最低工資標準
2023復習正是強化復習階段，在考研英語中占了40分，所以考研英語閱讀是英語科目中重要的一項。名師老師曾建議過考研生需要堅持每天泛讀10-15分鐘的英文原刊。強烈推薦了雜志《經濟學人》.雜志中的文章也是考研英語的主要材料來源.希望考研考生認真閱讀，快速提高考研英語閱讀水平。 Minimum wages 最低工資標準 The logical floor 多少才合理 Moderate minimum wages do more good thanharm. They should be set by technocrats notpoliticians 實施適度的最低工資標準利大于弊，但是它們應該由技術專家而不是領導層來設定。 ON BOTH sides of the Atlantic politicians are warming to the idea that the lowest-paid can behelped by mandating higher wages. 歐美各國領導人逐漸開始贊同提高工資水平可以幫助貧困人群這一觀點。 Barack Obama wants to raise America s federal minimum wage by 40% from 7.25 to 10.10an hour, and more than three-quarters of Americans support the idea. 奧巴馬總統打算將聯邦最低工資標準提高40%，時薪從7.25美元升為10.10美元，對此四分之三以上的美國人表示支持。 In Germany, one of the few big rich-world countries still without a national wage floor, theincoming coalition government has just agreed on an across-the-board hourly minimum of8.50 from 2023. 尚且沒有設定最低工資標準的發達國家寥寥可數，德國是其中之一，但新成立的聯合政府已經協商達成一致，計劃于2023年起全面實行時薪8.50歐元的最低工資標準。 In Britain, which has had a minimum wage since 1999, the opposition Labour Party is keento cajole firms into voluntarily paying higher living wages. 而英國在1999年起就已經實施最低工資標準，其反對黨工黨比較擅長于游說企業主們自愿支付更高的最低生活工資。 For free-market types, including The Economist, fiddling with wages by fiat sets off alarmbells. 對于包括本刊《經濟學人》在內的勞動力自由市場而言，通過法律規定來調整工資水準的做法會帶來一定弊端。 In a competitive market anything that artificially raises the price of labour will curb demandfor it, and the first to lose their jobs will be the least skilledthe people intervention issupposed to help. 對于競爭激烈的市場而言，任何人為提高勞動力成本的舉措都會抑制勞動力的需求，而且首當其沖的失業者會是那些缺乏專業技術的工人們這樣一來人為干預是有一定作用的。 That is why Milton Friedman called minimum wages a form of discrimination against thelow-skilled; and it is why he saw topping up the incomes of the working poor with publicsubsidies as a far more sensible means of alleviating poverty. 這就是為什么米爾頓弗里德曼稱最低工資標準是對那些沒有專業技術的勞動者的歧視;此外，他認為通過分發國家補貼的方式來提高貧困人群的收入從而緩解他們貧困狀況這種做法更為明智。 Scepticism about the merits of minimum wages remains this newspaper s starting-point. 本刊對于實行最低工資標準的好處一直持懷疑態度。 But as income inequality widens and workers share of national income shrinks, the case foraction to help the low-paid grows. 但是，隨著收入差距擴大以及工人們所獲收入占社會總工資比例下降，幫助貧困工人一事顯得日益緊迫。 Addressing the problem through subsidies for the working poor is harder in an era ofausterity, when there are many other pressing claims on national coffers. 在今天這個法制社會里，通過給貧困工人們分發國家補貼的方式來解決此問題甚是艱難，因為還有諸多其他方面需要政府開支。 Other policy options, such as confiscatory taxes, are unattractive. 諸如征收沒收性賦稅等措施也并不可取。 Nor is a moderate minimum wage as undesirable as neoclassical purists suggest. 正如新古典主義純粹主義者所言，設定適度的最低工資標準同樣不會取得理想效果。 Unlike those in textbooks, real labour markets are not perfectly competitive. 不同于書本上的描述，現實中的勞動力市場其實并不屬于絕對競爭市場。 Since workers who want to change jobs face costs and risks, employers may be able to setpay below its market-clearing rate. 由于那些想跳槽的工人們面臨著一定成本和風險，雇主們便可能以低于其公開規定工薪的水平來支付他們的工資。 A minimum wage, providing it is not set too high, could thus boost pay with no ill effects onjobs. 只要最低工資標準設定的不算太高，那么它就能夠在不影響就業的情況下提高工資水平。 French lessons 法國的前車之鑒 Empirical evidence supports that argument. 歷史的經驗驗證了以上觀點。 In flexible economies a low minimum wage seems to have little, if any, depressing effect onemployment. 在較靈活的經濟體中，實施最低工資標準似乎對就業的影響即使有也是很小的。 America s federal minimum wage, at 38% of median income, is one of the rich world slowest. 美國聯邦最低工資標準是其中值工資的38%，這一標準是發達國家里最低的。 