财富杂志 萎缩的中产阶级(4)

Harvard economist¹ Raj Chetty has done some of the most acclaimed² work on this historic decline.

哈佛经济学家Raj Chetty对这一历史性衰退进行了一些备受赞誉的研究。

In 2016, Chetty and colleagues showed that fewer than half of those born in the 1980s earned more than their parents had at the same age, adjusting for inflation.

2016年，Chetty和同事发现，经通货膨胀调整后，在相同的年纪，80年代出生的人中只有不到一半的人比他们的父母的收入高。

By contrast, of those born in 1940, more than 90% had accomplished³ the feat⁴.

相比之下，1940年出生的人中，超过90%的人都完成了这一壮举。

"We can see that there has been a collapse⁵ of intergenerational mobility," says Claudia Goldin, a leading economic historian and labor⁶ economist at Harvard.

哈佛大学权威经济历史学家兼劳动经济学家Claudia Goldin表示，“我们可以看到代际流动的崩溃。”

It's all part of the feeling, for millions of Americans, of falling behind—

这是数百万美国人的落后感之一——

a feeling made all the more frustrating⁷ by the sense that the gap between the middle class and the superrich keeps widening...

中产阶级和超级富豪之间的差距不断扩大，经济引力定律似乎不再适用，

that the laws of economic gravity no longer seem to apply. And compounding that is one more nagging⁸ concern:

这种感觉让人更加沮丧……另一个更令人担忧的问题使之雪上加霜：

that the breakneck speed of technological⁹ change now disrupting one industry after another—

据皮尤研究中心的人所说，正在扰乱一个又一个行业的飞速发展的技术变革——

a revolution of A.I.-infused automation—will uproot¹⁰ the one thing that, according to the folks at Pew,

人工智能注入自动化革命——将根除几乎所有人都认为

virtually everyone agrees is critical to middle-class membership: a secure job.

对中产阶级成员至关重要的一件事：一份稳定的工作。

Each previous era's industrial revolution has, of course, raised the same fears.

当然，上一个时代的工业革命都引发了同样的担忧。

Reeves thinks "a good starting position is to be skeptical¹¹ about the claim that this time is different."

Reeves认为，“一个好的出发点是对‘这一次不同’的说法持怀疑态度。”

But the two things worth asking about the current revolution, he says, are: "One, will it be differently quick this time?

但他表示，关于目前的改革，有两件事值得一问：“一是，这次的速度之快是否有所不同？

And two, will it be differently different?" It's question No. 1 that makes him a little nervous:

二是，这次的不同之处是否有所差异？第一个问题让他有点紧张：

Yeah, sure, with every grand sweep of automation,

是的，确实，随着每一次大规模的自动化，

business models change and new positions get created, and there's a transitional time in between them.

商业模式会改变以及新岗位会产生，并且两者之间会有一个过渡期。

"So surely the economy will adjust and new jobs will be created," he says,

“所以经济肯定会调整，新的工作机会肯定会被创造出来，”他说到，

"but will those people who are displaced be the ones to get those jobs? And will they get them fast enough?

“但那些被取代的人会得到这些新工作吗？并且他们能够很快就得到这份工作吗？

You're not talking about 20, 30, 40, 50 years of transition between approach A and approach B. You're talking about two, three years.

我们所讨论的不是方法A和方法B之间20、30、40、50年的过渡期，而是两年、三年的过渡期。

What it means is people need to reskill, retool¹² at a pace that has never before been witnessed in human history."

这意味着人们需要以人类历史上从未见过的速度重新学习和升级技能。”

The closest thing to it, says Reeves, would be like a mobilization during war. So be it: Many Americans feel like they're already in one.

与此最接近的，Reeves说，是战争时期的动员。顺其自然吧：很多美国人觉得他们已经身处其中了。

1 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。

2 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

3 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。

4 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 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。

7 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 nagging   

adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责

参考例句：

• Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
• I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 uproot   

v.连根拔起，拔除；根除，灭绝；赶出家园，被迫移开

参考例句：

• The family decided to uproot themselves and emigrate to Australia.他们全家决定离开故土，移居澳大利亚。
• The trunk of an elephant is powerful enough to uproot trees.大象的长鼻强壮得足以将树木连根拔起。

11 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

12 retool   

v.改组，重新装备

参考例句：

• Each time the product changes,the machines have to be retooled.每次更换产品，就得重新装备机器。
• In the computer industry,engineers have to retool frequently.在电脑业中，工程师必须经常以新知识充实装备自己。