奥巴马(Obama)政府传达的信息通常都是一致的,但在周日,对于经济衰退是否已经结束的问题,两位高级经济顾问却发出了不一样的声音。
The Obama White House is usually unified over their message, but the president's two top economic advisers sent mixed signals on Sunday about whether the recession was over.
美国国家经济委员会(National Economic Council)主席萨默斯(Larry Summers)让周日的脱口秀节目充满了乐观的氛围。他在CNN的《国情》(State of the Union)节目中说,今天,人人都相信衰退已经结束;问题集中在于我们的复苏速度会有多快。
Larry Summers, chairman of the National Economic Council, made the talk show rounds on Sunday bearing a confident message: 'Today, everyone agrees that the recession is over,' he said on CNN's 'State of the Union.' Now, he said, 'the questions are around how fast we'll recover.'
总统经济顾问委员会(President's Council of Economic Advisers)主席罗默(Christina Romer)则表达了相反意见。主持人问,那么在你看来,衰退还没有结束?罗默回答说,对于普通民众、对于全国的民众来说,当然没有,他们仍在苦苦挣扎;失业率仍有10%。
Christina Romer, chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, said the opposite. Asked by the host 'So, in your mind, the recession is not over?' Romer said: 'Of course not...for the people on Main Street and throughout this country, they are still suffering. The unemployment rate is still 10%.'
罗默同意,离“官方”的或统计意义上的衰退结束已经不远。但这并不是多数美国人、特别是失业人群的切身体验。
Romer agreed that an 'official'--or statistical--end to the recession was nigh. But that wasn't what most Americans, especially jobless ones, were experiencing.
两位经济学家都认为,到明年春季,就业增长将重新开始,但过后可能还需要一段时间,失业率才会下降。
Both economic advisers agreed that job growth would begin again by the spring. But it could still be a while after that before the jobless rate improves.