Some studies find no harm to employment from federal or state minimum wages, others seea small one, but none finds any serious damage. 一些研究表明聯邦或者州設的最低工資標準并不會對就業產生消極影響，另一些研究也表明這種影響很小，但是目前還沒有數據顯示設定最低工資標準會嚴重影響就業， Britain s minimum wage, at around 47% of median income, with a lower rate for youngpeople, also does not seem to have pushed many people out of work. 英國的最低工資標準是其人均工資水平的47%，并且對于年幼者而言更是有所下降，但是這似乎也并未使很多人失業。 High minimum wages, however, particularly in rigid labour markets, do appear to hitemployment. 然而，如果最低工資標準較高，尤其是在那些管制較嚴的勞動力市場，就業似乎也會受到影響。 France has the rich world s highest wage floor, at more than 60% of the median for adultsand a far bigger fraction of the typical wage for the young. 法國的最低工資標準是發達國家中最高的，其中成年人的占中值工資的60%以上，年幼者的最低工資標準占中值工資的比例則更大。 This helps explain why France also has shockingly high rates of youth unemployment: 26%for 15- to 24-year-olds. 這也是為什么法國的失業率較高的原因法國15到24歲年輕人的平均失業率為26%。 Theory and practice suggest two lessons for governments contemplating setting or changingminimum wages. 理論與實踐兩方面的經驗給了各國領導人關于是否設定或者更改最低工資標準兩點啟示。 The first is to ensure that the level is pretty lowsay, less than 50% of the median, withlower levels for less productive people such as the young and long-term unemployed.Germany risks breaking this rule. 其一是要確保最低工資標準相對較低，務必要低于中值工資的50%，并且對于那些生產效率較低人群，比如年幼者和長期失業者這一標準要更低。 Its proposed level is, by one calculation, 62% of the median wage. 德國的做法很可能與此相背，他們的最低工資標準為中值工資的62%。 One in six German workers is paid less than that, suggesting that jobs will be lost, especiallyin the less productive east of the country. 而六分之一德國人的工資低于這一水平，這意味著很多人將面臨失業，尤其是在勞動力效率較低的東德。 Similarly the living wage which campaigners are calling for in Britain is 20% higher than theminimum wage. 與此類似，在英國一些人倡導的最低生活工資比最低工資標準還要高出20%， That could hit employment. 這會嚴重影響到就業。 Though America s proposed increase is huge, the minimum wage would still be only about50% of the median. 盡管美國對最低工資標準的提升幅度較大，但是其最低工資標準仍然將只占中值工資的50%。 A second lesson is that politicians should give the power to set minimum wages totechnocrats. 其二是領導層應該將設定最低工資標準一事留給技術專家們解決。 In Britain, the floor is adjusted annually on the advice of economists and statisticians in theLow Pay Commission; it has generally advanced gradually. 在英國，這一標準每年都會根據低工資委員會的經濟學家和統計學家的建議予以適當調整;并且總體來看呈逐年上升趨勢。 In America, the federal floor is set by politicians and adjusted irregularly in hugeincrements. 而美國聯邦最低工資標準是由領導層設定的，而且每次調整增幅較大，也沒什么規律可言， That does no favours to American workers or their employers. 這對美國的勞動者和企業雇主而言都沒有益處。 Finally, governments should remember that minimum wages are a palliative. 最后，各政府應該謹記實施最低工資標準只能起到有限的作用。 They should not distract attention from more fundamental causes of low wagessuch as alack of education and skillsand the efforts to address them. 他們不能忽略導致部分勞動者工資水平過低的根源例如受教育程度不高和缺乏相關技術培訓，當然各國在此問題上所做的努力也是不夠的。 詞語解釋 1.keen to 熱衷于 I was keen to develop so-called masculine skills. 我熱衷于開發所謂的男性的技能。 Western companies are keen to tap this growth. 西方藥企熱衷于培育這一增長。 2.set off 開始;引起;點燃 Nichols set off for his remote farmhouse inConnecticut. 尼科爾斯動身去他在康涅狄格州的偏僻農舍了。 The President s envoy set off on another diplomatic trip. 總統的使節開始了又一次外交之旅。 3.demand for 要求 The european economic crisis cut demand for solar cells. 歐洲經濟危機削減對太陽能電池的需求。 Future demand for commercial real estate is rapidly outpacing supply. 未來對商業地產的需求將快速超過供應。 4.suppose to 認為 I suppose to go there on my honeymoon. 我本來想去那里度蜜月。 Would you suppose to meet the people on the boat. 你認為是那些在船上的人嗎?
