加国头条 i4cc.ca ｜彭博社：无法遏制不平等现象加剧，英国面临“资本主义危机”

Britain Risks `Crisis of Capitalism~q~ Due to Rising Inequality

由于不平等现象加剧，英国面临着“资本主义危机”

来源：彭博社翻译：世界播

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Britain risks following the U.S. in terms of declining life expectancy and stagnant wages for the less-educated portion of the population if the causes of inequality go unchecked, according to a report.

一份报告显示，如果不遏制社会财富不平等（贫富差距）现象的日益加剧趋势，英国可能会步美国的后尘，导致受教育程度较低的人群预期寿命下降，工资水平停滞不前。

The research, published Tuesday, forms the first part of a review into inequality chaired by Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton, which will ultimately provide a set of policy proposals to tackle inequality in Britain. The findings are bound to fuel the debate over wealth disparities in the U.K., an issue that both Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn have pledged to redress after years of austerity and meager income growth.

周二发表的这项报告是诺贝尔奖得主安格斯•迪顿领导的一项关于贫富差距研究调查的第一部分。该研究最终将提供一套解决英国不平等问题的政策建议。这一调查结果势必会引发有关英国贫富差距的争论，在多年的紧缩和微薄的收入增长之后，英国首相特雷莎•梅和反对党领袖杰里米•科尔宾都承诺要纠正这个问题。

“The deepening economic and social divides have led some to question whether inequality will lead to a crisis of capitalism,” the report, commissioned by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said. “With support for populist candidates rising on both sides of the Atlantic, and on both sides of the political spectrum, some question whether inequality may pose a threat not just to capitalism but also to our democratic system.”

这份由英国财政研究所委托撰写的报告称：“经济和社会分化的加深，已导致一些人质疑，不平等是否会导致资本主义危机。随着大西洋两岸和政治派别对民粹主义候选人的支持日益增加，也有一些人质疑，不平等是否不仅仅会对资本主义构成威胁，而且也会对我们的民主制度构成威胁。”

The share of income going to the top 1% of households in the U.K. has nearly tripled in the last four decades, while adjusting for inflation, the lowest-earning working households today earn little more than they would have in the mid-1990s. Figures also show that “deaths of despair” -- those from suicide, drug and alcohol abuse -- are rising among the middle-aged, while residents of less affluent parts of England have lower life expectancy

在过去的四十年里，英国收入最高的1%家庭所占的收入份额几乎增长了近三倍。尽管依通货膨胀作出了调整，但目前收入最低的工薪家庭的收入仍只比上世纪90年代中期高了一点点。数据还显示，“由失去希望引发的死亡”在中年人中呈上升趋势，这些死亡原因包含自杀、吸毒和酗酒，而英国较不富裕地区的居民预期寿命普遍较低。

Declining membership in trade unions and growth in the gig economy are likely reducing workers’ bargaining power, the report said. Technological change and globalization are also driving forces of inequalities, according to the report, which also looked at disparities in geography, generations, and gender.

该报告称，工会成员数量的下降和零工经济的增长很可能会降低工人的议价能力。报告指出，技术变革和全球化也是造成财富不平等的驱动因素。报告还考察了地理、代际之间和性别方面的差异。

“I think that people getting rich is a good thing, especially when it brings prosperity to others,” Deaton said. “But the other kind of getting rich, ‘taking’ rather than ‘making,’ rent-seeking rather than creating, enriching the few at the expense of the many, taking the free out of free markets, is making a mockery of democracy.”

迪顿表示：“我认为人们变得富有是一件好事，尤其是当它给他人带来富足的时候。但现在普遍的一种致富方式是‘索取占有’而不是‘积累’，是寻租而不是创造，是以牺牲多数人的利益为代价让少数人富起来，是把自由从自由市场中拉出来，这完全就是对民主的嘲弄。”