密歇根新闻广播 新型经济为所有人效劳

I am sorry I didn't go to downtown Detroit yesterday morning for the annual Labor¹ Day parade. Bill Clinton showed up in a casual shirt, and walked for a mile mingling² with regular folks as well as politicians.

I didn't need to see the former president, however; been there; done that.

Now, I wish I had gone to pay tribute to the men and women who struggled, suffered and sometimes died to give us the weekend, not to mention, paid vacations.

This parade was once a very big deal, especially in presidential election years. Democratic presidential candidates traditionally kicked off their fall campaigns in Detroit.

Organized labor is still important politically, but doesn't have quite the power or nearly as many members as unions once did. Union members blame bad trade agreements and policies that, since 1981, have stacked the deck against the working man.

Others see unions as a quaint³ anachronism totally unable to cope with the economic challenges of the day. Yes, we all know that unions did vastly improve workers' lives in the 1930s and 1940s. But that was an era of big-box factories before computers, when outsourcing to other countries would have been impossible.

We live in a different world.

That is true. But today's modern world is one where, to a weary cashier I talked with at Target Sunday, all Labor Day means is time and a half pay. Other workers told me they didn't have enough seniority to take the day off even if they could afford to.

Back in the day, the rap on unions was that they produced lazy employees who didn't feel they had to work hard because the union would protect them from being fired.

There may have been a little truth in that. But as a fascinating column in Time Magazine yesterday noted⁴, we are now working harder than ever, with more devices and software, and yet productivity seems to be falling.

What is wrong with this picture?

Perhaps, our basic assumptions.

As Rana Foroohar, Time's economics columnist⁵, notes:

What we know for sure is that America's biggest run-up in productivity happened from 1945 to 1973, when there were major public and private investments in education, infrastructure⁶ and worker training.

She notes that similar investments could have the effect, as they did then, of raising wages, which would bolster⁷ demand and give companies more reason to invest.

The likely result?

... a virtuous⁸ cycle of productivity growth, wage growth and economic growth.

Anyone who's had a college course in economics knows about the multiplier effect, which magnifies the effect of dollars that land in the hands of those who need to spend them.

We now know that just giving tax breaks to companies and expecting them to create jobs, as Governor Snyder did, doesn't really work.

Too often, they merely hoard⁹ cash, buy things unrelated to their core businesses, or just use the money to pay big dividends¹⁰ to their major investors¹¹ or themselves.

We need, to repurpose a cliché, to create a real rising tide that will lift all boats if we want to get prosperous again. We need to build a new economy that works for all of us.

That's what we need to start working to create by next Labor Day.

1 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。

2 mingling   

adj.混合的

参考例句：

• There was a spring of bitterness mingling with that fountain of sweets. 在这个甜蜜的源泉中间，已经掺和进苦涩的山水了。
• The mingling of inconsequence belongs to us all. 这场矛盾混和物是我们大家所共有的。

3 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

6 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。

7 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

8 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

9 hoard   

n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积

参考例句：

• They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
• How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩？

10 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

11 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