美国社会阶层差距扩大

Health costs have been rising for middle-class families. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans cannot afford health insurance, contrast that with health insurance companies that are in great financial shape. United Health Group profits up 38% this quarter. The company's CEO William McGuire is leaving with a reported 1.1-billion-dollar golden parachute, even amid reports of a stock option scandal.

The gap between the wealthy and the working is expanding.

It's been the greatest transfer of wealth from the middle-class to the elite¹ class we've ever seen in our history.

Corporations are handing out profits to their shareholders² and pink slips to their American employees. IBM reported a 47% jump in quarterly profits, meanwhile the company announced layoffs³ of 400 U.S. engineers.

IBM has hired more than 4,000 workers in India this year alone.

You wonder how long companies can go, shifting jobs overseas, reaping the gains, the cost gains, eh, and yet, eh, causing people eh, to lose their jobs. We have consumers that are not as strong. At some point, that’s gotta come back around, eh, to bite us.

The Dow Jones index jumped above the 12,000 threshold for the first time. But for middle-class workers, job growth is sluggish⁴, the housing market cooling, and paychecks shrinking.

We've always viewed ourselves as a country that provides upward mobility⁵ to everyone who works hard, and that, ah, in America, you can achieve the middle-class dream if you do so. And right now the middle-class is not doing very well.

Higher earnings⁶ for the corporate⁷ class, less security for the middle-class.

According to the AFL-CIO, the average CEO, not the megabucks CEO at the top, but the average chief executive officer makes 431 times the salary of a medium worker in the United States.

Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.


sluggish: adj. slack; sluggish; stagnant 【经】萧条的, 呆滞的

1 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

2 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

3 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

4 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

5 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。