VOA常速英语2019--特朗普授予里根时代经济学家自由勋章（在线收听）

Trump Confers Medal of Freedom to Reagan Era Economist

In his address at the White House ceremony, Trump praised the state of the US economy and gave much credit for it to the economic policies promoted by Laffer and put in practice by former President Ronald Reagan.“Today our nation is stronger, our people more prosperous and the world a much better place because of the brilliance and boldness of Doctor Arthur Laffer.”Laffer is best known for the so-called “Laffer Curve”, a drawing he once made on a napkin to illustrate the relationship between tax rates and the amount of tax revenue collected by the government.“Art showed that if tax rates are too high people stop spending and they stop investing, the result is less growth and lower tax revenues.”The theory not originated by Laffer has been popular with Republicans. But experts say there is no conclusive study to prove it. Critics also point out that the US economy has grown in some periods when the top marginal tax rates were as high as 90 percent.Earlier Wednesday the Federal Reserve which is the US central bank announced that interest rates will remain unchanged for the remainder of the year.

特朗普在白宫仪式上的讲话中称赞了美国经济的状况，并高度赞扬了由拉弗推动并由前总统罗纳德·里根实施的经济政策。“今天，我们的国家更加强大，我们的民族更加繁荣昌盛，世界更加美好，这是因为亚瑟·拉弗博士的聪明才智和勇敢。”拉弗最著名的是所谓的“拉弗曲线”，他曾在餐巾纸上画过一幅图，用来说明税率与政府税收之间的关系。“艺术表明，如果税率太高，人们就会停止消费，停止投资，其结果是增长减少，税收收入减少。”这个不是由拉弗提出的理论在共和党人中很受欢迎。但专家表示，目前还没有确凿的研究来证明这一点。批评人士还指出，美国经济在最高边际税率高达90%的某些时期有所增长。周三早些时候，美国中央银行美联储宣布，今年剩余的时间里利率将保持不变。

“So far this year the economy has performed reasonably well with solid fundamentals supporting continued growth and strong employment. Inflation has been running somewhat below our objective, but we’ve expected it to pick up supported by solid growth in a strong job market.”Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the US economy is expected to remain strong,but it could change course due to trade developments and concerns about global growth.“We’re quite mindful of the risks to the outlook and are prepared to move and use our tools as needed to sustain the expansion.”Economists expect that the central bank will cut the interest rates once or twice this year for the first time in a decade. The federal fund rates affect the rates of consumer and business loans and can have an impact on the economy.

“到目前为止，今年的经济表现相当不错，坚实的基础支撑着持续增长和强劲的就业。通货膨胀一直低于我们的目标，但我们预计，在强劲的就业市场强劲增长的支持下，通货膨胀会有所回升。”美联储主席杰罗米·鲍威尔表示，预计美国经济将保持强劲，但由于贸易发展和对全球经济增长的担忧，美国经济可能会发生变化。“我们非常关注涉及前景的风险，并准备根据需要推进和使用我们的工具来维持经济发展。”经济学家预计，央行今年将降息一至两次，这是十年来的首次降息。联邦基金利率影响消费者和企业贷款利率，并能对经济产生影响。