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双语:美国贫富分化持续恶化的事实真相
文章来源:外交部 发布时间:2023-02-28 21:49 作者:外交部 点击:

双语:美国贫富分化持续恶化的事实真相

《美国贫富分化持续恶化的事实真相》全文

美国贫富分化持续恶化的事实真相

Rising Economic Polarization in the United States: Truth and Facts

2023年2月

February 2023

目录

Contents

引言

Introduction

一、美国贫富分化状况持续恶化

I. Deterioration of Economic Polarization in the United States

二、多重因素助推美国贫富分化加剧

II. Multiple Factors Driving U.S. Economic Polarization

三、贫富分化加剧给美国社会带来严重消极影响

III. Serious Negative Implications for American Society

结束语

Conclusion

引言

Introduction

美国既是世界第一大经济体,也是贫富分化最为严重的西方国家,长期走不出富者愈富、贫者愈贫的困局。新冠疫情暴发以来,美国采取大规模财政金融刺激措施,不仅没有从根本上帮助穷者纾困,反而助力亿万富翁借机扩大财富,贫富差距更为悬殊。

Being the largest economy in the world, the United States is also the most economically polarized among Western countries. It has long been stuck in the conundrum where the rich get richer and the poor become poorer. Since the onset of COVID-19, the United States has adopted massive fiscal and financial stimulus measures. However, these measures fail to address the fundamental difficulties facing the have-nots, but rather offer billionaires a chance to expand their wealth. Economic inequality has become even more prominent.

本报告旨在通过列举事实和数据,揭示美国贫富分化的现状、问题积重难返的政治和社会原因以及造成的影响。

Through facts and figures, this report aims to reveal the current state of wealth disparity in the United States, the entrenched political and social causes behind it, and the implications of the problem.

一、美国贫富分化状况持续恶化

I. Deterioration of Economic Polarization in the United States

20世纪70年代以来,美国收入不平等和财富悬殊程度日益加深,出现“富者愈富、贫者愈贫”和“中产阶级遭挤压”的严重现象,这一趋势至今仍在延续。

Since the 1970s, income inequality and wealth disparity in the United States have continually deepened. The rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer, and the middle class is squeezed. Today, these perilous trends continue.

反映收入分配差距的基尼系数不断攀升。据世界银行统计,1974年美国的基尼系数为0.353,到2019年已升至0.415,超过贫富差距过大(大于0.4)的警戒水平。同期其他发达国家基尼系数基本都在0.35,甚至0.3以下。

The Gini coefficient, which measures inequality in income distribution, has kept rising in the United States. According to the World Bank, the U.S. Gini coefficient has gone up from 0.353 in 1974 to 0.415 in 2019, exceeding the alarming level at 0.4 indicating a large income gap. During the same period, other developed countries have largely kept their Gini coefficient below 0.35, or even 0.3 in some cases.

美国富裕群体的收入增速远高于低收入群体。据美国人口普查局数据,1970年以来,收入前五分之一家庭的平均收入增长182%,到2020年达25.3万美元,而中等收入和收入后五分之一家庭的平均收入仅增长133%和113%,到2020年仅为7.2万美元和1.5万美元。1975年,收入前五分之一家庭的平均收入是后五分之一家庭平均收入的10.3倍,到2020年升至17.4倍。

In the United States, the wealthy population have enjoyed much faster income growth than the low-income group. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 1970 and 2020, the average income of the top fifth of families increased by 182 percent to 253,000 U.S. dollars, while the middle-income households and the bottom fifth saw their average incomes grow by just 133 percent to 72,000 dollars and 113 percent to 15,000 dollars respectively. In 1975, the average income of the top fifth was 10.3 times that of the bottom fifth. The gap widened to 17.4 times by 2020.

