美国国家公共电台 NPR--Inflation is the No. 1 challenge facing families right now, Rouse says

Inflation is the No. 1 challenge facing families right now, Rouse says

Transcript¹

Prices for gas, food and other items are rising. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Cecilia Rouse, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers², about what the White House is doing to bring down inflation.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I know you're feeling it. How could you not? The national average for a gallon of gasoline has now topped $4.50. In California, prices are now over $6 a gallon. And don't even get me started on my own grocery bill right now. The prices of all the goods and services that Americans need to make life work are skyrocketing. We went out and talked with some shoppers in California.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I work two jobs. So I'm a bartender at night, and I'm a cashier in the morning. So traveling to one to the other, then going back home - it's been probably the biggest thing for me that I feel the most, especially with gas being at $6 on average.

RAMONA SHULL: At one point, you know, it's just - you have to say, are you going to get groceries to eat or are you going to drive your car or are you going to pay this bill or are you going to call them and say, look, I'm having a hard time right now?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: But I'm looking at this right now, this beef keto salad (ph). I just wanted to see, was it the price that I mistaked (ph) it for? I thought that was a mistake, the $7.99. This used to cost $3 and $4 just last year. It has literally³ doubled in price.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: So you make necessary adjustments. You more strategic in where you go, when you go, how you go and what you're going for. You kind of say, OK, I'm going to go here, here, here, and that's it. And you go there, and you don't deviate⁴ from that plan because it costs you in gas and so forth⁵.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: At the moment, we're just trying to see how much water we can get. Luckily, my grandma has a Safeway card, so we can get, like, two things of water for $7, especially since it's really hot now.

SHULL: I thank God my kids are grown - 41 and 27 - and that my grandkids are in other states because I can only take care of me now. It's like, you either do or you don't. It's either, you know, you don't - it's a total sacrifice right now.

MARTIN: The voice of Ramona Shull (ph) from Oakland, Calif. Also from Oakland, we heard from Sin Pan (ph) Gregory Cartwright (ph), Larry Sullivan (ph), and Christian⁶ Otiano (ph) in Los Angeles. The people here in Washington, D.C., tasked with doing something about crippling prices are the White House's Council of Economic Advisers. Cecilia Rouse is the chair, and she joins us now. Thank you so much for making the time to talk with us.

CECILIA ROUSE: It's a pleasure to join you today.

MARTIN: So, Cecilia, prices go up. People don't want to buy as much. Retail⁷ takes a hit. So does the stock market. People have to choose between filling up their tank and buying groceries. Does the Biden administration recognize this as a crisis at this point?

ROUSE: Absolutely. The president - his entire administration understands that inflation is the No. 1 challenge facing families right now. In many ways, we have a tale of two economies. We know that we've got very low unemployment. We've had record job growth. We've made a very strong recovery over the past year due to the support that the federal government gave, beginning with the CARES Act, through the American Rescue Plan to households and family - you know, families and businesses, through the actions of the Federal Reserve Board. And that got us through the pandemic, which we are still in the middle of. But we also know that with that supportive demand, we had supply chains that crumbled⁸, and that mismatch has generated inflation. I would like to clarify that, first and foremost, addressing inflation is the purview⁹ of the Federal Reserve Board. And Jay Powell - Chair Powell has said that they are on it, that they're focused, that they are - that they understand, that they're addressing it. This does not mean that this president is not also focused on it. And we can talk about the many steps he's trying to take as well.

MARTIN: I completely understand that this is mainly in the purview of the Fed, but the White House says it has some levers to pull. And the White House is also going to get the blame for a lot of this, politically speaking. So what are the solutions?

ROUSE: Well, importantly, the president, you know, politics aside, understands the impact this has on families. So what has he done? So first, in addressing gasoline prices, he - you know, the president has led the world in trying to coordinate¹⁰ the largest release of oil reserves in history. We have produced more oil domestically in this last year, the president's first year in office, than President Trump¹¹ did, for example, in his first year. So we are pushing. You know, we are trying to produce more oil, encouraging oil producers to use the leases that they have that they're not using. We also are working to produce more homegrown biofuels in the short term. And so that will help relieve the need for the fossil fuels. And we are trying to - you know, to speed the pivot¹² to clean energy in our future, but we understand that takes time.

Some of the prices that you're - that you cited were in food as well. And so the president is working there to, for example, help our American farmers grow more crops through double cropping, trying to lower their input¹³ costs because we understand fertilizers, which also rely on energy, are also high. He's also looking to increase costs that we know that families have. For example, through the bipartisan infrastructure¹⁴ law, he's taking steps to reduce the cost of high-speed internet for about 50 million Americans.

Finally, he's working to improve supply chains so that we get to - so that we get, you know, goods more cheaply to stores so that stores aren't passing on those prices to consumers. And finally, you know, when we have deficits¹⁵, that also helps to cool down an economy. And this week, we learned that reduced - that deficits were lower this year by $1.5 trillion compared to any time last year, and that will also help to reduce prices.

MARTIN: Let me ask - Treasury¹⁶ Secretary Janet Yellen says higher food and energy prices together could cause stagflation globally. For those of us who don't necessarily remember the '70s, stagflation is slow economic growth and high inflation at the same time. Are we headed there?

ROUSE: Well, look, this is, again, primarily the purview of the Federal Reserve Board, and we certainly hope not. We hope that the Fed is able to achieve its dual¹⁷ mandate¹⁸ of price stability - so that would be lower inflation - and also full employment. We have a strong labor¹⁹ market, and we came in with some - we came in with very strong growth at the end of 2021. So they've got some room to maneuver²⁰ without us having, you know, a big slowdown in our economy and largely stagflation. But it is a difficult task that lies ahead.

MARTIN: A new NBC poll says only 33% of Americans approve of the president's handling of the economy. Only 23% approve of his handling of inflation and the cost of living. The solutions that you outlined earlier, as you admit, are longer term. What is the president going to do to make sure that Americans can feed their family and drive to work in the short term?

ROUSE: Well, we certainly want to - you know, people need to be able to feed their families and drive to work. There's no question about that. And the president - we have had - you know, we've been supporting energy costs through LIHEAP. And, you know, the American Rescue Plan generated a lot of support for families and households so that they start this time with healthier balance sheets. So we understand that this is important, and the president is doing what he can to lower those costs in the short term. And we really look forward to seeing prices come down and have stable unemployment as well.

MARTIN: Cecilia Rouse, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, thank you.

ROUSE: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 deviate   

v.(from)背离，偏离

参考例句：

• Don't deviate from major issues.不要偏离主要问题。
• I will never deviate from what I believe to be right.我绝不背离我自信正确的道路。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

8 crumbled   

（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏

参考例句：

• He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
• Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

9 purview   

n.范围；眼界

参考例句：

• These are questions that lie outside the purview of our inquiry.这些都不是属于我们调查范围的问题。
• That,however,was beyond the purview of the court;it was a diplomatic matter.但是，那已不在法庭权限之内；那是个外交问题。

10 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 pivot   

v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的

参考例句：

• She is the central pivot of creation and represents the feminine aspect in all things.她是创造的中心枢轴，表现出万物的女性面貌。
• If a spring is present,the hand wheel will pivot on the spring.如果有弹簧，手轮的枢轴会装在弹簧上。

13 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

14 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

15 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

16 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

17 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

18 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

19 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

20 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。