资本主义还活着，而且非常好 I 拜登半年述职（中英全文）

编辑、译：SUN

【编者按】今天（7月19日）是拜登总统就任满六个月前一天，拜登在白宫发表了有关经济的演讲。关于国会山推动两党基础设施一揽子计划和总统经济议程的其他组成部分近期不断地升温，总统敦促立法者推进支出提案，认为这些计划将解决美国在继续从大流行中复苏而面临的一些最持久的经济挑战。以下是演讲全文（中英文对照）。

Well, good morning.  Tomorrow marks exactly six months since my administration began.  I think it’s a fitting moment to take a look at our economy — where we were six months ago, what we’ve achieved since then, and what I believe we’ve — I believe where we’re headed. 

好的，早上好。明天正好是我的政府开始工作满六个月。我认为这是一个合适的时刻来审视我们的经济——六个月前我们在哪里，从那时起我们取得了什么，以及我相信我们——我相信我们正在走向哪里。

Before I took office, there was a lot of folks out there — a lot of folks out there making some pretty bold predictions about how things would turn out.  You might remember some of the predictions.  That if I became President, we’d, quote, “see a depression the likes of which we’ve never seen.”  End of quote. 

在我上任之前，有很多人在那里——很多人在那里对事情的发展做出一些相当大胆的预测。你可能记得其中一些预测。如果我成为总统，我们将，引用，”看到一个我们从未见过的大萧条。”  引用结束。

Well, it’s true that the economy was sputtering before I got here, adding only 60,000 jobs per month for the three months before I was sworn in.  But now, six months later, we’ve changed that. 

好吧，在我来到这里之前，经济确实在下滑，在我宣誓就职之前的三个月，每月只增加了6万个工作岗位。但现在，六个月后，我们已经改变了这种情况。

We’ve gone from 60,000 jobs per month to 60,000 jobs every three days — more than 600,000 jobs per month since I took office.  More than 3 million new jobs all told.  That’s the fastest growth, I’m told, at this point in any administration’s history.

我们已经从每月6万个工作岗位变成了每三天6万个工作岗位——自从我上任以来，每月有超过60万个工作岗位。总共有300多万个新工作岗位。我被告知，这是任何一届政府历史上在这一点上增长最快的一次。

Another prediction — that is my favorite one, I must add — is that if I got elected, I’d bring the end to capitalism.  (Laughs.)  I never understood that one, but we’ve heard — we’ve heard it an awful lot.  Well, in six months into my administration, the U.S. economy has experienced the highest economic growth rate in nearly 40 years. 

另一个预测——我必须补充一下，这是我最喜欢的一个——是，如果我当选，我将带来资本主义的终结。（笑）我一直不明白这句话，但我们已经听到了——我们已经听到了很多。好的，在我执政的六个月里，美国经济经历了近40年来的最高经济增长率。

And we know we’ve — and now we knew that we needed to launch a war-time effort to get the — America vaccinated and pass a powerful American Rescue Plan. 

我们知道，我们已经——现在我们知道，我们需要发起一场战时努力，——让美国接种疫苗，并通过一个强大的美国救援计划。

We did both those things.  And now, the forecasters have doubled their projections for growth this year in the economy to 7 percent or higher.  In fact, the U.S. is the only developed country in the world where growth projections today are stronger than they were before the pandemic hit. 

我们做了这两件事。而现在，预测者们已经将他们对今年经济增长的预测翻了一番，达到7%或更高。事实上，美国是世界上唯一一个现今的增长预测比大流行病发生前的预测更强劲的发达国家。

At the same time, companies across the country are giving workers a raise.  Unusual thing.  (Laughs.)  And the number of new unemployment claims has been cut by more than half since I took office. 

与此同时，全国各地的公司正在给工人加薪。不寻常的事情。（笑）而且，自从我上任以来，新的失业申请数量已经减少了一半以上。 

And by the way, two weeks ago, I issued a major executive order promoting fair and open competition, which is the cornerstone — the cornerstone of American capitalism, banning non-compete clauses that suppress workers’ wages; lowering the price of things like hearing aids, prescription drugs, Internet service; along with dozens of other actions. 