2023復習正是強化復習階段，在考研英語中占了40分，所以考研英語閱讀是英語科目中重要的一項。名師老師曾建議過考研生需要堅持每天泛讀10-15分鐘的英文原刊。強烈推薦了雜志《經濟學人》.雜志中的文章也是考研英語的主要材料來源.希望考研考生認真閱讀，快速提高考研英語閱讀水平。 Minimum wages 最低工資標準 The logical floor 多少才合理 Moderate minimum wages do more good thanharm. They should be set by technocrats notpoliticians 實施適度的最低工資標準利大于弊，但是它們應該由技術專家而不是領導層來設定。 ON BOTH sides of the Atlantic politicians are warming to the idea that the lowest-paid can behelped by mandating higher wages. 歐美各國領導人逐漸開始贊同提高工資水平可以幫助貧困人群這一觀點。 Barack Obama wants to raise America s federal minimum wage by 40% from 7.25 to 10.10an hour, and more than three-quarters of Americans support the idea. 奧巴馬總統打算將聯邦最低工資標準提高40%，時薪從7.25美元升為10.10美元，對此四分之三以上的美國人表示支持。 In Germany, one of the few big rich-world countries still without a national wage floor, theincoming coalition government has just agreed on an across-the-board hourly minimum of8.50 from 2023. 尚且沒有設定最低工資標準的發達國家寥寥可數，德國是其中之一，但新成立的聯合政府已經協商達成一致，計劃于2023年起全面實行時薪8.50歐元的最低工資標準。 In Britain, which has had a minimum wage since 1999, the opposition Labour Party is keento cajole firms into voluntarily paying higher living wages. 而英國在1999年起就已經實施最低工資標準，其反對黨工黨比較擅長于游說企業主們自愿支付更高的最低生活工資。 For free-market types, including The Economist, fiddling with wages by fiat sets off alarmbells. 對于包括本刊《經濟學人》在內的勞動力自由市場而言，通過法律規定來調整工資水準的做法會帶來一定弊端。 In a competitive market anything that artificially raises the price of labour will curb demandfor it, and the first to lose their jobs will be the least skilledthe people intervention issupposed to help. 對于競爭激烈的市場而言，任何人為提高勞動力成本的舉措都會抑制勞動力的需求，而且首當其沖的失業者會是那些缺乏專業技術的工人們這樣一來人為干預是有一定作用的。 That is why Milton Friedman called minimum wages a form of discrimination against thelow-skilled; and it is why he saw topping up the incomes of the working poor with publicsubsidies as a far more sensible means of alleviating poverty. 這就是為什么米爾頓弗里德曼稱最低工資標準是對那些沒有專業技術的勞動者的歧視;此外，他認為通過分發國家補貼的方式來提高貧困人群的收入從而緩解他們貧困狀況這種做法更為明智。 Scepticism about the merits of minimum wages remains this newspaper s starting-point. 本刊對于實行最低工資標準的好處一直持懷疑態度。 But as income inequality widens and workers share of national income shrinks, the case foraction to help the low-paid grows. 但是，隨著收入差距擴大以及工人們所獲收入占社會總工資比例下降，幫助貧困工人一事顯得日益緊迫。 Addressing the problem through subsidies for the working poor is harder in an era ofausterity, when there are many other pressing claims on national coffers. 在今天這個法制社會里，通過給貧困工人們分發國家補貼的方式來解決此問題甚是艱難，因為還有諸多其他方面需要政府開支。 Other policy options, such as confiscatory taxes, are unattractive. 諸如征收沒收性賦稅等措施也并不可取。 Nor is a moderate minimum wage as undesirable as neoclassical purists suggest. 正如新古典主義純粹主義者所言，設定適度的最低工資標準同樣不會取得理想效果。 Unlike those in textbooks, real labour markets are not perfectly competitive. 不同于書本上的描述，現實中的勞動力市場其實并不屬于絕對競爭市場。 Since workers who want to change jobs face costs and risks, employers may be able to setpay below its market-clearing rate. 由于那些想跳槽的工人們面臨著一定成本和風險，雇主們便可能以低于其公開規定工薪的水平來支付他們的工資。 A minimum wage, providing it is not set too high, could thus boost pay with no ill effects onjobs. 只要最低工資標準設定的不算太高，那么它就能夠在不影響就業的情況下提高工資水平。 French lessons 法國的前車之鑒 Empirical evidence supports that argument. 歷史的經驗驗證了以上觀點。 In flexible economies a low minimum wage seems to have little, if any, depressing effect onemployment. 在較靈活的經濟體中，實施最低工資標準似乎對就業的影響即使有也是很小的。 America s federal minimum wage, at 38% of median income, is one of the rich world slowest. 美國聯邦最低工資標準是其中值工資的38%，這一標準是發達國家里最低的。 