金融危机过后 有钱人更有钱了

Lately everyone from policymakers to fast-food workers have urged Washington to raise the minimum wage. It's a thorny topic that's spawned countless arguments both for and against an increase, but a new study suggesting that only the richest Americans are recovering from the Great Recession should make opponents rethink a minimum wage hike.

最近在美国，上至决策层，下至快餐店员工都在要求华盛顿上调最低工资。这个伤脑筋的话题催生了无数支持和反对的争论。但一项最新研究显示，目前只有最富有的美国人从这场经济大衰退中恢复了过来，这个发现应能让反对者重新考虑上调最低工资的问题。

Income inequality has been a problem for decades, but the gap between the haves and have-nots has worsened in the years following the recession. The rise in home and stock prices may be benefitting the richest Americans, but the poorest are being left behind: From 2009 to 2012, the top 1% incomes grew by 31.4% while the bottom 99% incomes grew a mere 0.4%, according to an updated study by University of California Berkeley economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty.

收入不均是美国几十年的顽疾，但在最近这场经济衰退后，贫富差距进一步拉大。房价和股价上涨可能令最富有的美国人获益，而最贫困的人被落在了后边：加州大学伯克利分校（University of California Berkeley）经济学家伊曼纽尔•塞斯和托马斯•皮凯蒂进行的一项最新研究显示，2009年至2012年，收入最高的1%人群收入增长了31.4%，余下99%人群的收入仅增长了微不足道的0.4%。

That means the top 1% took more than one-fifth of the income earned by Americans -- one of the highest levels since 1913 when the modern federal income tax started, the economists note. More than that, the top 1% incomes are close to full recovery while the bottom 99% incomes have barely started to recover.

这两位经济学家指出，这意味着收入最高的1%人群拿走了所有美国人收入总额的1/5以上，达到1913年现代联邦所得税开征以来的最高水平之一。不仅如此，收入最高1%人群的收入已接近全面恢复，而剩下99%人群的收入基本上刚刚开始恢复。

Raising the minimum wage won't close the gap, but it could certainly ease it. Sadly proposals haven't gone anywhere and face stiff opposition. Last month, fast-food workers staged a one-day strike in 60 U.S. cities to demand a minimum wage of $15 an hour, more than double the current minimum of $7.25 and more than the $9 an hour President Obama proposed in February during his State of the Union address.

上调最低工资不能弥合这一差距，但肯定会在一定程度上缓解这个问题。遗憾的是，上调最低工资的提案目前没有取得任何进展，阻力不小。上个月，美国快餐业工人在全美60个城市罢工一天，要求将最低工资提高到每小时15美元。这将是当前最低工资每小时7.25美元的两倍还多，也高于奥巴马总统今年2月在国情咨文中提议的每小时9美元。

These aren't just workers looking for a raise (aren't we all), but symptoms of bigger income disparity problems. It's easy to argue against raising the minimum wage: that an increase would make hiring more expensive for companies; that it would actually raise the unemployment rate, since higher wages would encourage more people to apply for jobs; that it wouldn't help the broader economy because only a few workers actually earned the minimum wage.

这不只是工人希望上调工资（我们所有人都想上调，不是吗？）的问题，同时也是收入分化加剧症状的表现。不难想到反对上调最低工资的理由：上调将使得公司的用人成本上升；事实上提高失业率，因为高工资将鼓励更多的人求职；它不会对更宏观层面的经济起到什么作用，因为拿最低工资的人并不多。

That may or may not be so, but the White House has said raising the minimum wage to $9 would boost wages for about 15 million low-income workers. This of course wouldn't equal to gains the top 1% of earners have enjoyed recently from the stock market and home prices, but as the White House has said, a $1.75 increase in the minimum wage would be enough to offset roughly 10% to 20% of the increase in income inequality since 1980.

这些说法也许有道理，也许没道理，但白宫已表示，将最低工资提高到9美元将增加约1,500万低收入工人的工资。这当然比不上收入最高1%人群最近在股市和房市中取得的收益，但正如白宫所讲，将最低工资上调1.75美元足以弥补自1980年以来新增收入差距的10-20%。

That won't close the gap between rich and poor, but it would at least help the very poor play catch-up.

这点钱弥合不了贫富差距，但至少能帮助最贫困的人稍许赶上些。