顺便说一下，两周前，我发布了一项重要的行政命令，促进公平和公开的竞争，这是基石——美国资本主义的基石，禁止压制工人工资的非竞争条款；降低助听器、处方药、互联网服务等的价格；以及其他几十项行动。 

Folks, it turns out capitalism is alive and very well.  We’re making serious progress to ensure that it works the way it’s supposed to work: for the good of the American people.

伙计们，事实证明，资本主义还活着，而且非常好。我们正在取得认真的进展，以确保它以应有的方式运作：为了美国人民的利益。 

So, for all those predictions of doom and gloom, six months in, here’s where we stand: record growth, record job creation, workers getting hard-earned breaks. 

因此，对于所有那些厄运和阴霾的预测，六个月来，我们的情况是这样的：创纪录的增长，创纪录的创造就业，工人们得到了来之不易的休息。 

Look, we’ve brought this economy back from the brink.  And we designed our strategy not only to provide for a temporary boost, but to lay the foundation for a long-term boom that brings everyone along.

看，我们已经把这个经济从边缘拉了回来。我们设计的战略不仅是为了提供暂时的推动力，而且为长期繁荣奠定基础，使每个人都受益。

You know, that’s why we designed the American Rescue Plan to help not just all those — everyone at once, but over the course of a full year and beyond so we could help families and small businesses weather the ups and downs of our — as the economy recovers from an historic pandemic.  And I — there are going to be ups and downs.

你知道，这就是为什么我们设计了”美国救援计划”，不仅要帮助所有那些——每个人一次，而且要在一整年甚至更长时间内帮助我们的家庭和小企业度过——当经济从一个历史性的大流行中恢复过来的起伏。 

We saw a great example of that just last week.  For the first time, monthly payments began going out to nearly every working family raising a child in the United States of America.  Thanks to the expanded Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan: $300 a month going out for each child under the age of six, and $250 for every child 6 through 17, every month for the next six months, with more coming in the spring.

就在上周，我们看到了一个很好的例子。第一次，每月的款项开始发放给美国几乎所有抚养孩子的工作家庭。由于美国救援计划中扩大的儿童税收抵免：每个6岁以下的孩子每月有300美元，每个6至17岁的孩子有250美元，在接下来的6个月里，下个春天会有更多。

That money is a game-changer.  For some, it’s a lifesaver.  Think of the single mom, struggling to put food on the table each month.  The parent who has to tell their kid, “I’m sorry, honey, but we can’t afford those dance classes or the sports team you want to play on this fall.  We can’t do it.”  You know, they can’t wait for the credit against their taxes to be coming next year as a tax credit.  They need cash in their pockets today. 

这笔钱是一个游戏规则的改变。对一些人来说，它是一个救命钱。想想单亲妈妈，每个月都在为桌上的食物而挣扎。父母不得不告诉他们的孩子，”我很抱歉，亲爱的，但我们负担不起那些舞蹈课或你想在今年秋天参加的运动队。我们不能这样做。”  你知道，他们不能等着明年作为税收抵免的时候再来。他们今天就需要在他们口袋里的现金。

For families with the least, this money will do the most — dramatically reducing child poverty in America.  And for millions of middle-class families, it will give them a little bit of breathing room every month.  That’s just one example of how we’re building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out.   

对于（钱）最少的家庭来说，这笔钱将发挥最大的作用——极大地减少美国的儿童贫困。而对于数以百万计的中产阶级家庭来说，这将使他们每个月有一点喘息的机会。这只是一个例子，说明我们是如何从下往上和从中间往外建设经济的。 

But despite that progress, we cannot afford to be complacent.  We know that our economic recovery hinges on getting the pandemic under control. 

但是，尽管有这样的进展，我们不能自满。我们知道，我们的经济复苏有赖于控制住这一流行病。

 You know, and by fully vaccinating 160 million Americans, 80 percent of our seniors, we’ve fundamentally changed the course of the pandemic — from one that threatens all Americans, to a disease that has the most severe impacts only on the unvaccinated people in the country.  But we can’t let up, especially since and because of the Delta variant, which is more transmis- — more transmissible and more dangerous. 