Some studies find no harm to employment from federal or state minimum wages, others seea small one, but none finds any serious damage. 一些研究表明聯邦或者州設的最低工資標準并不會對就業產生消極影響，另一些研究也表明這種影響很小，但是目前還沒有數據顯示設定最低工資標準會嚴重影響就業， Britain s minimum wage, at around 47% of median income, with a lower rate for youngpeople, also does not seem to have pushed many people out of work. 英國的最低工資標準是其人均工資水平的47%，并且對于年幼者而言更是有所下降，但是這似乎也并未使很多人失業。 High minimum wages, however, particularly in rigid labour markets, do appear to hitemployment. 然而，如果最低工資標準較高，尤其是在那些管制較嚴的勞動力市場，就業似乎也會受到影響。 France has the rich world s highest wage floor, at more than 60% of the median for adultsand a far bigger fraction of the typical wage for the young. 法國的最低工資標準是發達國家中最高的，其中成年人的占中值工資的60%以上，年幼者的最低工資標準占中值工資的比例則更大。 This helps explain why France also has shockingly high rates of youth unemployment: 26%for 15- to 24-year-olds. 這也是為什么法國的失業率較高的原因法國15到24歲年輕人的平均失業率為26%。 Theory and practice suggest two lessons for governments contemplating setting or changingminimum wages. 理論與實踐兩方面的經驗給了各國領導人關于是否設定或者更改最低工資標準兩點啟示。 The first is to ensure that the level is pretty lowsay, less than 50% of the median, withlower levels for less productive people such as the young and long-term unemployed.Germany risks breaking this rule. 其一是要確保最低工資標準相對較低，務必要低于中值工資的50%，并且對于那些生產效率較低人群，比如年幼者和長期失業者這一標準要更低。 Its proposed level is, by one calculation, 62% of the median wage. 德國的做法很可能與此相背，他們的最低工資標準為中值工資的62%。 One in six German workers is paid less than that, suggesting that jobs will be lost, especiallyin the less productive east of the country. 而六分之一德國人的工資低于這一水平，這意味著很多人將面臨失業，尤其是在勞動力效率較低的東德。 Similarly the living wage which campaigners are calling for in Britain is 20% higher than theminimum wage. 與此類似，在英國一些人倡導的最低生活工資比最低工資標準還要高出20%， That could hit employment. 這會嚴重影響到就業。 Though America s proposed increase is huge, the minimum wage would still be only about50% of the median. 盡管美國對最低工資標準的提升幅度較大，但是其最低工資標準仍然將只占中值工資的50%。 A second lesson is that politicians should give the power to set minimum wages totechnocrats. 其二是領導層應該將設定最低工資標準一事留給技術專家們解決。 In Britain, the floor is adjusted annually on the advice of economists and statisticians in theLow Pay Commission; it has generally advanced gradually. 在英國，這一標準每年都會根據低工資委員會的經濟學家和統計學家的建議予以適當調整;并且總體來看呈逐年上升趨勢。 In America, the federal floor is set by politicians and adjusted irregularly in hugeincrements. 而美國聯邦最低工資標準是由領導層設定的，而且每次調整增幅較大，也沒什么規律可言， That does no favours to American workers or their employers. 這對美國的勞動者和企業雇主而言都沒有益處。 Finally, governments should remember that minimum wages are a palliative. 最后，各政府應該謹記實施最低工資標準只能起到有限的作用。 They should not distract attention from more fundamental causes of low wagessuch as alack of education and skillsand the efforts to address them. 他們不能忽略導致部分勞動者工資水平過低的根源例如受教育程度不高和缺乏相關技術培訓，當然各國在此問題上所做的努力也是不夠的。 詞語解釋 1.keen to 熱衷于 I was keen to develop so-called masculine skills. 我熱衷于開發所謂的男性的技能。 Western companies are keen to tap this growth. 西方藥企熱衷于培育這一增長。 2.set off 開始;引起;點燃 Nichols set off for his remote farmhouse inConnecticut. 尼科爾斯動身去他在康涅狄格州的偏僻農舍了。 The President s envoy set off on another diplomatic trip. 總統的使節開始了又一次外交之旅。 3.demand for 要求 The european economic crisis cut demand for solar cells. 歐洲經濟危機削減對太陽能電池的需求。 Future demand for commercial real estate is rapidly outpacing supply. 未來對商業地產的需求將快速超過供應。 4.suppose to 認為 I suppose to go there on my honeymoon. 我本來想去那里度蜜月。 Would you suppose to meet the people on the boat. 你認為是那些在船上的人嗎?
