2021年经济学人 全球经济迎"疫后繁荣",推高美国通胀隐忧(1)

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Supply shortages

供应短缺

The bottleneck¹ economy

瓶颈经济

America’s boom is increasing worries about an inflation scare

美国的繁荣引起了人们对通货膨胀的进一步担忧

The global economy is entering unfamiliar² territory. After a decade of worries about inadequate³ demand and spending power in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, signs of insufficient⁴ supply are now emerging. A lack of goods, services and people means that red-hot demand is increasingly met slowly or not at all. There are already signs that supply bottlenecks⁵ may lead to nasty surprises which could upset the post-pandemic recovery. Nowhere are shortages more acute than in America, where a boom is under way. Consumer spending is growing by over 10% at an annual rate, as people put to work the $2trn-plus of extra savings⁶ accumulated in the past year. More stimulus⁷ is still being doled⁸ out.

全球经济正在进入一个陌生地带。自全球金融危机爆发以来，人们对需求不足和消费能力不足的担忧已持续了十年，而供应不足的迹象如今已经崭露头角。商品、服务和人力的匮乏意味着强烈需求的满足过程越来越缓慢，或根本无法满足。已经有迹象表明，供应瓶颈可能导致严重意外，从而可能扰乱疫情后的复苏。正处于繁荣时期的美国面临着最严重的短缺。消费者支出正以每年超过10%的速度增长，因为过去一年积累的超过2万亿美元的额外储蓄正在发挥作用。更多的刺激措施的救济金仍在发放。

The boom is creating two kinds of bottleneck. The first relates to supply chains. There are shortages of everything from timber to semiconductors⁹. The cost of shipping¹⁰ goods from China to America has tripled. Companies have not reported supplier delays this severe in decades. In the past year many firms have cut their investment in logistics. Lockdowns have left some container ships stranded¹¹. Companies are trying to go from 0 to 60 and it shows.

经济繁荣正在造成两种瓶颈。其一是供应链瓶颈。从木材到半导体，一切物资都出现了短缺。从中国到美国的运输成本增加了两倍。几十年来，公司从未报告过如此严重的供应商运输延迟问题。在过去的一年里，许多公司削减了对物流的投资。封锁致使一些集装箱船滞留。众多公司显然正试图将物流状态从停滞转换为全速运输。

The second kind of bottleneck is in labour markets. In April America created only 266,000 jobs, many fewer than the 1m or more that had been expected. Yet job vacancies¹² are at all-time highs, and so firms are struggling to fill positions. Economists¹³ argue over whether generous unemployment benefits are giving people a reason not to look for work. It also takes time for people to move from dying industries to growing ones.

其二是劳动力市场瓶颈。今年4月，美国仅创造了26.6万个就业岗位，远低于预期的100万个或更多。然而，职位空缺率创下了历史新高，因此各公司都在努力填补空缺。慷慨的失业救济金是否给了人们不找工作的理由，经济学家们对此争论不休。人们还需要花时间从夕阳行业转向朝阳行业。

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 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

3 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

4 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

5 bottlenecks   

n.瓶颈( bottleneck的名词复数 )；瓶颈路段（常引起交通堵塞）；（尤指工商业发展的）瓶颈；阻碍

参考例句：

• Roadworks are causing bottlenecks in the city centre. 道路施工导致市中心交通阻塞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At five o'clock in the afternoon the city streets are a series of bottlenecks. 下午五点市中心的街道就成了拥挤不堪的窄路。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

8 doled   

救济物( dole的过去式和过去分词 )； 失业救济金

参考例句：

• The food was doled out to the poor. 食品分发给了穷人。
• Sisco briskly doled out the United States positions on the key issues. 西斯科轻快地把美国在重大问题上的立场放了出去。

9 semiconductors   

n.半导体( semiconductor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Crystals may be insulators, semiconductors, or conductors. 晶体可以是绝缘体，半导体，或导体。 来自辞典例句
• Semiconductors containing such impurities are called p-type semiconductors. 含有这类杂质的半导体叫做P型半导体。 来自辞典例句

10 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

11 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

12 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》