面，政府将被允许与制药公司谈判较低的价格，这将使老年人受益。

The tax reforms include a 15% minimum corporate tax based on income reported to shareholders.

税改包括根据向股东申报的收入征收15%的最低公司税。

Named the Inflation Reduction Act, it is anything but.

这项名为《降低通胀法案》的法案根本不能降低通胀。

Still, it is a win for Mr Biden, a year after the demise of his larger $3.5trn spending bill.

尽管如此，这对拜登来说是一场胜利，一年前，他提出的规模更大的3.5万亿美元支出计划夭折了。

The FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s home in Palm Beach, apparently looking for documents he took from the White House.

美国联邦调查局搜查了唐纳德·特朗普位于棕榈滩的海湖庄园，显然是为了寻找他从白宫带走的文件。

Mr Trump complained: “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.” (Which is true.)

特朗普抱怨道：“美国总统从来没有遇到过这样的事情。”(这是真的。)

Republicans vowed to investigate the investigators, should they win the mid-term elections in November.

共和党人誓言，如果他们在11月的中期选举中获胜，他们将对这些调查人员展开调查。

Democrats were torn between applauding the investigation and fretting that it might make Mr Trump look, to his fans, like a martyr.

民主党人左右为难，一方面想支持调查，另一方面又担心调查可能会让特朗普在他的粉丝眼中看起来像个烈士。

Indiana’s legislature approved a near-total ban on abortion, making it the first state to do so since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade, which had created a federal right to abort.

印第安纳州的立法机构通过了一项几乎完全禁止堕胎的法案，使其成为自最高法院推翻罗诉韦德案以来的首个这样做的州，该案件创造了一项联邦堕胎权。

However, other Republican states are hesitating to enact similar bans, which are often unpopular.

然而，其他支持共和党的州正在犹豫是否要颁布类似的禁令，这些禁令往往不受欢迎。

For three days the Israeli air force hit members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, killing two of its commanders and, according to Palestinian sources, leaving at least 42 other people dead, including 15 children.

以色列空军连续三天袭击加沙地带的巴勒斯坦伊斯兰圣战组织成员，打死了该组织的两名指挥官。根据巴勒斯坦方面的消息，还造成至少42人死亡，其中包括15名儿童。

Israel, which suffered no losses from hundreds of missiles fired by the jihadists, said it was acting pre-emptively to forestall planned attacks.

圣战分子发射的数百枚导弹并没有给以色列造成损失，以色列表示，他们正在采取先发制人的行动，以阻止有计划的袭击。

Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, kept out of the fray.

控制加沙地带的伊斯兰组织哈马斯没有参与冲突。

Egypt helped secure a ceasefire.

埃及帮助促成了停火。

Kenyans voted for a new president.

肯尼亚人投票选举新总统。

The race appeared to be close.

这场竞选似乎势均力敌。

William Ruto, the deputy president, squared off against Raila Odinga, an opposition leader running for a fifth time.

副总统威廉·鲁托与第五次参选的反对派领袖拉伊拉·奥廷加展开了较量。

Mr Odinga sought to assemble an old-fashioned ethnic coalition; Mr Ruto made extravagant promises to Kenya’s have-nots.

奥廷加试图组建一个老式的民族联盟;鲁托对肯尼亚的穷人做出了慷慨的承诺。

Antony Blinken, America’s secretary of state, outlined the Biden administration’s new strategy for engaging with Africa, which will focus on promoting democracy.

美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯概述了拜登政府与非洲接洽的新战略，重点将是促进民主。

Speaking in Pretoria, South Africa’s capital, he argued that poor governance and a lack of democracy make countries vulnerable to extremist movements and foreign influence.

他在南非首都比勒陀利亚发表讲话时表示，治理不善和缺乏民主使国家容易受到极端主义运动和外国影响。