gwd 24-10

bradfordchen

24-passage two




Is it possible to decrease inflation without causing a recession and its concomitant increase in unemployment? The orthodox answer is “no”. Whether they support the “inertia” theory of inflation(that today’s inflation rate is caused by yesterday’s inflation, the state of the economic cycle, and external influences such as import prices) or the “rational expectations” theory (that inflation is caused by workers’ and employers’ expectations, coupled with a lack of credible monetary and fiscal policies), most economists agree that tight monetary and fiscal policies, which cause recessions, are necessary to decelerate inflation. They point out that in the 1980’s, many European countries and the United States conquered high (by these countries’ standards) inflation, but only by applying tight monetary and fiscal policies that sharply increased unemployment. Nevertheless, some governments’ policymakers insist that direct controls on wages and process, without tight monetary and fiscal policies, can succeed in decreasing inflation. Unfortunately, because this approach fails to deal with the underlying causes of inflation, wage and price controls eventually collapse, the hitherto-repressed inflation resurfaces, and in the meantime, though the policy-makers succeed in avoiding a recession, a frozen structure of relative prices imposes distortions that do damage to the economy’s prospects for long-term growth.




24-10 The passage suggests that the high inflation in the United States and many European countries in the 1980’s differed from inflation elsewhere in which of the following ways?




A) It fit the rational expectations theory of inflation but not the inertia theory of inflation.




B) It was possible to control without causing a recession.




C) It was easier to control in those countries by applying tight monetary and fiscal policies than it would have been elsewhere.




D) It was not caused by workers’ and employers’ expectations.





E) It would not necessarily be considered high elsewhere.





why the answer is E instead of C? I couldn't find any evidence supporting E, except there is a (by these countries’ standards) in the context. I think C is more than right, could anybody help me figure this out?  



Thanks a lot.

suners

回复 1# bradfordchen

   

Is it possibleto decrease inflation without causing a recession and its concomitant increasein unemployment? The orthodox answer is“no”. Whether they support the “inertia” theory of inflation(that today’sinflation rate is caused by yesterday’s inflation, the state of the economiccycle, and external influences such as import prices) or the “rationalexpectations” theory (that inflation is caused by workers’ and employers’expectations, coupled with a lack of credible monetary and fiscal policies), most economists agree that tight monetaryand fiscal policies, which cause recessions, are necessary to decelerateinflation. They point out that in the 1980’s, many European countries and the United States conqueredhigh (by these countries’ standards) inflation, but only by applying tightmonetary and fiscal policies that sharply increased unemployment. Nevertheless,some governments’ policymakers insist that direct controls on wages andprocess, without tight monetary and fiscal policies, can succeed in decreasinginflation. Unfortunately, because this approach fails to deal with theunderlying causes of inflation, wage and price controls eventually collapse,the hitherto-repressed inflation resurfaces, and in the meantime, though thepolicy-makers succeed in avoiding a recession, a frozen structure of relativeprices imposes distortions that do damage to the economy’s prospects forlong-term growth.

Nevertheless之前，都是mosteconomists支持tight monetary and fiscal policies的观点。

Theypoint out…举出一个使用tight monetary and fiscal policies例子。

括号里的bythese countries’ standards，我认为是定位所在。对于C，文中没有对比manyEuropean countries and the United States比别的easier。

Vickyliu

慢慢看完，意见如下。
24-passage two


Is it possible to decrease inflation without causing a recession and its concomitant increase in unemployment?
是否可以既削减通货膨胀，又不带来经济衰退及相应的高失业呢？

The orthodox answer is “no”.
传统观点认为不可能。

Whether they support the “inertia” theory of inflation(that today’s inflation rate is caused by yesterday’s inflation, the state of the economic cycle, and external influences such as import prices) or the “rational expectations” theory (that inflation is caused by workers’ and employers’ expectations, coupled with a lack of credible monetary and fiscal policies), most economists agree that tight monetary and fiscal policies, which cause recessions, are necessary to decelerate inflation.
无论是惯性理论，还是理性预期理论，大部分经济学家都主张以从紧的货币和财政政策来减缓通货膨胀。

They point out that in the 1980’s, many European countries and the United States conquered high (by these countries’ standards) inflation, but only by applying tight monetary and fiscal policies that sharply increased unemployment.
他们指出，许多欧洲国家和美国克服了(以这些国家的标准衡量的)高通货膨胀，而确是采用了导致高失业的从紧的货币和财政政策。

Nevertheless, some governments’ policymakers insist that direct controls on wages and process, without tight monetary and fiscal policies, can succeed in decreasing inflation.
然而，一些政府政策制定者坚称，直接控制工资和过程(是否应为price？)，不需从紧的货币和财政政策，也可以抑制通胀。

Unfortunately, because this approach fails to deal with the underlying causes of inflation, wage and price controls eventually collapse, the hitherto-repressed inflation resurfaces, and in the meantime, though the policy-makers succeed in avoiding a recession, a frozen structure of relative prices imposes distortions that do damage to the economy’s prospects for long-term growth.
不幸地是，因为这种方法未能解决通胀的潜在原因，控制最终失效，通胀再次高启，同时尽管避免了衰退，相对价格的固定构架伤害了经济的长期前景。

24-10 The passage suggests that the high inflation in the United States and many European countries in the 1980’s differed from inflation elsewhere in which of the following ways?
就是这一句“ They point out that in the 1980’s, many European countries and the United States conquered high (by these countries’ standards) inflation, but only by applying tight monetary and fiscal policies that sharply increased unemployment.”

A) It fit the rational expectations theory of inflation but not the inertia theory of inflation.
无

B) It was possible to control without causing a recession.
反


C) It was easier to control in those countries by applying tight monetary and fiscal policies than it would have been elsewhere.
无

D) It was not caused by workers’ and employers’ expectations.
无


E) It would not necessarily be considered high elsewhere.
是括号中的意思，因为这些国家认为高，别的国家不一定认为高。

melissa_gao

强！

jasonlover

I have no doubt about the answers here.  I am a bit confused about the author's attitude about this passage .Can we discuss about it?



1. Does he support most economists view that tight monetary and fiscal policies are necessary? I think yes.



2. But any relevance between this question and the first question the author raised in the beginning of the passage "Is it possible to decrease inflation without causing a recession and its concomitant increase in unemployment?" which one is the key question of the passage?



3. Is the example cited to support the adoption of tight monetary and fiscal policies? I think yes. The author argues that only such policies can solve the problem other than controlling the wages. But I don't see the relevance about the first question mentioned earlier either.



Anybody helps? Thanks.

eeheaven

分析的好啊！！

jasonlover

关于D选项, 我有一个问题,原文中关于"“rational expectations” theory 提到"that inflation is caused by workers’ and employers’ expectations", ...most economists agree that tight monetary and fiscal policies, ..., are necessary to decelerate inflation. , 这表明如果是由于workers’ and employers’ expectations引起的通胀要通过tight monetary and fiscal policies来解决.  
但下文中又说"Unfortunately, because this approach fails to deal with the underlying causes of inflation, wage and price controls eventually collapse, ...这句话表明, 由于没搞清通胀的成因, 而错误的选择了wage and price control, 所以失败了.
我的理解是, 选择wage and price control的理由是以为通胀由于worker和employers的expectataion引起, 但事实证明方法错了, 是因为没有对症下药,也就是说通胀并非由于workers’ and employers’ expectations引起.
所以没弄清楚D为啥错, 虽然我也认为E更好. 请指教. ....不知道各位能否看懂我再说什么......