2021年经济学人 资本退位,打工人的黄金时代正在到来(3)

The long-term future of work has changed for the better this year because it has become more digitised. Remote working is easing the bottleneck¹ of expensive housing in thriving cities. Home-workers report higher levels of happiness and productivity. At the end of 2020 American firms spent 25% more on computers, in real terms, than a year earlier. Even pessimists² like Robert Gordon, an economist³, expect this burst of technological⁴ investment to bring about faster productivity growth, which means higher wages.

工作的长期前景在今年有所好转，因为它变得更加数字化了。远程办公正在缓解繁荣城市中昂贵住房所带来的的瓶颈。居家打工人的幸福感和工作效率更高。到2020年底，美国公司在电脑上的实际支出比一年前增加了25%。即便是经济学家罗伯特·戈登这样的悲观主义者，也预计这一技术投资的爆发将带来生产率的更快增长，也意味着工资的提高。

A golden age for workers is welcome. It is right to judge economic progress by the purchasing power of median wages, not profits or share prices. Jobs booms like those in most rich countries in 2019 bring huge benefits, by incentivising the training and good treatment of workers, as well as by reducing racial and gender⁵ inequalities. Yet governments can help determine the extent of these gains. Their goal should be to raise workers’ living standards through higher productivity, rather than focusing on dividing the spoils through regulation and protection.

打工人的黄金时代值得欢迎。判断经济发展的正确方式是依靠工资中位数的购买力，而非利润或股价。就像大多数富裕国家在2019年经历的就业繁荣，通过激励培训、为员工提供良好待遇、以及减少种族和性别不平等而带来了巨大的好处。然而，政府可以帮助确定这些收益的程度。他们的目标应该是通过提高生产力来提高工人的生活水平，而不是注重于通过监管和保护来瓜分好处。

One task is to redefine workers’ rights for an era of flexibility⁶ and service work. The size and novelty of the gig economy is often overstated; taxis and food deliveries existed before Uber and DoorDash. But service-sector employment, especially caregiving, will grow as populations age. There is no place for the snobbish⁷ idea that such jobs cannot be fulfilling, nor the related instinct that experimental models of work should be regulated out of existence. Instead governments should modernise⁸ the guardrails provided by employment law, offer a universal safety-net and ensure that the economy is strong. If they do, workers will have the confidence and bargaining power to experiment and negotiate for themselves.

其中一项任务是重新定义员工的权利，以适应灵活和服务工作的时代。零工经济的规模和新颖性往往言过其实；出租车和食品配送在Uber和DoorDash出现之前就已经存在。但随着人口老龄化，服务业就业，尤其是护理业就业将增长。认为这样的工作不可能带来满足感的势利观点，以及实验性工作模式应该在调控下不复存在的偏见也没有立足之地。相反，政府应该使就业法提供的保障现代化，提供一张普遍的保障网，并确保经济强劲发展。如果政府这样做了，工人们将在实验性工作以及协商中具备信心和谈判能力。

1 bottleneck   

n.瓶颈口，交通易阻的狭口；妨生产流程的一环

参考例句：

• The transportation bottleneck has blocked the movement of the cargo.运输的困难阻塞了货物的流通。
• China's strained railroads already become a bottleneck for the economy.中国紧张的铁路运输已经成为经济增长的瓶颈。

2 pessimists   

n.悲观主义者( pessimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pessimists tell us that the family as we know it is doomed. 悲观主义者告诉我们说，我们现在的这种家庭注定要崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Experts on the future are divided into pessimists and optimists. 对未来发展进行预测的专家可分为悲观主义者和乐观主义者两类。 来自互联网

3 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

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 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

6 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。

7 snobbish   

adj.势利的，谄上欺下的

参考例句：

• She's much too snobbish to stay at that plain hotel.她很势利，不愿住在那个普通旅馆。
• I'd expected her to be snobbish but she was warm and friendly.我原以为她会非常势利，但她却非常热情和友好。

8 modernise   

vt.使现代化

参考例句：

• If it works,it would help to modernise the entire economy.这项（改革）一旦实施起效，将有助于整体经济的现代化进程。
• They attempted in vain to modernise these antiquated industries.他们企图使这些陈旧的工业现代化，结果劳而无功。