密歇根新闻广播 无论下一任总统是谁 美国未来经济都难以乐观

 

All through the presidential campaign, the issue of free trade has been bubbling away on the national front burner.

Much of the focus and campaign rhetoric¹ has been on the Trans-Pacific Partnership².

The proposed trade deal among the United States, Canada and ten nations in the Asia-Pacific region could cover 40% of America's imports and exports.

We're in the first year of a two-year ratification³ period.

Donald Trump⁴ has bashed the TPP at every turn. Hillary Clinton once praised the TPP as the "gold standard" of trade deals, but has backed off of that support, nudged that way by the staunch opposition⁵ of one-time opponent Bernie Sanders.

Economist⁶ Marina von Neumann Whitman joined us today to take a deeper look at the future of free trade policy in 2017.

Whitman told us she prefers the term "trade liberalization" over "free trade."

"It's not, you know, that you either have free trade or you don't have free trade, it doesn't work that way. You either have more restrictions⁷ on trade or you have fewer restrictions on trade," she said.

Economists⁸ don't agree on a lot, she told us, but they do generally agree that trade liberalization is good for the country as a whole.

"It tends to raise gross national product, encourage faster growth, encourage competition and innovation," she said.

Large swaths of Americans have lost steady, well-paying manufacturing jobs over the years, a shift that Whitman said was caused more by the rise of automation than the liberalization of trade.

There's been a lot of talk along the presidential campaign trail about bringing those jobs back, but according to Whitman, those are empty promises.

"That's nonsense. Those jobs aren't going to come back," she said. "The likelihood that ‘Joe's jobs' will come back is just smokin' dope."

Rather than waiting for those jobs to return, Whitman told us America needs to do more to help its workers who have lost their jobs, whether due to trade, automation or shifts in consumer preference.

"The United States is less generous than almost any other industrialized country on what it does for workers … who either lose their jobs or take a job at lower wages," she said.

However tomorrow's election pans out, Whitman told us she's "deeply concerned" about America's economic future.

"Whichever candidate wins, the gridlock in our political situation and the fact that in all political minds at the moment, the thing at the top seems to be to do in the other side rather than thinking about what's good for the country, I think has got to be very destructive. The kind of anti-trade and anti-immigration measures will certainly pull down our rate of growth," she said.

"It's very hard to be optimistic about what will happen."

Listen to our conversation with Marina von Neumann Whitman above for more about the pros¹⁰ and cons⁹ of free trade, or trade liberalization, and how best to help those workers who've lost jobs and wages.

1 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

4 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。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 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。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 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》

9 cons   

n.欺骗，骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗，哄骗( con的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》