2021年经济学人 疫情后时代社会保障的绝处逢生(3)

That is the easy part. Balancing generosity¹ and dynamism is harder. Part of the solution is to top up the wages of low-paid workers. AngloSax on countries have done this well since reforms in the 1990s and 2000s. But wage top-ups are of little use to the jobless and are often scant² compensation for people who lose good jobs to forces beyond their control. Paltry³ support for the unemployed⁴ in Britain and America preserves incentives⁵ to work but at high human cost. The sparsity⁶ of social insurance has undermined political support for creative destruction, the catalyst⁷ for rising living standards. Continental⁸ Europe tends to underwrite traditional workers’ incomes more generously. But the distortion of incentives leads to higher unemployment and divisions between coddled insiders and a precariat. Both sides of the Atlantic lack a permanent safety net that insures gig workers and the self-employed.

这部分很简单。但在慷慨和发展之间做好平衡就很难了。部分解决办法是增加低薪工人的工资。自20世纪90年代和21世纪初的改革以来，盎格鲁-撒克逊国家在这方面做得很好，但涨薪对失业者用处不大，对那些因不可控力而失去好工作的人来说，这点补偿杯水车薪。在英国和美国，对失业者微不足道的支持保留了工作动力，但却付出了高昂的人力成本。社会保险的匮乏削弱了对创造性破坏的政治支持，而创造性破坏是改善生活水平的催化剂。欧洲大陆倾向于更慷慨地承保传统工人的收入。但是，激励机制的扭曲导致失业率上升，得到悉心照料的内部人员和不稳定型无产者之间的分歧也随之加剧。大西洋两岸都缺乏一个永久的，可为零工和个体经营者提供保险的社会保障系统。

There is one country that combines labour market flexibility⁹ with generosity: Denmark, which spends large sums- 1.9% of GDP in 2018—on retraining and on advising the jobless. These interventions¹⁰ stop the unemployed from falling into dependency. The inadequacies of policies elsewhere are often glaring. Britain’s efforts have flopped¹¹. America’ s comparable spending is less than a 20th as large as Denmark’s, even though the few lucky beneficiaries of its “trade-adjustment assistance” earn $50,000 more in wages, on average, over a decade.

丹麦则把劳动力市场的灵活性与慷慨结合在了一起。丹麦在为失业者提供再培训和咨询方面花费了巨额资金，2018年支出其GDP的1.9%。这些干预措施防止失业者对救济陷入依赖。其他地方政策的不足之处往往是显而易见的。英国所做的努力已经失败了。美国的类似支出还不到丹麦的二十分之一，尽管其“贸易调整援助”的少数幸运受益者在十年内平均多赚了五万美元的工资。

For years social spending has favoured the elderly and an outdated¹² safety net. It should be rebuilt around active labour-market policies that use technology to help everyone from shop-workers who are victims of disruption to mothers whose skills have atrophied¹³ and those whose jobs are replaced by machines. Governments cannot eliminate risk, but they can help ensure that if calamity¹⁴ strikes, people bounce back.

多年来，社会支出一直偏爱老年人以及过时的社会保障系统。但政府应该围绕着积极的劳动力市场政策重建社会支出，这些市场政策能够利用技术帮助到每一个人，从受到动荡影响的商店店员、到技能衰退的母亲、再到那些被机器取代工作的工人。政府不能消除风险，但他们可以帮助确保在灾难来袭时，人们会重新重整旗鼓，绝处逢生。

1 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

2 scant   

adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略

参考例句：

• Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
• Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。

3 paltry   

adj.无价值的，微不足道的

参考例句：

• The parents had little interest in paltry domestic concerns.那些家长对家里鸡毛蒜皮的小事没什么兴趣。
• I'm getting angry;and if you don't command that paltry spirit of yours.我要生气了，如果你不能振作你那点元气。

4 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

5 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 sparsity   

n.稀少

参考例句：

• This is not only because of the sparsity of the fringed. 这不仅是由于条纹稀疏。 来自辞典例句
• It is necessary and possible to lead the concept of sparsity into of labor value. 将稀少性的概念引入劳动价值论既有必要，也有可能。 来自互联网

7 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

8 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

9 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

10 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

11 flopped   

v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽，一屁股坐到椅子上。
• It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地，出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

13 atrophied   

adj.萎缩的，衰退的v.（使）萎缩，（使）虚脱，（使）衰退( atrophy的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Patients exercised their atrophied limbs in the swimming pool. 病人们在泳池里锻炼萎缩的四肢。 来自辞典例句
• Method: Using microwave tissue thermocoaqulation to make chronic tonsillitis coagulated and atrophied. 方法：采用微波热凝方法使慢性扁桃体炎组织凝固、萎缩。 来自互联网

14 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。