當(dāng)前位置: Language Tips> 雙語新聞
America's dwindling economic freedom
分享到
World economic freedom has reached record levels, according to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, released Tuesday by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. But after seven straight years of decline, the US has dropped out of the top 10 most economically free countries. For 20 years, the index has measured a nation's commitment to free enterprise on a scale of 0 to 100 by evaluating 10 categories, including fiscal soundness, government size and property rights. These commitments have powerful effects: Countries achieving higher levels of economic freedom consistently and measurably outperform others in economic growth, long-term prosperity and social progress. Botswana, for example, has made gains through low tax rates and political stability. Those losing freedom, on the other hand, risk economic stagnation, high unemployment and deteriorating social conditions. For instance, heavy-handed government intervention in Brazil's economy continues to limit mobility and fuel a sense of injustice. It's not hard to see why the US is losing ground. Even marginal tax rates exceeding 43% cannot finance runaway government spending, which has caused the national debt to skyrocket. The Obama administration continues to shackle entire sectors of the economy with regulation, including health care, finance and energy. The intervention impedes both personal freedom and national prosperity. But as the US economy languishes, many countries are leaping ahead, thanks to policies that enhance economic freedom—the same ones that made the US economy the most powerful in the world. Governments in 114 countries have taken steps in the past year to increase the economic freedom of their citizens. Forty-three countries, from every part of the world, have now reached their highest economic freedom ranking in the index's history. Hong Kong continues to dominate the list, followed by Singapore, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada. These are the only countries to earn the index's "economically free" designation. Mauritius earned top honors among African countries and Chile excelled in Latin America. Despite the turmoil in the Middle East, several Gulf states, led by Bahrain, earned designation as "mostly free." A realignment is under way in Europe, according to the index's findings. Eighteen European nations, including Germany, Sweden, Georgia and Poland, have reached new highs in economic freedom. By contrast, five others—Greece, Italy, France, Cyprus and the United Kingdom—registered scores lower than they received when the index started two decades ago. The most improved players are in Eastern Europe, including Estonia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic. These countries have gained the most economic freedom over the past two decades. And it's no surprise: Those who have lived under communism have no trouble recognizing the benefits of a free-market system. But countries that have experimented with milder forms of socialism, such as Sweden, Denmark and Canada, also have made impressive moves toward greater economic freedom, with gains near 10 points or higher on the index scale. Sweden, for instance, is now ranked 20th out of 178 countries, up from 34th out of 140 countries in 1996. The US and the UK, historically champions of free enterprise, have suffered the most pronounced declines. Both countries now fall in the "mostly free" category. Some of the worst performers are in Latin America, particularly Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia. All are governed by crony-populist regimes pushing policies that have made property rights less secure, spending unsustainable and inflation evermore threatening. Despite financial crises and recessions, the global economy has expanded by nearly 70% in 20 years, to $54 trillion in 2012 from $32 trillion in 1993. Hundreds of millions of people have left grinding