你知道，通过为1.6亿美国人、80%的老年人全面接种疫苗，我们已经从根本上改变了这一流行病的进程——从一个威胁到所有美国人的疾病，变成一个只对国内未接种疫苗的人产生最严重影响的疾病。但我们不能松懈，特别是由于Delta变体，它的传播性更强，更危险。 

Unfortunately, cases are now rising, particularly in communities with very low vaccination rates.  Just four states account for nearly 40 percent — four states, 40 percent of all cases last week.  Virtually all hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among unvaccinated Americans.  These tragedies are avoidable. 

不幸的是，现在病例正在上升，特别是在疫苗接种率很低的社区。仅四个州就占了近40%——四个州，占上周所有病例的40%。几乎所有的住院和死亡都发生在未接种疫苗的美国人身上。这些悲剧是可以避免的。 

The data couldn’t be clearer: If you’re fully vaccinated, you have a high degree of protection against severe illness, hospitalization, and death.  If you’re unvaccinated, you are not protected. So, please, please get vaccinated.  Get vaccinated now.  It works.  It’s safe.  It’s free.  It’s convenient.

数据再清楚不过了。如果你完全接种了疫苗，你对严重疾病、住院和死亡有高度的保护。如果你没有接种疫苗，你就得不到保护。所以，请，请接种疫苗。现在就去接种疫苗。它是有效的。它是安全的。它是免费的。这很方便。 

You know, this virus doesn’t have to hold you back any longer.  It doesn’t have to hold our economy back any longer.  But the only way we put it behind us is if more Americans get vaccinated.

你知道，这种病毒不必再阻碍你了。它不必再阻碍我们的经济发展了。但是，我们把它放在我们身后的唯一方法是如果更多的美国人去接种疫苗。 

We also know that as our economy has come roaring back, we’ve seen some price increases.  Some folks have raised worries that this could be a sign of persistent inflation.  But that’s not our view.  Our experts believe and the data shows that most of the price increases we’ve seen are — were expected and expected to be temporary.

我们也知道，随着我们的经济轰轰烈烈地回来，我们已经看到一些价格上涨。有些人提出担心，这可能是持续通货膨胀的迹象。但这不是我们的观点。我们的专家认为，而且数据显示，我们所看到的大多数价格上涨是——是预期到的，而且预期是暂时的。

The reality is, you can’t flip the global economic light back on and not expect this to happen.  As demand returns, there’s going to be global supply chain challenges.  We’ve seen that in semi-conductors, which are used in automobiles.  That global shortage has slowed vehicle production, creating a temporary spike in car prices.  That’s a real challenge.  And my administration is doing everything we can to address it.  But again, these disruptions are temporary. 

现实情况是，你不能把全球经济的灯重新打开，而不期望这种情况发生。随着需求的恢复，将有全球供应链的挑战。我们已经在汽车使用的半导体中看到了这一点。这种全球短缺已经减缓了汽车生产，造成了汽车价格的暂时飙升。这是一个真正的挑战。我的政府正在尽一切努力来解决这个问题。但同样，这些干扰也是暂时的。

Lumber prices are another example.  They spiked early in our recovery, but in recent weeks, they’ve began to fall — they’ve fallen by more than 50 percent. 

木材价格是另一个例子。在我们复苏的早期，它们飙升，但在最近几周，它们开始下降——它们已经下降了50％以上。 

In the hospitality industry, prices are returning to where they used to be.  Economists call all of these things “transitory effects.”  And they account for about 60 percent of the price increases we’ve seen over the last few months. 

在酒店业，价格正在恢复到以前的水平。经济学家称所有这些事情为”过渡性影响”。它们占了我们在过去几个月看到的价格上涨的大约60%。

Now, I want to be clear: My administration understands that if we were to ever experience unchecked inflation over the long term that would pose real challenges to our economy.  So while we’re confident that isn’t what we are seeing today, we’re going to remain vigilant about any response that is needed. 

现在，我想说清楚：我的政府明白，如果我们长期经历不受约束的通货膨胀，这将对我们的经济构成真正的挑战。因此，虽然我们相信这不是我们今天看到的情况，但我们将对任何需要的反应保持警惕。 

As I made clear to Chairman Powell of the Federal Reserve when we met recently, the Fed is independent.  It should take whatever steps it deems necessary to support a strong, durable economic recovery.  But whatever different views some might have on current price increases, we should be united on one thing: passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, which we shook hands on.  We shook hands on it.  And my Build Back Better plan will be a force for achieving lower prices for Americans looking ahead.  It’s another reason why these investments are so important. 