富裕群体收入占全社会总收入的比例显著上升。美国人口普查局数据显示,无论是收入前五分之一还是最高5%群组,其家庭收入占全社会总收入的比例都呈上升趋势。1970年相关比例分别为43.3%和16.6%,2020年已升至52.2%和23.0%。中间阶层和低收入群组的占比均有所下降。中间阶层收入占比从1970年的52.7%降至2020年的44.7%,收入后五分之一的低收入群组的收入占比则从4.1%降至3%。1993年以来,占总家庭数60%的中间阶层家庭的收入占比始终低于前五分之一的群组,并日益失衡。

The share of national income held by upper-income households has risen markedly. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the income shares of the top fifth and top 5 percent have both been climbing. Standing at 43.3 percent and 16.6 percent respectively in 1970, their shares rose to 52.2 percent and 23.0 percent in 2020. In the meantime, the shares held by middle- and low-income households have both declined. The share of the middle-income group dropped from 52.7 percent in 1970 to 44.7 percent in 2020, and that of the low-income group in the bottom fifth fell from 4.1 percent to 3 percent. Since 1993, the income share of middle-income families, who make up 60 percent of total households, has remained lower than that of the top fifth, and is becoming increasingly disproportionate.

超级富豪的收入占比水平创下战后新高。世界财富与收入数据库显示,20世纪初以来,美国前1%超级富豪的收入占比经历了先降后升。1928年这一比例一度高达22.3%,二战后随着机会平等、经济平等价值理念的发展,累进税、遗产税、强势工会和金融管制等经济制度抑制了财富集中,到1970年1%超级富豪的收入占全社会总收入的比例降至10.7%。此后这一比例逐步升高,到2021年已升至19.1%,50年间几乎翻了一番。

The income share of the ultra-rich has reached its highest level since World War II. According to the World Wealth and Income Database, after an initial fall in the early 20th century, the income share of the ultra-rich, or the top 1 percent, in the United States had kept rising, and hit 22.3 percent in 1928. After World War II, a prevailing call for equal opportunity and economic equality, along with the introduction of economic systems such as progressive tax, inheritance tax, strong trade unions and financial regulation, helped restrain the concentration of wealth. By 1970, the income share of the top 1 percent had fallen to 10.7 percent. But it has since risen gradually, and reached 19.1 percent by 2021, almost doubled in 50 years.

收入差距扩大的主要原因是工资收入水平的巨大差距。据伊奎勒数据,2021年上市公司首席执行官的中位数收入达2000万美元,较2020年增长31%。而2021年普通员工的中位数收入从2020年的6.9万美元增至7.2万美元,增长约4%。据美国经济政策研究所跟踪研究,1978年至2020年,首席执行官收入增长1322%,而同期普通员工收入仅增长18%。

A main cause for the widening income disparity is the huge pay gap. According to Equilar, the median income of CEOs of listed companies in 2021 was 20 million dollars, up 31 percent from 2020, while that of average employees increased from around 69,000 dollars to some 72,000 dollars, up about 4 percent. According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, CEO pay had skyrocketed by 1,322 percent between 1978 and 2020, while typical worker compensation had risen just 18 percent.

贫富分化还体现在财富不平等上。美联储数据显示,1%的最富裕家庭占有超过20%的家庭总财富,这一比例在近年来还在显著增加。据美联储2021年统计,前1%家庭拥有的财富比例达到创纪录的32.3%,而在1989年这一比例仅为23.6%;后50%家庭(约6300万个家庭)仅拥有2.6%的财富,而在1989年这一比例为3.7%。

The economic divide is also reflected in wealth inequality. According to Federal Reserve statistics, the richest 1 percent of U.S. households hold more than 20 percent of national household wealth, a share that has continued to grow sharply in recent years. According to Fed statistics in 2021, the top 1 percent held a record 32.3 percent of the country’s wealth, up from only 23.6 percent in 1989, while the bottom 50 percent (about 63 million households) held only 2.6 percent, down from 3.7 percent in 1989.

