快速查題-中學(xué)教師資格證試題

? ? ? ? What can be done about mass unemployment? All the wise heads agree: there’re no quick or any answers. There’s work to be done, but workers aren’t ready to do it. They’re in the wrong places, or they have the wrong skills. Our problem are

“structural,” and will take many years to solve.

? ? ? ?But don’t bother asking for evidence that justifies this bleak view. There isn’t any. On the contrary, all the facts suggest

that high unemployment in America is the result of inadequate demand. Saying that there’re no easy answers sounds wise,

but it’s actually foolish: our unemployment crisis could be cured very quickly if we had the intellectual clarity and political will

to act. In other words, structural unemployment is a fake problem, which mainly serves as an excuse for not pursuing real

solutions. The fact is job openings have plunged in every major sector, while the number of workers forced into part-time

employment in almost all industries has soared. Unemployment has surged in every major occupational category. Only three

states, with a combined population not much larger than that of Brooklyn, have unemployment rates below 5%. So the

evidence contradicts the claim that we’re mainly suffering from structural unemployment. Why, then, has this claim become so popular?

? ? ? ?Part of the answer is that this is what always happens during periods of high unemployment-in part because experts and analysts believe that declaring the problem the problem deeply rooted, with no easy answers, makes them sound serious. I’ve been looking at what self-proclaimed experts were saying about unemployment during the Great Depression; it was almost

identical to what Very Serious People are saying now. Unemployment cannot be brought down rapidly, declared one 1935

analysis, because the workforce is “unadaptable and untrained”. I cannot respond to the opportunities which industry may

offer. A few years later, a large defense buildup finally provided a fiscal stimulus adequate to the economy’s needs and

suddenly industry was eager to employ those “unadaptable and untrained” workers. But now, as then, powerful forces are

ideologically opposed to the whole idea of government action on a sufficient scale to jump-start the economy. And that,

fundamentally, is why claims that we face huge structural problems have been multiplying: they offer a reason to do nothing

about the mass unemployment that is crippling our economy and our society.

? ? ? So what you need to know is that there's no evidence whatsoever to back these claims. We aren't suffering from a

shortage of needed skills; we’re suffering from a lack of policy resolve. As I said, structural unemployment isn’t real problem,

it's an excuse-a reason not to act on America’s problems at a time when action is desperately needed.

? ? ? ?When the right person is holding the right job at the right moment, that person’s influence is greatly expanded. That is the position in which Janet Yellen, who is expected to be confirmed as the next chair of the Federal Reserve Bank (FeD. in

January, now finds herself. If you believe, as many do, that unemployment is the major economic and social concern of our

day, then it is no stretch to think Yellen is the most powerful person in the world right now. Throughout the 2008 financial

crisis and the recession and recovery that followed, central banks have taken on the role of stimulators of last resort, holding

up the global economy with vast amounts of money in the form of asset buying. Yellen, previously a Fed vice chair, was one of the principal architects of the Fed's $ 3.8 trillion money dump. A star economist known for her groundbreaking work on labor

markets, Yellen was a kind of prophetess early on in the crisis for her warnings about the subprime (次級債) meltdown. Now it will be her job to get the Fed and the markets out of the biggest and most unconventional monetary program in history without derailing the fragile recovery. The good news is that Yellen, 67, is particularly well suited to meet these challenges. She has a keen understanding of financial markets, an appreciation for their imperfections and a strong belief that human suffering was more related to unemployment than anything else.

? ? ? Some experts worry that Yellen will be inclined to chase unemployment to the neglect of inflation.

? ? ? But with wages still relatively flat and the economy increasingly divided between the well-off and the long-term

unemployed, more people worry about the opposite, deflation (通貨緊縮) that would aggravate the economy’s problems.

? ? ?Either way, the incoming Fed chief will have to walk a fine line in slowly ending the stimulus. It must be steady enough to

deflate bubbles and bring markets back down to earth but not so quick that it creates another credit crisis.

? ? ?Unlike many past Fed leaders, Yellen is not one to buy into the finance industry's argument that it should be left alone to

regulate itself. She knows all along the Fed has been too slack on regulation of finance. Yellen is likely to address the issue

right after she pushes unemployment below 6%, stabilizes markets and makes sure that the recovery is more inclusive and

robust. As Princeton Professor Alan Blinder says, “She’s smart as a whip, deeply logical, willing to argue but also a good

listener. She can persuade without creating hostility.” All those traits will be useful as the global economy’s new power player

takes on its most annoying problems.