2021年经济学人 资本退位,打工人的黄金时代正在到来(1)

Leaders

社论

Riding high

春风得意

In the rich world the era of sharp-edged capitalism¹ is giving way to a golden age for labour

在发达国家，尖锐的资本主义时代正在退位让贤于劳动大军的黄金时代

In the popular imagination the past four decades were wonderful for the owners of capital and miserable² for labour. The rich world’s workers endured competition from trade, relentless³ technological⁴ change, more unequal wages and tepid⁵ recoveries from recessions. Investors⁶ and companies enjoyed expanding global markets, liberalised finance and low corporate⁷ taxes. Even before covid-19, this caricature of broken labour markets was mistaken. Today, as the economy emerges from the pandemic, a reversal of the primacy of capital over labour beckons—and it will come sooner than you think.

在公众心目中，过去四十年对资本所有者来说是美好的，但对劳动者来说却是痛苦的。贸易竞争、无休止的技术革新、工资不平等加剧以及经济衰退后的复苏乏力一直折磨着富裕国家的打工人们。而投资者和公司却享受着全球市场的扩张、金融的自由化和较低的企业税。甚至在新冠疫情之前，这种对崩溃的劳动力市场的滑稽描述也是错误的。如今，伴随全球经济从疫情中复苏，资本优先于劳动力的局势正在逆转，而且其到来将远比你想象的要快。

It might seem premature⁸ to predict a wonderful world of work only a year on from a labour-market catastrophe⁹. But America is showing how rapidly jobs can come back as the virus recedes¹⁰. In the spring of 2020 the country’s unemployment rate was nearly 15%. Now it is already just 6% after a year containing five of the ten best months for hiring in history. Public perceptions of how easy it is to find a job have already recovered to levels that it took nearly a decade to reach after the global financial crisis. And even in Europe, which is suffering a third wave of infections, the labour market is beating forecasts as economies adapt to virus-containment measures.

预测打工人将迎来美好的职场似乎还为时过早，毕竟现在距离劳动力市场困境只有一年的时间。但美国正在展示随着新冠病毒的消退，他们能以多快的速度迅速恢复就业机会。在2020年春天，美国的失业率接近15%。一年后（在有史以来招聘情况最好的10个月中，有5个月涵盖在这一年里）的美国失业率如今仅为6%。公众对找工作有多容易的看法，已经恢复到全球金融危机后近十年才达到的水平。即使是在正遭受第三波感染冲击的欧洲，随着各经济体逐渐适应病毒控制措施，劳动力市场的情况也在超出预期。

1 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

2 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

3 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

4 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

5 tepid   

adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的

参考例句：

• She bent her mouth to the tap and drank the tepid water.她把嘴伸到水龙头底下去喝那微温的水。
• Her feet firmly planted on the tepid rough brick of the floor.她一双脚稳固地立在微温而粗糙的砖地上。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 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。

8 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

9 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

10 recedes   

v.逐渐远离( recede的第三人称单数 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• For this reason the near point gradually recedes as one grows older. 由于这个原因，随着人渐渐变老，近点便逐渐后退。 来自辞典例句
• Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into the darkness. 缄默的、悲哀的、被抛弃的、支离破碎的捷克斯洛伐克，已在黑暗之中。 来自辞典例句