poverty behind as their economies have become freer. But it is an appalling, avoidable human tragedy how many of the world's peoples remain unfree—and poor. The record of increasing economic freedom elsewhere makes it inexcusable that a country like the US continues to pursue policies antithetical to its own growth, while wielding its influence to encourage other countries to chart the same disastrous course. The 2014 Index of Economic Freedom documents a world-wide race to enhance economic opportunity through greater freedom—and this year's index demonstrates that the US needs a drastic change in direction. |
根據(jù)傳統(tǒng)基金會(huì)和華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)周二發(fā)布的2014年度經(jīng)濟(jì)自由指數(shù)顯示,世界經(jīng)濟(jì)自由已經(jīng)達(dá)到了歷史新低。而在連續(xù)七年排名下跌之后,美國(guó)終于掉出了十大世界經(jīng)濟(jì)自由國(guó)家排行榜。 20年來,該經(jīng)濟(jì)自由指數(shù)通過對(duì)10個(gè)目錄(包括財(cái)政穩(wěn)健,政府規(guī)模以及產(chǎn)權(quán)等)進(jìn)行評(píng)估,把一個(gè)國(guó)家對(duì)自由企業(yè)制度的致力程度分為0到100的等級(jí)進(jìn)行考量。政府對(duì)自由企業(yè)制度的投入具有強(qiáng)大的影響力——一個(gè)能達(dá)到更高自由度的國(guó)家通常能持續(xù)而明顯地在經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)、長(zhǎng)期繁榮、社會(huì)進(jìn)步等方面超越其他國(guó)家。以波薩諾瓦為例,該國(guó)通過低稅率和政治穩(wěn)定獲得了不錯(cuò)的收益。 另一方面,那些正不斷失去自由的國(guó)家,則會(huì)面臨經(jīng)濟(jì)停滯、高失業(yè)率以及社會(huì)狀況惡化等風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。例如在巴西,政府對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)的嚴(yán)重干預(yù)將持續(xù)限制流動(dòng)性,加劇不公正性。 美國(guó)正在節(jié)節(jié)敗退,這是顯而易見的。甚至連超過43%的邊際稅率都已都不能負(fù)擔(dān)已經(jīng)失控的政府經(jīng)費(fèi),這導(dǎo)致了國(guó)債的飆升。然而奧巴馬政府仍繼續(xù)通過監(jiān)管加大對(duì)整個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)部門(包括醫(yī)療、金融和能源)的束縛。這種干預(yù)不僅阻妨礙了個(gè)人自由,也阻礙了國(guó)家繁榮。 在美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)萎縮的同時(shí),很多國(guó)家卻在大步前進(jìn)——多虧了那些增加了國(guó)家經(jīng)濟(jì)自由度的政策——那些曾經(jīng)讓美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)稱霸全球的政策。在過去幾年,114個(gè)國(guó)家的政府采取了各種措施以促進(jìn)國(guó)民經(jīng)濟(jì)自由的增長(zhǎng)。分布在世界不同地區(qū)的43個(gè)國(guó)家的經(jīng)濟(jì)自由度已經(jīng)在指數(shù)排名上達(dá)到了歷史新高。 在今年的經(jīng)濟(jì)自由指數(shù)中,香港的排名依然領(lǐng)先,而緊隨其后的分別是新加坡、澳大利亞、瑞士、新西蘭和加拿大,也只有這幾個(gè)國(guó)家被指數(shù)列入“經(jīng)濟(jì)自由”的行列中去。毛里求斯在眾非洲國(guó)家中贏得了最高榮譽(yù),而智利則在拉美國(guó)家中表現(xiàn)突出。盡管中東局勢(shì)動(dòng)亂,幾個(gè)海灣國(guó)家——以巴林島為首——也贏得了“經(jīng)濟(jì)最自由”的稱號(hào)。 根據(jù)指數(shù)調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),歐洲國(guó)家的重組正在悄然進(jìn)行。德國(guó)、瑞典、格魯吉亞和波蘭在內(nèi)的18個(gè)國(guó)家在經(jīng)濟(jì)自由度上再創(chuàng)新高,而與此相反,希臘、德國(guó)、法國(guó)、塞浦路斯和英國(guó)等5個(gè)國(guó)家所獲得的評(píng)級(jí)則相比20年前更低了。 此外,進(jìn)步最大的選手在東歐——其中包括愛沙尼亞、立陶宛和捷克共和國(guó)。這些國(guó)家都在過去20年間獲得了最大限度的經(jīng)濟(jì)自由。這并不令人驚訝:對(duì)這些生活在共產(chǎn)主義體制下的人們來說,意識(shí)到自由市場(chǎng)體制的好處并非難事。而那些以溫和的社會(huì)主義形式進(jìn)行試驗(yàn)的國(guó)家,比如瑞典、丹麥、加拿大,同樣在獲取經(jīng)濟(jì)自由上取得了傲人的成績(jī)——他們的指數(shù)評(píng)級(jí)都接近10點(diǎn)甚至超過10點(diǎn)。以瑞典為例,如今它在178個(gè)國(guó)家里排名第20,而1996年它在140個(gè)國(guó)家里排名只不過是第34。 歷史上美國(guó)和英國(guó)曾鼓吹自由企業(yè)制度,也都曾經(jīng)歷過最顯著的衰退。如今,兩個(gè)國(guó)家都掉到了“基本自由”這一分類里。表現(xiàn)最差的幾個(gè)國(guó)家在拉丁美洲,而委內(nèi)瑞拉、阿根廷、厄瓜多爾和玻利維亞等國(guó)在其中尤為突出。這些國(guó)家都采取親民的民粹主義政權(quán),其推行的政策使得公民的財(cái)產(chǎn)權(quán)無法得到安全保障,國(guó)家開銷難以為繼,通脹也變得更加嚴(yán)重。 盡管出現(xiàn)了金融危機(jī)以及與此相伴的經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退,全球經(jīng)濟(jì)在20年里依然擴(kuò)張了將近70%,從1993年的32萬億美元增長(zhǎng)到了2012年的54萬億美元。隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)日益的自由,數(shù)以百萬計(jì)的人們擺脫了貧困。但世界上還有許許多多的人們依然生活在經(jīng)濟(jì)不自由的國(guó)家,過著貧窮的生活——這是一個(gè)令人震驚的悲劇,但并不是不可避免的。 世界各地經(jīng)濟(jì)自由度在不斷增長(zhǎng),而美國(guó)還繼續(xù)采取與經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)相對(duì)立的政策,與此同時(shí),利用自己的影響力鼓勵(lì)其他國(guó)家遵循它這種災(zāi)難性的進(jìn)程,這種行為實(shí)在不可原諒。2014年的經(jīng)濟(jì)自由指數(shù)記錄了一場(chǎng)通過提升經(jīng)濟(jì)自由度來追逐經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)機(jī)遇的競(jìng)賽。同時(shí),美國(guó)也亟需轉(zhuǎn)變前進(jìn)方向。 (譯者 shelly91 編輯 丹妮) |
上一篇 : 關(guān)于日本人口危機(jī)你不得不知道的幾件事
下一篇 : NSA每天搜集2億條短信
分享到
關(guān)注和訂閱
關(guān)于我們 | 聯(lián)系方式 | 招聘信息
電話:8610-84883645
傳真:8610-84883500
Email: languagetips@chinadaily.com.cn