News English 新聞英文4: 全球化後…
The right way to help declining places.Time for fresh thinking about the changing economics of geography
正確的方法幫助逐漸衰退的區域‧ 是時候探討逐漸變動的經濟版圖了
POPULISM’S wave has yet to crest. That is the sobering lesson of recent elections in Germany and Austria, where the success of anti-immigrant, anti-globalisation parties showed that a message of hostility to elites and outsiders resonates as strongly as ever among those fed up with the status quo.
民粹主義的浪潮尚未達到頂峰‧最近德國和奧地利的選舉呈現毫無疑問的教訓，反移民與反全球化思潮成功地傳達對於精英和外來移民的敵意，遂引起了對維持現狀不滿的「敏銳人士」共鳴。
Getting tough on immigrants will do nothing to improve economic conditions in eastern Germany, where 20% of voters backed the far-right Alternative for Germany. But the self-defeating nature of populist policies will not blunt their appeal. Mainstream parties must offer voters who feel left behind a better vision of the future, one that takes greater account of the geographical reality behind the politics of anger.
反移民並無法改善東德的經濟狀況，20％的選民支持德國極右翼。 但持自我毀滅心態的民粹主義者並不會因此削減他們的復興訴求。主要政黨必須為失落的選民提供未來美好的願景，更要多加思考政治怒吼背後顯現的地理現實。
Location, location, vocation
Economic theory suggests that regional inequalities should diminish as poorer (and cheaper) places attract investment and grow faster than richer ones. The 20th century bore that theory out: income gaps narrowed across American states and European regions. No longer. Affluent places are now pulling away from poorer ones. This geographical divergence has dramatic consequences. A child born in the bottom 20% in wealthy San Francisco has twice as much chance as a similar child in Detroit of ending up in the top 20% as an adult. Opportunities are limited for those stuck in the wrong place, and the wider economy suffers. If all its citizens had lived in places of high productivity over the past 50 years, America’s economy could have grown twice as fast as it did.
位置，位置，職業
經濟理論認為，區域不平等現象應該降低，因為較貧窮「較便宜」的地方可吸引投資，因此增長速度相較於富裕國家快速。20世紀詮釋了這個理論：美國各州和歐洲地區的收入差距縮小。不復存在。 富裕地方現在已經拉開較貧窮的地方的差距。 這種地域差異會引起巨大的後果。 在富裕的舊金山的20％的社會底層孩子比出生在底特律同類似狀況的孩子多出2倍機會成為社會20％頂端成年人。困在錯誤的地方能得到的機會有限且遭受更廣泛的經濟影響。如果所有的公民都可以在過去50年裡中生活在高生產力的地方，那麼美國的經濟增長速度將是現在的兩倍。
(此篇文章僅供教學用途，歡迎link 此網站閱讀全文)
字彙:
- POPULISM: 民粹主義
- anti-globalisation: 反全球化
- elites: 精英
- fed up with: 厭倦…
- the status quo: 維持現狀
- economic conditions:經濟條件
- self-defeating: 自我毀滅
- voter: 選民
- take account of: 考慮到
- vision: 願景
- geographical: 地理
- inequalities: 不平等
- diminish: 減退
- income gaps: 收入差距
- Affluent: 富裕的
- Consequences: 後果
- Wealthy: 富裕的
- Opportunity: 機會
- high productivity: 高生產力
在經濟全球化下，生產工序會依據地緣的優勢進行分工，各國可善用本身的良好資源，發展具優勢的產業，節省生產成本並提高效率。但在全球化當中那些人受惠最多? 大量的第三世界人才移往富國，以填補當地無法滿足的勞力。但相對廉價的移工常被業主剝奪‧台灣目前經濟落後，人才外流嚴重，關鍵因素是薪資太低，缺乏競爭力。但是薪資太低的背後真正原因呢... 國籍，家庭背景有影響嗎?
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