給這禮拜特邀外匯局人士的社課講座"錢包內的波動"參考資料
Anxious Middle Class Counts Its Euros With Care
焦慮中產階級 度日精打細算
By Carter Dougherty and Katrin Bennhold
LES ULIS, France – When their local bakery in this town south of Paris
raised the price of a baguette for the third time in six months, Anne-Laure
Renard and Guy Talpot bought a bread maker. When gasoline became their
biggest single expense, they sold one of their two cars.
巴黎南郊雷祖里鎮的麵包店，半年內三度調漲法國麵包的價格後，安羅荷‧赫納與蓋‧塔
波決定買一部麵包機。在汽油變成最大的一筆支出後，他們將兩部車賣了一部。
Their combined annual income of 40,000 euros, about $62,500, lands Ms.
Renard, a teacher, and Mr. Talpot, a postal worker, smack in the middle of
France’s middle class. And over the last year, prices in France have risen
four times as fast as their salaries.
為人師表的赫納女士與郵政人員塔波，年收入共4萬歐元，約6萬2,500美元，在法國中產
階級中剛好落在中間。但是去年一年，法國物價漲幅是薪資調幅的四倍。
“In France, when you can’t afford a baguette anymore, you know you’re in
trouble,” Ms. Renard said one recent evening in her kitchen, as her partner
measured powdered milk for their 13-month-old son, Vincent. “The French
Revolution started with bread riots.”
最近一個夜晚，當另一半在為兩人13個月大的兒子文森量奶粉泡牛奶時，赫納在廚房中說
：「在法國，當你買不起法國麵包時，你就知道問題大了。法國革命是由麵包暴動引爆。
」
The European dream is under assault, as the wave of inflation sweeping the
globe mixes with this continent’s long-stagnant wages. Families that once
enjoyed Europe’s vaunted quality of life are saving their money for
necessities, and cutting back on extras like movies and vacations abroad.
通貨膨脹浪潮席捲全球，加上歐陸薪水長期凍漲，歐洲人的美夢碎了。一度過著歐洲人愛
現的優質生活的家庭，開始省錢大作戰，以應付必需品的支出，他們也減少看電影和到外
國度假等額外開銷。
Potentially more disturbing – especially to the political and social order –
are the millions across the continent grappling with the realization that
they may have lives worse, not better, than their parents.
可能更讓人不安的，尤其是對政治與社會秩序而言，是歐洲大陸數以百萬計的人，正努力
認清，他們的日子可能過得比父母差，而不是更好。
“I have this feeling that there is a wall in front of us,” said Axel
Marceau, a 41-year-old schoolteacher living outside of Frankfurt. “We’re
just not going to get any further.”
41歲的學校教師艾克塞‧馬索，家住法蘭克福郊區，他說：「我有這種感覺，我們前面有
一堵牆，讓人無法再往前進。」
A study by the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin found that
the broad middle of the German work force, defined as workers making from 70
to 150 percent of the median income, shrunk to 54 percent of the population
last year, from 62 percent in 2000.
柏林「德國經濟研究所」的研究指出，德國勞動力的廣大中產階級，其定義為勞工所賺薪
水為收入中位數的70%到150%，去年中產階級占人口比率降至54%，2000年占62%。
Mr. Marceau’s father had a teaching job that afforded the family upward
mobility, from owning a home to fancy ski vacations. But today, Mr. Marceau
said, a new class of bankers, executives and other high earners has taken
over. “I feel like we’ve been in a slow process of losing to the people up
top,” he said.
馬索的父親從事教職，家人的生活因此得以向上提升，如擁有房子和享受豪華滑雪度假等
。馬索說，現在銀行家、高級主管、其他高收入者形成的新階級取而代之。他說：「我感
覺我們正慢慢輸給最高層的人。」
To be sure, Europe’s middle class is still larger than the number of people
at risk of falling into poverty – and, by many measures, more protected than
the American middle class. But policy makers worry that could change as the
European economy starts to feel the drag of an American slowdown and high
inflation.
當然，歐洲中產階級，還是比有瀕臨貧窮之虞的人多，而且透過多種措施，他們比美國中
產階級獲得更多保障。但是因為歐洲經濟已開始感到被美國經濟走緩和高通膨拖累，決策
者擔心，這一切可能改變。
“The problem,” said Julián Cubero, chief economist for Spain for BBVA, a
leading Spanish bank, “is that if your salary rises more slowly than the
cost of products you buy on a daily basis, you feel poorer every day.”