中产阶级萎缩。从二战结束到1970年的20多年间,“中产阶级的美国”形成。此后,尽管美国经济继续发展,但中产阶级不仅没有扩大,反而显著下降。生活在中等收入家庭的美国成年人占比从1971年的61%下降到2019年的51%。高收入阶层比例从14%上升到20%,低收入阶层比例从25%上升到29%,中等收入家庭规模持续萎缩。

The middle class is shrinking. A “middle-class America” was formed in some 20 years from the end of World War II to 1970. Afterward, however, despite the continued growth of the U.S. economy, the middle class has not expanded, but shrunk significantly. The share of American adults who live in middle-income households fell from 61 percent in 1971 to 51 percent in 2019. The share in the upper-income tier rose from 14 percent to 20 percent over the same period. Meanwhile, the share in the lower-income tier increased from 25 percent to 29 percent. The size of middle-income families has continued to shrink.

阶层固化严重。据美国经济学家拉杰·切蒂等研究,收入高于父母的美国人比例从20世纪40年代的超过90%下降到20世纪80年代的约50%。其中,中产阶级家庭降幅最大,年轻人增加收入的机会越来越少,主要原因不是经济增长放缓,而是财富分配不公。奥巴马政府白宫经济顾问委员会主席阿兰·克鲁格认为,美国社会的高度不平等造成了代际流动水平较低,形成了一个“了不起的盖茨比曲线”,个人经济状况更多由父母经济地位决定。

Social stratification is severely rigid. According to a paper by Raj Chetty and other American economists, the percentage of Americans earning more than their parents fell from more than 90 percent in the 1940s to about 50 percent in the 1980s, with the largest declines for families in the middle class. The opportunities for young people to increase their incomes are fading. Most of the decline is driven by the more unequal distribution of wealth rather than the slowdown in aggregate growth rates. Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration, believes that high inequality in American society has resulted in a low level of inter-generational mobility and formed a “Great Gatsby Curve” where one’s economic standing is more dependent on the wealth of the parents.

美国的贫困问题从未得到有效解决。1959年至1969年,美国总体贫困率下降了10个百分点以上,此后一直在12.5%左右徘徊不前。据美国人口普查局数据,2010年美国贫困人口达4620万人,贫困率高达15.1%,为52年来最高。2020年的贫困率达11.4%,比2019年的10.5%上升了0.9个百分点。目前,美国仍有3700万人生活在贫困线以下。

The poverty issue in the United States has never been effectively addressed. The overall poverty rate in the country dropped by more than 10 percentage points from 1959 to 1969, but has lingered around 12.5 percent ever since. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 46.2 million American people were living in poverty in 2010, and the poverty rate reached up to 15.1 percent, the highest in 52 years. In 2020, the poverty rate climbed by 0.9 percentage points to 11.4 percent from 10.5 percent in 2019. Currently, 37 million American people are still living below the poverty line.

疫情加剧了美国贫富分化。新冠疫情引发的经济衰退导致大量失业,低收入者经济状况进一步恶化。同时,货币超发和大规模财政支出助推股价和房价猛涨,使拥有更多资产的富人爆发式受益。美联储关于家庭财富的报告显示,截至2021年第四季度,美国最富有的1%的人总财富达到创纪录的45.9万亿美元,其财富在新冠疫情期间增加了超过12万亿美元,增长了三分之一以上。

The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified economic inequality in the United States. The economic recession triggered by the pandemic has led to massive job losses and further deterioration in the economic situation of low-income earners. At the same time, excessive money supply and large-scale fiscal spending drove up stock and housing prices, bringing enormous benefits to wealthier asset owners. According to a Fed report on household wealth, the total wealth of the richest 1 percent reached a record 45.9 trillion dollars at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, and their fortunes increased by more than 12 trillion dollars, or more than a third, during the course of the pandemic.

二、多重因素助推美国贫富分化加剧

Multiple Factors Driving U.S. Economic Polarization

美国的贫富分化由多种因素造成,包括资本垄断、选举政治、政府政策、工会力量被削弱、种族歧视等。

The polarization between the rich and the poor in the United States is caused by multiple factors, including monopoly, electoral politics, government policies, weakened labor unions, and racial discrimination.

