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经济学人:过剩学问:产能过剩和产能不足(2)

时间：2018-12-03 08:16:14

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（单词翻译）

 　　In Britain the Luddites broke stocking frames to stop machines taking their jobs. 在英国，卢德派分子已经开始破坏织袜机，以阻止机器抢了他们的饭碗。

　　On the other hand, global demand was damaged by failed ventures in South America and debilitated1 by the eventual2 downfall of Napoleon. 另一方面，全球需求因为在南美洲的失败投机而元气大伤，因为拿破仑的最终倒台而一蹶不振。
　　In Britain government spending was cut by 40% after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. 在英国，1815年的滑铁卢战役后，政府开支被砍掉了40%。
　　Some 300,000 discharged soldiers and sailors were forced to seek alternative employment. 大约30000名解甲归田的士兵和水手被迫另谋生路。
　　The result was a tide of overcapacity, what Say's contemporaries called a “general glut3”. 其结果是一波产能过剩，即萨伊的同辈人所说的“总体性供过于求”（general glut）。
　　Britain was accused of inundating4 foreign markets, from Italy to Brazil, much as China is blamed for dumping products today. 就像当今的中国一样，当时的英国被指向从意大利到巴西的外国市场倾销商品。
　　In 1818 a visitor to America found “not a city, nor a town, in which the quantity of goods offered for sale is not infinitely5 greater than the means of the buyers”. 1818年，一位前往美国的游客发现“没有一座城市或者城镇，其被用于出售的商品数量不是无限地大于购买者能力”。
　　It was this “general overstock of all the markets of the universe” that came to preoccupy6 Say and his critics. 就是这种“世间所有市场的总体存货过剩”最终吸引了萨伊和他的评论。
　　In trying to explain it, Say at first denied that a “general” glut could exist. 在试图解释这种过剩时，萨伊一上来就否认，“总体性的”供过于求可能存在。
　　Some goods can be oversupplied7, he conceded. 他承认，有些商品可能是被过度供给了。
　　But goods in general cannot. 但是，商品总体是不可能的。
　　His reasoning became known as Say's law: “it is production which opens a demand for products”, or, in a later, snappier formulation: supply creates its own demand. 他的推理成为了著名的萨伊定律（Say's law）:“正是生产开启对产品的需求”，或者是用后来更时髦的公式来说，就是：供给创造自己的需求（supply creates its own demand）。
　　This proposition, he admitted, has a “paradoxical complexion8, which creates a prejudice against it”. 他承认，这种观点有一种“似是而非的情况，这造成了一种对它的偏见”。
　　To the modern ear, it sounds like the foolhardy belief that “if you build it, they will come”. 对于现代人来说，这听上去像是那种“只要建，就有人来”的愚蠢信条。
　　Rick Perry, America's energy secretary, was ridiculed9 after a recent visit to a West Virginia coal plant for saying, "You put the supply out there and the demand will follow." 日前，美国能源部长里克·佩里在访问了西佛吉尼亚的一座煤矿后，曾因为“把供给摆在那里，需求就会随之而来”的言论遭到嘲笑。

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1 debilitated 57ee38572622e0d4bbe125b2b935d9db     
adj.疲惫不堪的，操劳过度的v.使（人或人的身体）非常虚弱( debilitate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • Prolonged strike action debilitated the industry. 长时间的罢工削弱了这个行业的活力。
  • This is especially important when dealing with the geriatric or debilitated patient. 这对老年和虚弱病人尤其重要。 来自互联网
2 eventual AnLx8     
adj.最后的，结局的，最终的
参考例句：
  • Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
  • Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。
3 glut rflxv     
n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽
参考例句：
  • The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
  • There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。
4 inundating 86b2733b79830eb72b2217f5dae184d3     
v.淹没( inundate的现在分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付
参考例句：
  • Floodwaters are inundating states up and down the Eastern Seaboard. 洪水淹没了东部沿海各州。 来自互联网
  • Their invasion of the city effecttidal wave inundating first the immigrant colonies. 他们的涌入城市，象潮头一样首先淹没了移民地带。 来自互联网
5 infinitely 0qhz2I     
adv.无限地，无穷地
参考例句：
  • There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
  • The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。
6 preoccupy 5QOxz     
vt.使全神贯注，使入神
参考例句：
  • But at the moment he had other things to preoccupy him.不过当时有另外的事情分了他的心。
  • An intelligent man considers the prospect of failure,but he doesn't preoccupy himself with pointless worry.一个聪明的男人可以预见到失败，但他绝不会去无谓地担心。
7 oversupplied b8764c1d68a60331518673270c619d73     
v.过度供给( oversupply的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • Malnutrition includes undernutrition, in which nutrients are undersupplied, and overnutrition, in which nutrients are oversupplied. 营养不良包括营养低下，即营养素供给不足，和营养过剩，即营养素供给过度。 来自互联网
8 complexion IOsz4     
n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格
参考例句：
  • Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
  • Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。
9 ridiculed 81e89e8e17fcf40595c6663a61115a91     
v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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