美国国家公共电台 NPR--A preview of the economic backdrop for this year's State of the Union address

A preview of the economic backdrop for this year's State of the Union address

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center at the Brookings Institution, on how President Biden is likely to address the economy at Tuesday evening's State of the Union.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

President Biden's State of the Union address tonight will likely cover a lot of ground - the suspected Chinese spy balloon, the war in Ukraine, the epidemic² of gun violence. But what might the president have to say about the state of the American economy? For that, we turn, as we often do, to David Wessel. He's director of the Hutchins Center at the Brookings Institution. David, welcome.

DAVID WESSEL: Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: Good morning. So what's the economic backdrop for this year's State of the Union?

WESSEL: Well, President Biden has a lot to brag³ about, and he probably will. The economy is recovering from the COVID shock. Unemployment is at a 50-year low. He'll observe, as he has recently, that the U.S. has created 12 million jobs since he took office. That's a lot of jobs.

FADEL: Yeah.

WESSEL: Inflation is still too high, but he can accurately⁴ say that it's starting to come down. But I think he faces two big challenges. One is that public opinion polls show that Americans are in a really bad mood. It's not all about the economy, but some of it is. Food prices up 12% over the last year. Electric bills up 14%. For many people, wage increases haven't kept up with rising prices. And for people lucky enough to have 401(k) retirement⁵ plans, they're down. So no president can make people feel better about the economy by reciting a lot of economic statistics. Second, I think the economy is likely to slow this year. Now, the odds⁶ of the soft landing where inflation comes down without a recession are probably better than they were a few months ago, but it's far from a sure thing. So the president needs to avoid the declaring mission accomplished⁷ mistake and then having words thrown in his face later this year if unemployment goes up.

FADEL: Now, this year's State of the Union is broadcast across the country, as it always is, and it's seen by many as the opening of the president's likely reelection campaign message. What do you think that message will be?

WESSEL: Well, one big message on the economy will be to remind Americans just how much Congress did in the past couple of years. I wasn't surprised that a recent Washington Post-ABC poll found that 93% of Republicans think the president has accomplished little or nothing. But 22% of Democrats⁸ and 66% of independents think that. He'll want to reach them. So he's going to talk about the bipartisan infrastructure⁹ bill - half a trillion dollars - and about all the tunnels and bridges that'll be fixed¹⁰. He'll talk about the CHIPS Act, which is a way to protect our technological¹¹ edge over China. A future made in America is the White House slogan. And he's going to talk about all those climate provisions in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act. Now, it'll take a long time for these jobs to actually show up in the economy, but he'll want to make people know that those jobs are coming.

FADEL: And the debt ceiling?

WESSEL: Oh, we can't get away from that. So the president's going to say that the credit of the United States government should never be questioned. Congress should raise the debt ceiling - no negotiation¹² over that, period. But he's going to say that Democrats and Republicans have different spending priorities and need to find common ground. He'll say, I'm going to issue my budget in early March. You should issue yours, he'll say to House Republicans. It's going to be hard for them to come up with a budget that does real damage to the deficit¹³ since Speaker McCarthy has taken Social Security, Medicare, taxes and probably defense¹⁴ off the table.

FADEL: Besides spending and taxes, what other economic policies is the president likely to emphasize?

WESSEL: Well, this administration has taken a lot of steps to increase competition in the economy - its aggressiveness on antitrust, the move to allow hearing aids to be sold over-the-counter, the proposed ban on noncompete clauses in labor¹⁵ contracts, the requirement that airlines and hotels disclose up front all the extra fees they charge. So I think he's going to emphasize that to appear to the - to talk about how he's making the economy better.

FADEL: That's David Wessel from the Brookings Institution. Thank you, David.

WESSEL: You're welcome.

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 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 brag   

v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的

参考例句：

• He made brag of his skill.他夸耀自己技术高明。
• His wealth is his brag.他夸张他的财富。

4 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

5 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

7 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

11 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。

12 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

13 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

14 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

15 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。