美国的抉择：抗疫还是保经济

Can We Put a Price Tag on a Life? 

The Shutdown Forces a New Look

 

Can we measure the cost of hundreds of thousands of dead?

数十万人死亡的代价，该如何衡量？

President Trump and leading business figures are increasinglyquestioning the wisdom of a prolonged shutdown of the American economy — already putting millions out of work — to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

特朗普总统和商界领袖们越来越多地质疑，为遏制新型冠状病毒的蔓延而让美国经济长期停摆是否明智——这种停滞已经让数百万人失去了工作。

“Our people want to return to work,” Mr. Trump declared Tuesday on Twitter, adding, “THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM!”

“我们的人民希望重返工作岗位，”特朗普周二在Twitter上宣称。他还说，“对策不应该比问题更糟！”

In essence, he was raising an issue that economists have long grappled with: How can a society assess the trade-off between economic well-being and health?

从本质上讲，他提出了经济学家长久以来努力解决的问题：一个社会如何评估经济福祉和健康之间的取舍？

1、 price tag  价签，标签

i.e. put a price tag on sth.  对...贴价签，对...用金钱来衡量

2、shutdown  经济封锁= lockdown  封城

3、measure  作名词，译为措施，采取措施。

   i.e.  take measures = take steps  采取措施

   measure  作动词，译为测量

   i.e. You have set standard to measure other performance. 你已经成为他人的楷模。/ 以你为范本，以你为标杆。

   by most measures  从大部分因素来看/从大部分指标来看

4、question the wisdom = question whether it is wisdom  是否是明智的/是否有智慧的

  补充：The size of your businesses depend on your effort. 业务的大小取决于你的努力。

       The success of your bussinesses depend on your effort.  业务的成功取决于你的努力。

5、curb the spread of ...  遏制...蔓延= control the spread of = contain = check = stem  

6、pandemic  更大范围的、全球性流行的病毒   endemic  地方性流行病

7、return to work  重返工作岗位= go back to work

   factories and offices must reopen/restart  复产复工

8、in essence  本质上讲= essentially

9、raise an issue  提出质疑/问题 = raise a problem = raise a concern

10、grapple with  努力解决= deal with = struggle with

注意：struggle with an issue  强调艰难应对问题

i.e. The world is struggling with the virus.  全世界在艰难应对病毒问题。

11、trade-off  (可数名词)   trade-off between A and B  在A和B之间取舍/权衡

12、economic well-being and health  经济福祉及健康

i.e. improve people’s well-being  改善人民福祉；改善民生

     improve ecological well-being  生态文明建设

There is a widespread consensus among economists and public health experts that lifting the restrictions would impose huge costs in additional lives lost to the virus — and deliver little lasting benefit to the economy.

经济学家和公共卫生专家普遍认为，取消这些限制将使更多的人死于这种病毒，付出巨大的代价，而且几乎不会给经济带来什么长期的好处。

Weighing economic costs against human lives will inevitably seem crass. But societies also value things like jobs, food and money to pay the bills — as well as the ability to deal with other needs and prevent unrelated misfortunes.

权衡人类生命的经济成本似乎不可避免地显得愚蠢。但是，社会也重视工作、食物和支付账单的钱等事物，以及满足其他需求和防止不相关的不幸的能力。

“Making people poorer has health consequences as well,” said Kip Viscusi, an economist at Vanderbilt University. Jobless people sometimes commit suicide. The poor are likelier to die if they get sick. Mr. Viscusi estimates that across the population, every loss of income of $100 million in the economy causes one additional death.

范德比尔特大学(Vanderbilt University)的经济学家基普·维斯库西(Kip Viscusi)表示：“让人变穷也会对健康造成影响。”失业者有时会自杀。如果穷人生病，他们死亡的可能性会更大。维斯库西估计，在整个人口中，经济每损失1亿美元的收入，就会导致一起额外的死亡。

Government agencies calculate these trade-offs regularly. Now, some economists have decided to stick their necks out and apply this thinking to the coronavirus pandemic. A policy to contain the virus by reducing economic activity would slow the progression of the virus and reduce the death rate, but it would also impose a greater economic cost.

