2023年经济学人 通货膨胀对巨无霸汉堡意味着什么（1）

 

 

    What inflation means for the Big Mac.

    通货膨胀对巨无霸汉堡意味着什么。

    For much of the past two years, economists¹ have argued fiercely about prices.

    过去两年的大部分时间，经济学家们都在就价格展开激烈的争论。

    As inflation in America and elsewhere has exceeded central-bank targets, analysts² have dissected³ different components⁴ of the cost of living, including the prices of goods, services, energy and rents.

    美国和世界其它地区的通货膨胀已经超过了中央银行的通胀目标，分析师们对各方面生活成本进行了分析，分析内容包括商品、服务、能源和租金的价格。

    But what about the Big Mac?

    但是巨无霸汉堡呢？

    The iconic McDonald's burger is an amalgam⁵ of rent, electricity and labour, as well as beef, bread and cheese.

    这款麦当劳的标志性汉堡是租金、电费、劳动力，还有牛肉、面包和奶酪的结合。

    Its price is therefore indicative of broader inflationary pressures.

    因此，巨无霸的价格能够揭示更广泛的通胀压力。

    And because the burger is basically the same wherever you are in the world, its price can also reveal how inflation has changed the relative costliness⁶ of different countries.

    由于世界各地的汉堡基本上都是一样的，它的价格也可以揭示通货膨胀对各国相对价格的影响程度。

    In America, for example, the median price of a Big Mac has risen by more than 6% to an average of $5.36 in the past two years.

    例如，在美国，一个巨无霸汉堡的平均价格在过去两年里上涨了超过6%，达到平均5.36美元。

    (The price tends to be a bit higher in big cities.)（在大城市，价格往往会高一点。）

    According to the theory of purchasing-power parity⁷, when a country's prices rise, its currency should fall, everything else equal.

    根据购买力平价理论，假设其他条件不变，当一个国家的物价水平上升时，其货币应该贬值。

    This stops the country's prices moving too far out of line with those elsewhere in the world.

    这能够防止该国物价与世界其他地区差距过大。

    Yet the dollar has risen, not fallen, over the past two years against the currencies of most other big economies.

    然而，在过去两年里，美元对其它大多数大型经济体的货币在升值，而非贬值。

    A trade-weighted exchange-rate index published by America's Federal Reserve increased by more than 9% from December 2020 to December 2022.

    从2020年12月到2022年12月，美国联邦储备委员会公布的美元贸易加权汇率指数涨幅超过9%。

    One reason for this is that inflation has also returned to lots of America's trading partners.

    其中一个原因是，通货膨胀也回到了美国的许多贸易伙伴身上。

    Indeed, in many places it is worse.

    事实上，很多地区的情况更糟。

    Big Mac prices have risen by 14% over the past two years in the euro area and by 15% in Britain.

    过去的两年，欧元区和英国的巨无霸价格分别上涨了14%和15%。

    But the dollar's rise against the euro and pound has been more than required to offset⁸ this inflation gap.

    但美元对欧元和英镑升值的幅度远远抵消了欧元区和英国由于通胀出现的物价差距。

1 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》

2 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

3 dissected   

adj.切开的，分割的，（叶子）多裂的v.解剖（动物等）( dissect的过去式和过去分词 )；仔细分析或研究

参考例句：

• Her latest novel was dissected by the critics. 评论家对她最近出版的一部小说作了详细剖析。
• He dissected the plan afterward to learn why it had failed. 他事后仔细剖析那项计划以便搞清它失败的原因。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

5 amalgam   

n.混合物；汞合金

参考例句：

• To counter this myth,we explained that we're really an amalgam of little guys.为了打破这个神话，我们解释说，我们确实是由一群小小的老百姓所组成的混合体。
• American literature is to our eyes a curious amalgam of familiar and strange.我们认为，美国文学把我们所熟悉的和陌生的东西奇妙地结合起来了。

6 costliness   

昂贵的

参考例句：

7 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

8 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。