2015考研英语阅读英文原刊《经济学人》西方国家的失业情况

　　Where should the short-term money go? Some forms of stimulus are better than others atsupporting employment. Germany’s subsidies for shortened working hours helped dissuadefirms from firing workers; Mr Obama’s subsidies for green technology fattened the bottom lineof a few chosen firms but did very little to spur jobs. Governments should prioritise policies thatdo. Some infrastructure spending, such as building roads and repairing schools, falls into thatcategory. So do tax incentives that cut the cost of hiring, particularly for extra new workers—which is why it makes sense for America to extend, and even expand, its payroll-tax cut.And so, in America’s case, does federal aid to the states, since the main way states cut theirbudgets is by firing workers.

　　短期内的资金应该流向何处?一些刺激方案在提高就业方面要比其他其他方案好得多。德国采取对工作时间的缩短进行补贴以有效阻止公司解雇工人。奥巴马总统虽然资助绿色科技，扩大了一些被选中公司的底线，但是对刺激工作却做得少之甚少。各国政府应将所要做的事情按顺序优先排列。一些基础设施花费，例如修建公路和修复学校，应该归于某一类。税收减让措施也应该这样做以减少雇佣成本，特别是对新进来的额外工人—这就是为什么对于美国来说扩大甚至扩张减少工资薪金税有意义。这样做的话，就美国的情况而言，也有利于联邦政府对各州的资助，因为各州减少预算的主要方式是解雇工人。

　　Easing the road ahead

　　舒缓前方的路

　　So there are ways in which government money canhelp. But it is also plain that the jobs mess is notjust about demand: it cannot be solved with morestimulus alone. There is plenty of evidence—fromdeclining employment rates for less-skilled men torising disability rolls—to suggest that Westerneconomies had a brewing jobs problem long beforethe financial crisis hit. The combination of newtechnology and globalisation has reduced thedemand for the less skilled, and many workers, particularly men, have failed to respond tothese deep changes in the labour market. The shift in demand for skills has a long way to go,as our special report on the future of work explains. It suggests an important part of any jobsagenda must involve changes in education, more training to equip people in the rich world fortomorrow’s jobs and getting government off entrepreneurs’ backs.

　　所以政府资金在一些方面可以起到作用。但是由于求职市场杂乱无章，不是仅仅事关需求，所以效果微乎其微：那不能单靠更多的刺激方案就能解决问题。有许多证据显示，在金融危机袭击很久之前，西方国家经济体中的工作弊病就正在酝酿发酵：从技术欠缺工人不断下降的就业率到能力不够的人数的不断增长。新技术和全球化两者的结合降低了对技术欠缺工人者的需求，并且许多工人，特别是男性工作者，未能对劳工市场这些深层次的变革做出成功地回应。正如我们在“特别报道”版块中对未来工作的解释，对技术需求的转变有很长一条路要走。报道中指出，任何工作日程表中一项重要的部分就是一定要涉及教育改革，更多的培训以武装人们迎接发达国家未来的工作，及让政府停止对企业家的责备。

　　But it is also clear that labour-market policies themselves can make a huge difference. In manycases this means deregulation. In Spain 46% of young people under the age of 25 are out ofwork because there is a two-tier system, with mollycoddled “permanent” workers and easy-to-fire “temporary” workers, who are disproportionately young. Europe’s Mediterraneaneconomies could learn a lot from Germany’s labour-market overhaul. America is better atcreative destruction, but it invests too little in ways to help the unemployed back to work. MrObama could usefully look to the Netherlands and Denmark for ideas on how to overhaul anantiquated unemployment system and improve its training schemes.

　　但是，还有非常清晰明了的是劳工市场本身就事关重大。在许多情况下，这就意味着放松管制。在西班牙，25岁以下的46%的年轻人由于受双层体制—一方面是娇生惯养中永久的工作者，一方面是随时可以被解雇的临时工作者—的影响而失业。后者和他们的年纪轻轻相比不成比例。欧洲地中海沿岸的经济体可以从德国劳工市场的大调整中学到很多。美国更擅长创造性的破坏，但是因它在帮助失业者重返工作岗位所付出的太少而不能解决问题。奥巴马总统可以虚心有效地向荷兰和丹麦请教如何改革去除陈旧的失业体系而提高培训体系。

　　Do all these things correctly and the quest for jobs will take less time. But it has taken Westerngovernments too long to grasp the seriousness of their jobs problem. Many people will sufferbecause of that.

　　正确地完成这些计划，那么找到工作将会节省许多时间。然而西方国家动作迟缓而未能认识到失业问题的严重性。许多人因此苦不堪言。