正如我最近与美联储主席鲍威尔会面时明确表示的那样，美联储是独立的。它应该采取它认为必要的任何步骤来支持一个强大的、持久的经济复苏。但是，无论一些人对目前的价格上涨有什么不同看法，我们应该在一件事上团结一致：通过我们两党的基础设施框架，我们在这上面握手言和。而我的”重建更好”计划将是为展望未来的美国人实现更低价格的力量。这也是为什么这些投资如此重要的另一个原因。 

If we make a prudent, multi-year investments in better roads, bridges, transit systems, and high-speed Internet, and a modern, resilient electric grid, here’s what will happen: It breaks up the bottlenecks in our economy.  Goods get to consumers more rapidly and less expensively.  Small businesses create and innovate much more seamlessly.  If we increase the availability of quality, affordable childcare, eldercare, paid leave, more people will enter the workforce. 

如果我们对更好的道路、桥梁、交通系统和高速互联网，进行审慎的、多年的投资，以及一个现代化的、有弹性的电网，会发生以下情况。它打破了我们经济中的瓶颈。货物到达消费者手中的速度更快，成本更低。小企业的创造和创新更加顺畅。如果我们增加优质的、可负担得起的儿童保育、老年人护理和带薪休假，更多的人将进入劳动力市场。 

These steps will enhance our productivity — raising wages without raising prices.  That won’t increase inflation.  It will take the pressure off of inflation, give a boost to our workforce, which leads to lower prices in the years ahead. 

这些步骤将提高我们的生产力——提高工资而不提高价格。这不会增加通货膨胀。它将减轻通货膨胀的压力，给我们的劳动力带来动力，从而导致未来几年的价格下降。 

So, if your primary concern right now is inflation, you should be even more enthusiastic about this plan.  And as we promote — as we promote fair competition in our economy through the executive order I mentioned, it will drive down prices even further.  New businesses will get in the game, competing against those giant corporations who have been free to ramp up prices because they haven’t had any real competition.

因此，如果你现在主要关注的是通货膨胀，你应该对这个计划更加热心。而当我们促进——当我们通过我提到的行政命令促进我们经济中的公平竞争时，它将进一步推动价格下降。新的企业将进入游戏，与那些因为没有任何真正的竞争而自由地提高价格的巨型企业竞争。

Look, the bottom line is this: What the best companies do and what we as a country should do is make smart, sustainable investments with appropriate financing to make this nation more productive, to advance America’s leadership on clean energy to win the jobs of the future while meeting the threat of climate change, and to ensure that all working Americans benefit from the growth they’re helping produce. 

看，底线是这样的。最好的公司所做的，以及我们作为一个国家应该做的，是通过适当的融资进行明智的、可持续的投资，使这个国家更具生产力，推动美国在清洁能源方面的领导地位，以赢得未来的就业机会，同时应对气候变化的威胁，并确保所有美国工人从他们帮助产生的增长中受益。

The independent experts who have analyzed my plans have found that they would do just that: expand output and enable millions of Americans to enter the labor workforce now, just this year — not just for the next — but not just this year, but for decades in the future.  It’s not temporary.

对我的计划进行分析的独立专家发现，他们将做到这一点：扩大产出，使数百万美国人现在就能进入劳动队伍，就在今年——不仅仅是明年——而是未来几十年。这不是暂时的。 

This is the best strategy to create millions of jobs and lift up the middle-class families and grow wages and keep prices affordable for the long term. 

这是创造数以百万计的就业机会和提升中产阶级家庭的最佳战略，这也能增长工资和保持价格长期可承受。 

What we can’t do is go back to the same old trickle-down theories that gave us nearly $2 trillion in deficit-financed corporate tax giveaways that did nothing to make our economy more productive or resilient.  The same people who cheered on that approach are now telling us it isn’t [is] a problem if big companies have actually to compete for workers and offer them a fair wage with some dignity.