两极分化、财富分配不公是资本主义的常态和必然趋势,导致美国财富积累和贫困同时产生。20世纪70年代以来,美国保守主义和自由主义思潮兴起,市场化、国际化等理念取代平等价值观,美国经济制度转向推崇私有化、放弃强征累进税、削弱工会、放松金融管制,这些政策选择使贫富分化问题更加无望解决。

Polarization and unequal distribution of wealth are a chronic malaise and an inevitable result of capitalism, giving rise to both wealth accumulation and poverty in the United States. Since the 1970s, conservatism and liberalism have thrived in the country, and marketization and internationalization have been prioritized over equality. The shift in the U.S. economic system toward promoting privatization, repealing progressive taxation, weakening labor unions and loosening financial regulation has made addressing wealth inequality even more hopeless.

2011年的“占领华尔街”运动集中体现了美国民众对资本敛财和贫富悬殊的不满。这次运动的核心诉求是反对金融领域的贪污和腐败、经济不平等和社会不公。“穷者越穷,富者越富”等标语反映了民众对美国贫富分化持续恶化极为失望。这次运动被华尔街描述为乌合之众捣乱抗议,美国政府最终选择暴力清场。12年后,美国的贫富分化状况较当时更加严重。

The 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement epitomized the American people’s grievances about unfair capital accumulation and the disparity of wealth. The core message of the movement was to oppose embezzlement and corruption in the financial sector, economic inequality and social injustice. Slogans such as “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” reflected people’s profound frustration with the ever-widening wealth gap in the United States. The movement was portrayed by Wall Street as a “mob”, and dispersed violently by the U.S. government. But 12 years on, the economic disparity is only getting worse.

两党党争和政党轮替导致政策反复“翻烧饼”。税收政策对缩小贫富差距有重要影响。民主共和两党在税收问题上反复博弈,导致富裕阶层想尽各种办法“合法”避税,无法对其有效征税。新闻机构“为了人民”网站发布报告指出,美国顶级富豪纳税率仅3.4%,远低于普通上班族。

Partisan conflict and government alternation have led to flip-flops in U.S. policies. Tax policy plays an important role in narrowing the wealth gap. But the rivalry between Democrats and Republicans on taxation has resulted in a failure to effectively tax the rich who have tried every possible means to “legally” avoid taxes. According to a report by the news outlet ProPublica, the true tax rate of the richest Americans is only 3.4 percent, far lower than that of ordinary wage earners.

工会力量薄弱加剧贫富分化。20世纪50年代,约三分之一的美国工人属于工会,1978年工会会员率仍有23.8%,2011年已降至11.3%,2021年进一步降至10.3%。黑人工人加入工会的比例较其他种族高,工会化程度下降对黑人工人影响尤其严重,加剧黑人族裔贫穷。

The weakening of trade unions has aggravated such polarization. In the 1950s, about a third of American workers belonged to unions, and the union membership rate was 23.8 percent in 1978. But the number fell to 11.3 percent in 2011 and further to 10.3 percent in 2021. Since Black workers are more likely than workers of other races to be unionized, the decline in unionization has particularly affected them and exacerbated poverty among the Black community.

贫富差距与种族密切相关。美国黑人、西班牙裔或拉丁族裔家庭平均收入约为白人家庭的一半,拥有的净财富仅为白人家庭的15%至20%。美联储数据显示,这一差距在过去几十年显著扩大。1989年以来,白人家庭的财富中值增加了两倍,而黑人、西裔和拉丁族裔家庭的财富几乎没有增加。美联储2019年调查显示,美国中位白人家庭的净资产是中位黑人家庭的10倍,400位最富有的美国亿万富翁的总财富超过了1000万美国黑人家庭的总财富。

The wealth gap is closely related to race. Black, Hispanic or Latino households in the United States earn about half the average income of white households, and own only 15 percent to 20 percent of the latter’s net wealth. The divide has widened significantly over the past few decades according to Fed statistics. Since 1989, the median wealth of white households has tripled, while the wealth of Black, Hispanic and Latino households has barely increased. According to a Fed survey in 2019, the median white household has a net worth 10 times that of the median Black household, and the 400 richest American billionaires have more total wealth than all 10 million Black households combined.

