今日主題：France’s economy-- The performance gap / 法國經濟--績效差距
康康精選GRE&GMAT會考的主題，堅持每天精讀一定會進步的哦!!
MP3音檔 (按右鍵可下載聽)：喜歡的同學，幫忙推或按讚哦~~
http://xia2.kekenet.com/Sou…/2016/…/eco160719_2203381D2n.mp3
只有音檔怎夠，聽不懂地方，不用怕，康康幫你準備好中英文稿了：
中英文稿：
France’s economy-- The performance gap
法國經濟--績效差距
The French government seems to realise at last that urgent action is needed to restore the country’s competitiveness
法國政府終覺悟，恢復國家競爭力迫在眉睫
THE end of the early shift, and workers at the Peugeot car factory at Aulnay - sous - Bois, near Paris, are streaming out through the turnstiles. The anger is raw; the disappointment crushing. In July, when the company announced that the plant, which employs 3,000 workers, was to close, President Francois Hollande loudly branded the decision “unacceptable”. Two months and an official report later, his government has now accepted its fate. “Hollande said that he would look after us,” says Samir Lasri, who has worked on the production line for 12 years: “Now we regret voting for him.”
早班結束，位於巴黎邊上的歐奈蘇布瓦市的標致汽車廠的工人們從十字轉門裡蜂湧而出。他們異常憤怒，失望至極。七月份，該公司宣布將關閉這個擁有3000名員工的工廠時，法國總統弗朗索瓦•奧朗德大聲疾呼該決是“不可接受的”。然而，兩個月後，一則官方報導稱政府已經接受了它關閉的命運。“奧朗德之前說他會照顧我們的活，”已經在生產線工作了12年的薩米爾•拉斯利說，“現在我們後悔給他投票了”。
The decision by Peugeot - PSA, a loss - making carmaker, to shut its factory at Aulnay, the first closure of a French car plant for 20 years, and to shed 8,000 jobs across the country has rocked France. It has become an emblem both of the country’s competitiveness problem and of the new Socialist government’s relative powerlessness, despite its promises, to stop private - sector restructuring. Tough as it is for the workers concerned, the planned closure may have had at least one beneficial effect: to jolt the country into recognising that France is losing competitiveness and that the government needs to do something about it.
標致雪鐵龍集團一直處於虧損之中，他們決定關閉在歐奈的工廠，同時裁掉8000名員工，這是二十年來第一個關閉的法國工廠。他們的決定震驚了整個法國這也像徵著法國的競爭力問題和社會主義政府的無能為力，雖然他們一直承諾停止私營企業的重組。對於工人來說，他們的生活非常艱難，但是這個計劃中的關閉可能至少會有一個有利影響，迫使法國政府認識到國家正在失去競爭力，並採取相關措施。
Over the past 12 years, a competitiveness gap has opened up between France and Germany, its biggest trading partner. This shows both in manufacturing unit - labour costs, which have risen by 28% in France since 2000, but only 8% in Germany, and in France’s declining share of extra - EU exports. A cross - border study of two chemicals firms by Henri Lagarde, a French businessman, points to part of the problem: the German company pays only 17% of its employees’ gross salaries in social charges, next to 38% for its French counterpart. A recent study of competitiveness ranked Germany in sixth place; France came 21 st.
在過去的12年裡，法國和他的最大的貿易夥伴德國的競爭力出現了差距。2000年至今，法國的製造業單位勞動成本上升了28%，而德國祇上升了8%,同時法國對非歐盟地區的出口也在下降。德國商人亨利•拉加德做了一項有關兩個化學品公司的跨境研究，指出了問題的一部分：德國公司僅用員工薪資總額的17%來交社會負擔費用，而他們的法國競爭者卻用了38%之多。最新的競爭力排名德國居第六位，法國僅排在第21位。
During the presidential election campaign earlier this year, competitiveness scarcely featured — either on the right or the left. Once elected, Mr Hollande gave Arnaud Montebourg, who wrote a best - seller calling for “deglobalisation”, a ministerial job designed to stop industrial closures. Mr Montebourg has duly toured the country promising the impossible.
在前些日子本年度的總統大選期間，無論是右派還是左派都沒有對競爭力問題足夠重視。奧朗德先生在當選後給了阿諾德•蒙特伯格一份部長級的重任以防止工廠倒閉。蒙特伯格曾寫了一本暢銷書來呼籲“去全球化”，他會按期在全國巡遊許諾“工廠關閉”是不可能的。
This autumn, however, as factory closures mount, a creeping sense of reality seems to be setting in. Mr Hollande may still be bent on his new 75% top tax rate, yet on other matters the tone has changed. Not only has the Aulnay closure been accepted, but Mr Hollande has talked of “painful” efforts ahead. He warned about 10 billion ($13 billion) of spending cuts, as well as 20 billion of tax increases, in the 2013 budget. Above all, he called for a “reform of the labour market”— traditionally a taboo for the left.