西班牙數一數二的BBVA銀行（畢爾巴鄂維茨卡亞對外銀行）首席經濟學家朱利安‧庫貝洛
說：「問題出在當薪資漲幅比日常購買的用品漲幅慢時，你會覺得一天比一天窮。」
Since 1999, prices have risen 22.5 percent in the 27 member states of the
European Union, and 18.8 percent in the 15 countries that use the euro.
1999年以來，歐洲聯盟27個成員國的物價漲了22.5%，使用歐元的15國，物價也漲了18.8%
。
Much of the declining purchasing power of European workers can be traced to
those numbers, and to policy decisions and economic developments over the
last decade when globalization began to reshape Europe and the world.
歐洲勞工購買力下滑，大致可以追溯到上述數字，也可上溯到過去十年，當全球化帶動歐
洲與全球改造之際的政治決策和經濟發展。
In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, the decline in purchasing power began
in 2000, when employers started wresting wage concessions from unions, or
simply shifting jobs to Eastern Europe and China.
歐洲最大經濟體德國的購買力，2000年開始下滑，當時雇主開始就薪資減讓與工會展開角
力，或索性將工作轉移到東歐或中國大陸。
In France, the 35-hour workweek kept average annual pay increases below 1
percent for nearly a decade, said Robert Rochefort, the director general of
Credoc, an organization in Paris that researches living standards.
巴黎研究生活水平的組織，Credoc總裁賀伯‧何希福說，法國實施每周35工時，將近十年
將平均，年薪漲幅維持在1%以內。
Stagnant pay and soaring prices have hit Italy hardest. Recent statistics
from the country’s main shopkeepers’ union showed consumer spending was
down 1.1 percent in January from a year earlier, the biggest drop in three
years. Leisure and recreation spending fell 5.5 percent.
薪資凍漲、物價飆升，以義大利受害最深。該國最大零售商會最近的統計數字顯示，1月
消費者支出較去年同期下降1.1%，為三年來最大跌幅。休閒娛樂支出下跌5.5%。
Francesca Di Pietro, a secretary, and her partner, Gianluca Pompei, a project
manager, are part of that trend. Since their son, Mario, was born nearly two
years ago, they have spent little on entertainment.
秘書法蘭西絲卡‧狄皮耶卓，與她的另一半、專案經理季安路卡‧龐培，是這股趨勢的受
害人。大約兩年前，兒子馬里歐出生後，他們的娛樂支出少之又少。
“I’ve become anxious about unexpected expenses,” Ms. Di Pietro said. To
stretch their monthly income of about 2,500 euros ($3,900), the couple has
been getting hair cuts at the local beauty school, packing a lunch for work,
buying secondhand clothes in market stalls and vacationing at campsites
instead of hotels.
狄皮耶卓說：「超出預算時，我會變得很焦慮。」為了盡全力讓約2,500歐元（3,900美元
）月薪夠花用，這對夫婦開始到當地的美容美髮學校剪髮、帶午餐上班、到地攤買二手衣
、到營地而非飯店度假。
“I look at people on the bus and they seem sad and beaten down,” said Ms.
Di Pietro, referring to Italy’s malaise. “We’re 40 years old. We should be
feeling more combative, but really all we feel is frustrated.”
狄皮耶卓談及義國不景氣時說：「我望著巴士裡的人都是滿臉愁容、垂頭喪氣。我們40歲
了，應該鬥志昂揚，卻感覺心灰意冷。」
關鍵字句
薪資凍漲（stagnant wage）與物價飆漲（soaring price），導致歐洲中產階級（
middle class）自覺一天比一天窮困（feel poorer every day）。曾過著高生活品質（
quality of life）的中產家庭，現在也必須節食縮衣，減少（cut back）看電影、度假
的額外開銷（extra），以便有錢購買日常必需品（daily necessities ）。這些中產階
級同時正努力面對（grapple with）一項認知（realization），亦即他們的生活可能過
得不如父母。
談到義大利的不景氣（malaise），居民狄皮耶卓形容她看到巴士上的人，個個看來垂頭
喪氣（beaten down），她認為和自己一樣40歲左右的人，本該鬥志高昂（combative），
現在卻只有心灰意冷（frustrated）一種感覺。
原文參照
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/business/worldbusiness/01middle.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/29/business/29prices.php
2008-05-20/聯合報/G4版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 王麗娟 原文請見5月20日紐時周報五版右
上
～ 順便練練英文吧！^^
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