政府机构定期计算这样的取舍。现在，一些经济学家决定冒险把这种想法应用到冠状病毒大流行上。通过减少经济活动来遏制病毒的政策，可以减缓病毒发展并降低死亡率，但它也将带来更大的经济代价。

It comes down to what a life is worth. That would amount to $2 million in lost economic activity per life saved.

归根结底，这是在衡量生命的价值。这相当于每挽救一条生命就损失200万美元的经济活动。

1、 lift the restriction  取消限制，取消禁令

i.e. lift the ban on international travel  取消国际旅游禁令

注意：取消皇粮税用 scrap/abolish, 这里不能用lift

2、impose huge cost in  在...带来巨大代价   in = in terms of  就...而言

3、be lost to sb. 失去   

   i.e. A lost game to B. A输给了B。

4、weigh  动词，译为权衡  weigh A against B  在AB之间作取舍/权衡

5、crass  愚蠢的= foolish=absurd

6、society  可以指国家

   Accross the societies in the world   世界各国/各国人们

7、value  珍惜/重视= pay high attention to...

   i.e. do not take sth. seriously  不够重视，（有褒义和贬义）指对不好的事情的重视较多。

8、prevent unrelated misfortunes   防止不相关的不幸发生

9、make sb. + adj的比较级  

 i.e. make people happier/feel happier  提高人们幸福感

   i.e. make sth. more comfortable  提高舒适感

   i.e. make people richer  提高收入

   i.e. make the system more stable  提高系统稳定性

   i.e. make sth. more transparent  提高透明度

10、have health consequence  对健康造成影响= have consequence for health= have implication for health= have impact on sth.

11、commit suicide  自杀

12、likely  可能   likelier  可能的比较级

13、calculate 计算   calculating  （形容词）会算计的；功于心计的

14、stick their neck out   冒险做某事

15、contain the virus  遏制病毒蔓延  i.e. containment VS engagement  遏制VS接触

16、come down to  归结为= it boil down to

i.e. when it comes to sth.  就...而言；说到...

17、in lost economic avtivity   损失的经济活动

Cass Sunstein, a legal scholar who worked for the Obama administration, heading the White House office in charge of these valuations, once proposed focusing government policies on saving years of life rather than lives, as is customary in other countries. “A program that saves younger people is better, in this sense, than an otherwise identical program that saves older people,” he wrote.

曾为奥巴马政府工作的法律学者凯斯·桑斯坦(Cass Sunstein)是白宫负责这类评估的办公室主任，他曾提议将政府政策的重点放在拯救生命时长上，而不是像其他国家的惯例那样，仅仅关注生命本身。“从这个意义上说，一个拯救年轻人的项目，比另一个同样的拯救老年人的项目更好，”他写道。

Covid-19 seems to be much more lethal for older people, whatever their economic worth. But Mr. Trump declared Tuesday that even while those most at risk are safeguarded, the economy could be “raring to go” within three weeks. “Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly,” he said on Twitter. “We can do two things together.”

无论老年人的经济价值如何，Covid-19对他们来说似乎更致命。但特朗普周二宣布，在面临最大风险的人得到保护的同时，经济在未来三周内也会是“蓄势待发”的状态。“老年人将受到保护和关爱，”他在Twitter上写道。“我们可以同时做到两件事。”

1、 head of...   牵头做某事；局长；部长；...的头

2、 saving years of life rather than lives  拯救生命时长而不是生命

3、 as is customary in other countries.  在其他国家是常规做法；在其他国家是惯例

= which is customary in other countries.

4、 lethal  致命的= more deadly = deadlier

5、 whatever their economic worth  不管经济价值如何

6、 be raring to go  蓄势待发= be successful=rebound=peak up

7、 watch over sb.  照料；照顾

8、 protectively & lovingly  保护和关爱的方式。