就业市场种族歧视严重。长期以来,美国黑人失业率约为白人的两倍。新冠疫情前,美国失业率曾达到3.5%的历史低点,但黑人和西班牙裔工人的失业率仍远高于此。美国黑人在企业高薪职位中的代表性很低。2020年,《财富》杂志500强企业的首席执行官中只有四位黑人。

Racial discrimination is entrenched in the job market. The unemployment rate of Black workers has long been about twice that of whites. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, the unemployment rate in the United States hit a record low of 3.5 percent, but the number was far higher for Black and Hispanic workers. Black professionals are poorly represented in high-paying corporate jobs. In 2020, there were only four Black CEOs among Fortune 500 companies.

三、贫富分化加剧给美国社会带来严重消极影响

III. Serious Negative Implications for American Society

贫富分化加剧是导致美国社会危机加深的主要原因之一。种族矛盾加深、无家可归者增多、城市骚乱、暴力犯罪严重,都与贫富差距扩大密切相关。

The widening wealth gap is one of the main causes for the deepening social crisis in the United States. Problems including growing ethnic conflicts, increasing homelessness, urban riots and violent crimes are all closely related to it.

社会动荡加剧。由于贫富差距扩大,美国近年游行示威活动接连不断。从2011年的“占领华尔街”运动,到2020年反对美国警察暴力执法的“黑人的命也是命”游行,一些游行示威甚至演变为暴力事件。大规模游行示威体现美国底层民众对种族歧视、阶级固化和贫富分化的抗争。疫情期间,美国政府实施多轮经济刺激政策,发放大量补贴,虽在短期内缓解了社会矛盾,但积累了更长期的债务危机和更难处理的通胀压力。

Social unrest is intensifying. Due to the widening polarization between the rich and the poor, the United States has witnessed frequent demonstrations in recent years. From the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011 to the Black Lives Matter protests against police violence in the United States in 2020, some demonstrations have even turned violent. Through these large-scale demonstrations, the underprivileged American people have tried to combat racial discrimination, rigid class stratification and economic polarization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, although the multiple rounds of economic stimulus policies and vast subsidies rolled out by the U.S. government temporarily eased social tensions, such measures have made the debt crisis more entrenched and inflation pressure more difficult to deal with.

人权状况堪忧。贫富分化导致美国人权状况不断恶化。一是人均预期寿命下降。根据美国全国健康状况统计中心数据,2019年至2021年,美国人均预期寿命下降2.7岁,其中男性缩短3.1岁,女性缩短2.3岁。二是高等教育资源不成比例地向富人倾斜,低收入人群失去平等受教育机会,公众对高等教育不满上升。美人口普查局数据显示,高收入家庭18岁至24岁青年中,82%接受高等教育,远高于低收入家庭的45%。三是无家可归者生存状况恶劣。贫富分化加剧,特别是极端贫困问题是导致无家可归的主要原因。据美国住房和城市发展部报告,2020年全美有超过58万人无家可归,其中22.6万人露宿街头、住在汽车或废弃建筑物中。

The human rights situation is worrying. The wealth inequality has further worsened the human rights situation in the United States. First, average life expectancy has declined. According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, the average life expectancy in the country has dropped 2.7 years from 2019 to 2021, with 3.1 years shorter for men and 2.3 years shorter for women. Second, access to higher education is disproportionately skewed toward the rich, while the low-income group has no equal access to education. As a result, public dissatisfaction with higher education is increasing. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 82 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds from high-income families participated in college, compared with just 45 percent of those from low-income families. Third, the homeless are living in a dire situation. The growing wealth disparity, especially extreme poverty, is the main reason for homelessness. A report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that more than 580,000 people were homeless in 2020, with 226,000 sleeping outside, in cars or in abandoned buildings.