我们不能做的是回到老一套的涓滴理论，这种理论给我们带来了近2万亿美元的赤字资助的企业税收赠予，但却没有使我们的经济更具生产力或弹性。那些为这种做法欢呼的人现在告诉我们，如果大公司真的要争取工人并为他们提供有尊严的公平工资，那就不是[是]一个问题。 

I could not disagree more.  We can’t go back to the old, failed thinking.  We need to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, as I’ve said before. 

我完全不同意这一点。我们不能回到旧的、失败的思维。我们需要自下而上和自上而下地发展经济，正如我以前说过的。 

The investments I’m proposing are investments the American people want and investments that our country needs.  And if we get this done, a wide range of independent forecasters project that it will have an incredibly significant impact on GDP and jobs — good-paying jobs with prevailing wages.  And the majority of these jobs will go to people without a college degree. 

我所提议的投资是美国人民想要的投资，也是我们国家需要的投资。如果我们能做到这一点，许多独立的预测机构预测，这将对国内生产总值和就业产生令人难以置信的重大影响——普遍的高薪工作。而这些工作的大部分将由没有大学学位的人获得。

I’ve said it before, and it’s true: This is a blue-collar blueprint for building an American economy back.  Simply put, we can’t afford not to make these investments.  And we’re going to pay for them responsibly as well, by ensuring that our largest corporations and the very wealthiest among us pay their fair share by reforming our international tax system with a minimum global tax, which we’ve led the world to agree to. 

我以前说过，这是真的：这是一个建立美国经济的蓝领蓝图。简单地说，我们不能不进行这些投资。我们也将负责任地支付这些投资，确保我们最大的公司和我们中最富有的人通过改革我们的国际税收制度，征收最低的全球税来支付他们公平的份额，我们已经领导世界达成了共识。 

Let me close with this: When I arrived in office, it had been a long time since the government had worked for the people.  Things had been great for big corporations and folks at the top.  Those 55 major corporations that paid zero in income tax while making billions in profits, they had no complaints. 

让我以此来结束：当我上任时，政府已经很久没有为人民工作了。对于大公司和高层人士来说，情况一直很好。那些55家大公司在赚取数十亿利润的同时，却没有缴纳任何所得税，他们没有任何抱怨。 

But when I took office, I made a commitment — a commitment to the American people that we were going to change that paradigm so working families could have a fighting chance again to get a good education; to get a good job and a raise; to take care of the elderly parent or the child with the disability and still be able to go out and earn a good living; to stop losing hours of their lives stuck in traffic because the streets are crumbling; or waiting for slow, spotty Internet to connect them to the world. 

但是，当我上任时，我做出了一个承诺——一个对美国人民的承诺，即我们将改变这种模式，使工作家庭能够再次有机会获得良好的教育；获得一份好工作和加薪；照顾年迈的父母或有残疾的孩子，仍然能够出去赚钱以获得良好的生活；不再因为街道的崩溃而在交通中损失几个小时；或者等待缓慢、断断续续的互联网将他们与世界联系起来。 

That’s what the economy we’re building is all about.  That’s why we passed the American Rescue Plan.  And that’s why we need the investment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and my Build Back Better plan. 

这就是我们正在建设的经济的全部内容。这就是我们通过美国救援计划的原因。这就是为什么我们需要两党基础设施框架和我的”重建更好”计划的投资。

Our economy has come a long way over the last six months.  We can’t slow down now.  We can make this boom we’re experiencing today one that will ensure that all Americans have an opportunity to share in it for years to come.  And we can show the world that American democracy can deliver for the people. 

在过去六个月里，我们的经济已经取得了长足的进步。我们现在不能慢下来。我们可以使我们今天所经历的这一繁荣，能够确保所有美国人在未来几年都有机会分享这一繁荣。我们可以向世界表明，美国的民主可以为人民提供服务。 

I look forward to continuing to build this economy.  And I’m incredibly optimistic about what we’re going to be able to build together in the next six months and the years to come. 

我期待着继续建设这个经济。我对我们在未来六个月和未来几年内能够共同建设的东西感到难以置信的乐观。 

Thank you all for listening.  May God bless you. 

谢谢大家的聆听。愿上帝保佑你们。

您的支持是我们坚持下去的动力！