2021年经济学人 疫情重创之下的美国CEO薪资飙升,那你呢?(2)

The result was a continuation of the inexorable rise of CEO pay in America during a year that, for mere¹ mortals, was one of massive job losses, furloughing and government support. According to MyLogiq, a data gatherer, the median pay of nearly 450 CEOs running firms in the S&P 500 that have reported so far was $13.2m last year, an increase for the fifth year running. It said Mr Nassetta and Mr Del Rio were among two dozen bosses in that group who got a pay rise even though their firms lost money.

所造成的的结果是，美国首席执行官们的薪酬在这一年里持续不断地上涨，而普通人在这一年里则面临大规模失业、休假以及政府支持。据数据收集机构MyLogiq称，截至目前，标准普尔500指数成份股中近450位首席执行官去年的薪酬中位数为1320万美元，连续第五年上涨。报告显示，纳塞塔和德尔里奥隶属于即使公司亏损但仍然获得加薪的24位首席执行官群体之中。

So now comes the backlash from investors², right? So far this year, shareholders⁴ have used “say-on-pay” votes at annual general meetings to censure⁵ an unusually large number of America’s biggest firms for gerrymandering pay policies, including GE, AT&T, a telecoms giant, IBM, a tech firm, and Walgreens Boots Alliance, a pharmacy⁶ business. Pay consultants⁷ report that those CEOs yet to face combative⁸ shareholder³ meetings are “sweating it”. That is no bad thing if it suggests that institutions are so fed up with the stratospheric rewards on offer that they convince boards to put an end to them. But don’t bet on it. Shareholders remain in as much of a muddle⁹ over high pay as company directors.

所以现在受到了投资者的强烈抵制，对吗？今年以来，股东们在年度股东大会上通过“薪酬决定权”投票，谴责了众多大型美国公司的不公正薪酬分配政策，其中包括通用电气GE、电信巨头AT&T、科技公司IBM和制药企业沃博联。薪酬顾问报告称，那些尚未面对激烈股东大会的首席执行官们“一身冷汗”。如果这表明机构对所提供的同等薪酬感到厌烦，以至于能说服董事会终止这样的做法，那倒也不是坏事。但别打赌。股东们和公司董事在高薪问题上都是一团乱麻。

To be fair, it’s a tricky¹⁰ issue. There is a widely held view in America that executive pay, like the stockmarket, always rises. That’s not strictly¹¹ accurate. During the second world war pay fell, and for 30 years after barely budged¹². But since then, CEO pay inflation has been a fairly reliable assumption: the average level has risen about tenfold since the mid-1970s, vastly outpacing the income of average workers.

平心而论，高薪问题的确棘手。在美国，人们普遍认为，高管薪酬和股票市场一样，总是上涨的。严格说来，这种说法并不准确。在第二次世界大战期间，薪酬下降，而且此后30年几乎没有变化。但从那时起，CEO薪酬上涨一直是一个相当可靠的假设：自上世纪70年代中期以来，他们的平均薪酬水平已经上升了约10倍，大大超过了普通工人的收入。

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 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

3 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

4 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

5 censure   

v./n.责备；非难；责难

参考例句：

• You must not censure him until you know the whole story.在弄清全部事实真相前不要谴责他。
• His dishonest behaviour came under severe censure.他的不诚实行为受到了严厉指责。

6 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

7 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

8 combative   

adj.好战的；好斗的

参考例句：

• Mr. Obama has recently adopted a more combative tone.奥巴马总统近来采取了一种更有战斗性的语调。
• She believes that women are at least as combative as are.她相信女性至少和男性一样好斗。

9 muddle   

n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱

参考例句：

• Everything in the room was in a muddle.房间里每一件东西都是乱七八糟的。
• Don't work in a rush and get into a muddle.克服忙乱现象。

10 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

11 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

12 budged   

v.（使）稍微移动( budge的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步

参考例句：

• Old Bosc had never budged an inch--he was totally indifferent. 老包斯克一直连动也没有动，他全然无所谓。 来自辞典例句
• Nobody budged you an inch. 别人一丁点儿都算计不了你。 来自辞典例句