新冠疫情“爱贫嫌富”。美国穷人权益组织收集来自美国3200多个县的数据,将美国最贫穷10%的县与最富有10%的县进行比较,发现贫困县因新冠疫情导致的死亡率几乎是富裕县的两倍。在死亡率最高的前300个县中,各县平均45%的人口生活在贫困线以下。死亡率最高的县是弗吉尼亚州加拉克斯县,新冠疫情期间死亡率达到每10万人死亡1134人。纽约市布朗克斯区56%的人口是西班牙裔,29%是黑人,当地超过一半的市镇人口生活在贫困线以下,新冠疫情期间死亡率达到每10万人死亡538人,位于美新冠死亡率最高的前10%县域之内。贫困社区在新冠疫情中付出惨痛代价,进一步暴露了美国在解决贫困问题上的系统性失败。

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the poor the hardest. After collecting data from more than 3,200 counties in the United States, and comparing the poorest 10 percent of the counties with the richest 10 percent, the Poor People’s Campaign found that the poorer counties reported coronavirus death rates nearly double those in the wealthier ones. Within the 300 counties with the highest death rates, 45 percent of the population live below the poverty line. Galax County, Virginia, had the highest death rate, which reached 1,134 deaths per 100,000 people during the pandemic. With 538 deaths per 100,000 people during the pandemic, Bronx, New York, was also among the 10 percent of counties with the highest coronavirus mortality rates. More than half of the borough’s population, 56 percent of them Hispanic and 29 percent Black, live below the poverty line. The fact that COVID-19 took a heavy toll on poorer communities has further highlighted the systemic failure of the United States to address poverty.

“新冠孤儿”加剧贫困难题。美国目前已有超过20万儿童沦为“新冠孤儿”。在18岁以下孤儿中,每12人就有1人是因为新冠疫情失去监护人。在美国公立学校中,失去监护人的西班牙裔和拉丁族裔儿童是白人儿童的两倍多。“新冠孤儿”多数自出生之日起就处于社会底层,疫情中失去父母,让他们的人生陷入更加灰暗无助的困境。新冠疫情发生以来,美国联邦政府发放数万亿美元的纾困金,却没有法律或行政令向这些“新冠孤儿”提供帮助。

COVID-associated orphanhood has aggravated the poverty problem. More than 200,000 children in the United States have been orphaned by the pandemic. One in every 12 orphans under the age of 18 has lost a guardian due to COVID-19. More than twice as many Hispanic and Latino children in American public schools have lost their guardians as white children. Most COVID-19 orphans have been living at the bottom of the social ladder since they were born. Losing their parents in the pandemic has made their lives even more hopeless. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the US federal government has handed out trillions of dollars in bailouts, but no legislation or executive order has been rolled out to provide help to these COVID-19 orphans.

结束语

Conclusion

在世界各地消除一切形式的贫困是联合国可持续发展的重要目标。发展的根本目的是为了人民的共同富裕,应当成为各国的共识与行动。

Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere is an important sustainable development goal of the United Nations. Development is fundamentally for the common prosperity of the people, which should become a consensus and common action of all countries.

美国作为头号资本主义国家,光鲜的面纱遮掩不住贫富分化的冷酷现实。美国贫富分化已成为社会痼疾,是美国民主人权的严重污点。美国应当正视国内贫富差距加剧的严峻现实,倾听底层民众的呼声,正视并解决问题。

In the United States, the world’s number one capitalist country, polarization between the rich and the poor is crying out for attention. The yawning wealth gap has become a chronic malaise of American society, leaving an indelible stain on the country’s democracy and human rights record. The United States should face up to the grim reality of the ever-widening wealth gap at home, reach out to the people at the bottom, and take earnest measures to solve the problem.

本文来源: 外交部

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