The economist20121013双语精选.doc

Inequality and the world economy不平等现象与世界经济True Progressivism真正的进步主义A new form of radical centrist politics is needed to tackle inequality without hurting economic growth各国需要采取一种新型激进中间派政治来在不损害经济增长的前提下解决不平等问题Oct 13th 2012 | from the print editionBY THE end of the 19th century, the first age of globalization and a spate of new inventions had transformed the world economy. But the “Gilded Age” was also a famously unequal one, with America’s robber barons and Europe’s “Downton Abbey” classes amassing huge wealth: the concept of “conspicuous consumption” dates back to 1899. The rising gap between rich and poor (and the fear of socialist revolution) spawned a wave of reforms, from Theodore Roosevelt’s trust-busting to Lloyd George’s People’s Budget. Governments promoted competition, introduced progressive taxation and wove the first threads of a social safety net. The aim of this new “Progressive era”, as it was known in America, was to make society fairer without reducing its entrepreneurial vim.十九世纪末，全球化已经进入了第一阶段，新发明不断涌现，世界经济的面貌发生了变化。但那个“镀金时代”同样也是众所周知的不平等时代——美国的敛财大亨 和欧洲的“唐顿庄园”阶级积累了巨额财富（“炫耀性消费”的概念可以追溯到1899年【注1】）。贫富差距的不断扩大（和对社会主义革命的恐惧）引发了一 系列改革，包括西奥多?罗斯福的反托拉斯战和劳合?乔治的《人民预算案》【注2、3】。当时，各国政府推动竞争、采用累进所得税制【注4】并且编织了社会保障“安全网”的雏形。这个新时期在美国被称为“进步时代”【注5】，它的目标就是在不削弱社会创业活力的前提下提高社会的公平性。Modern politics needs to undergo a similar reinvention—to come up with ways of mitigating inequality without hurting economic growth. That dilemma is already at the centre of political debate, but it mostly produces heat, not light. Thus, on America’s campaign trail, the left attacks Mitt Romney as a robber baron and the right derides Barack Obama as a class warrior. In some European countries politicians have simply given in to the mob: witness Fran?ois Hollande’s proposed 75% income-tax rate. In much of the emerging world leaders would rather sweep the issue of inequality under the carpet: witness China’s nervous embarrassment about the excesses of Ferrari-driving princelings, or India’s re