然而，這個秋天，隨著關閉的工廠越來越多，人們正開始慢慢地感受到這種現實感。奧朗德先生可能還在一心致力於他的新的75%最高稅率，但是其他問題的基調卻已經悄然改變。不僅歐奈的關閉已經被接受，而且奧朗德先生已經事先談到了“痛苦”的努力。他提醒大家在2013年的預算中開支將會縮減100億歐元（約合130億美元），同時稅收將增加200歐元。最後，他呼籲“勞動力市場改革”，這在傳統上卻是左派的禁忌。
Mr Montebourg may still denounce the “greed of the financial system”, but other ministers, notably Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister, and Michel Sapin, the labour minister, sound more reasonable. “We want to be sensibly pro - business,” says Mr Moscovici. “We are very conscious that our economy won’ t perform without our companies.” Advisers recognise that labour costs too much and that the level of public spending — at 56% of GDP the second - highest in the European Union — is a problem for France.
蒙特伯格先生可能還在指責“貪婪的金融體系”，但是以財政部長皮埃爾•莫斯科維奇和勞工部長米歇爾•薩潘為代表的其他部長的話聽起來卻更加合理。“我們要讓企業感受到我們支持他們”，莫斯科維奇先生說，“我們深刻地認識到企業對於經濟的重要性，沒有企業經濟就表現不好。”法國的財政顧問也認識到國家面臨著這樣一個問題，勞動力花費太高，公共事業支出水平佔國內生產總值的56%，這在歐盟是第二高的。
If there is a new mood, it is partly because of the stagnating economy, and partly because business chiefs have been pressing ministers to stop bashing them. France still has plenty of competitive industrial firms. This summer, Mr Hollande spent three hours visiting a research facility near Paris belonging to Valeo, a successful high - tech car - components supplier with 10.9 billion in annual sales.
如果出現什麼新情況，那麼一部分是因為經濟停滯不前，還有一部分是因為商界領袖一直在給部長們施壓，讓他們停止痛擊，法國依然擁有許多有競爭力的工業企業。這個夏天，奧朗德先生花了三個小時參觀了位於巴黎附近的法雷奧集團的研究實驗室，該集團是一個非常成功的高科技汽車零部件供應商，每年的銷售額達到109億歐元。
How far the new realism will translate into bold decisions, however, is another matter. One immediate test will be the 2013 budget, due on September 28 th. The French now face the shock of cuts. Mr Moscovici insists that, however difficult, France’s promise to reduce its budget deficit to 3% by 2013 will be respected.
然而，他們還面臨著另外一個問題，何時才能將這個新的現實主義轉化為大膽的決策。一個迫在眉睫的考驗就是9月28日就將出台的2013年的預算。法國人民現在正面臨著財政縮減的打擊。儘管非常困難，但是莫斯科維奇先生還是堅持尊重法國在2013年將預算赤字減少到3%的承諾。
Equally hard will be a test of the new team’s resolve to improve competitiveness. Louis Gallois, a former businessman, is due to produce a report next month. He is likely to argue for a “competitiveness shock”, including the transfer of a chunk of payroll charges to other forms of taxation, such as green taxes or the contribution sociale generalisee ( CSG ), which is levied on not only the payroll but financial returns, pensions and unemployment benefit.
同樣嚴峻的考研還有新隊伍提高競爭力的決心。路易斯曾是一位商人，他將在下個月做一個報告。他很可能會極力贊成“競爭力衝擊”，包括將一大部分的工資費用轉變為其他形式的稅收，比如環境稅和社會保障公款，它不僅針對工資徵稅，還有金融回報，退休金和失業救濟金。
Most critical of all, Mr Hollande has given union leaders and bosses until December to negotiate labour - market changes. On the table are various options, including making it possible for firms to reduce hours and salaries in a downturn against a guarantee of job security, along the lines introduced by Gerhard Schrader in Germany in 2003. The CFDT union’s incoming leader, Laurent Berger, also accepts the case for more suppleness in the labour market.
最關鍵的是，奧朗德先生還將工會領導人和老闆們關於改變勞動力市場的談判定在12月。談判桌上有多種選擇，包括通過減少工作時間和降低薪水使公司能在低迷期以保障工作的穩固，根據格哈特•施羅德在2003年提出的方案。即將上任的法國民主聯盟領導人洛朗•博傑也接受勞動力市場更有彈性的方案。
All of which is at least encouraging. Yet it is one thing to recognise a problem, and quite another to do something about it. Much will depend on the attitude of union leaders, who do not enjoy a reputation for co - operation and compromise. But in the end, it will come down to Mr Hollande’s resolve. He promises to pass a labour - reform law anyway, even if no deal is reached. His Socialist Party controls power at all levels across France; he is at the start of a five - year term; and his popularity is already dropping fast. If he cannot do what is needed this autumn, it is unlikely that he ever will.
至少這些措施還是很鼓舞人心的。然而認識到問題只是第一步，更重要的是採取應對措施。這很大程度上取決於工會領導人的態度，雖然他們在合作和妥協方面並非享有盛名。但是歸根到底還是由奧朗德先生決定。他承諾無論如何也要通過一部勞動力改革法案，雖然至今還沒有達成一致。他的社會黨掌握了法國各個層次的權力；他五年的執政期才剛開始；同時他的受歡迎程度正在迅速下降。如果他這個秋天不能有所作為，那麼接下來的日子他也不會有什麼動作。
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