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  3. The question of how Americans spent and, crucially, saved money over the past two years looms large over the economy today. In s

The question of how Americans spent and, crucially, saved money over the past two years looms large over the economy today. In s

admin2022-12-09  90
问题     The question of how Americans spent and, crucially, saved money over the past two years looms large over the economy today. In spring 2020, when millions lost their jobs overnight, a reasonable assumption was that personal finances would suffer. Instead, government handouts, from the stimmies to more generous unemployment benefits, propped up incomes. Moreover, as people stayed home, their spending fell well below normal levels. The result was a piggybank boom. Americans have accumulated some $2.5trn in extra savings compared with the pre-covid trend. Higher-than-expected incomes account for two-thirds of the stockpile, while lower-than-expected expenditures explain the other third, according to calculations.
    This stash of cash could, in theory, provide a pillar for the economy over the coming year as policymakers withdraw support. With annual consumer-price inflation running at a four-decade high—it hit 7％ in December—the Federal Reserve has signalled that it intends to raise interest rates soon. Some economists expect as many as four rate increases this year. Fiscal policies are also becoming more parsimonious.
    Will the extra savings blunt the impact of all this policy tightening? There are reasons to be skeptical. Were the $2.5trn shared equally across the country, it would amount to about $7,500 for every American—more than the combined total of the three rounds of stimulus cheques. In practice the distribution is far from equal. In the decade before COVID-19 the wealthiest 1％ of Americans had, in aggregate, about twice as much in cash and chequable bank deposits as the bottom 50％.
    Another dampener may be the nature of the economic recovery. In a paper last year Martin Beraja and Christian Wolf of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that recoveries from recessions where falls in spending are concentrated on goods tend to be stronger than those with cuts concentrated on services. Pent-up demand for, say, smartphones can be released in a flood. By contrast, demand for beach holidays returns more slowly: vacationers can only be in one place at a time. This suggests that as the pandemic fades, the flow of savings into services such as travel and entertainment may be sluggish.
    As a whole, Americans saved about 6.9％ of their incomes in November, less than the 7.4％ average in the five years before the pandemic. Yet this is exactly what should be seen if some people are dipping into their excess savings. It is also a key reason why most forecasters think the economy will grow by about 4％ this year, a robust pace in the face of headwinds.
The different demand for smartphones and beach holidays is used to show that________.
选项 A、consumers are more concentrating on electronic products
B、people’s demand may have been greatly suppressed
C、pandemic highlights the difference in consumption
D、spending on services shares a slow recovery
答案D
解析 例证题。根据题于中的smartphones and beach holidays可定位至第四段。第四段中的例子主要讲述在经济复苏过程中，对智能手机的需求会释放出来，然而对于海滩度假的需求会恢复得缓慢。例子往往是为了支撑论点而出现，论点往往位于例子之前或之后。例子之前的第四段第二句指出，从经济衰退中复苏时，集中在商品上的支出下降，往往比集中在服务上的支出下降恢复得更快；最后一句进一步总结指出This suggests that as the pandemic fades, the flow of savings into services such as travel and entertainment may be sluggish (这表明，随着疫情消退，流入旅行和娱乐等服务的储蓄可能是缓慢的)，选项D项正是对以上内容的总结概括，故正确。A项属于答非所问，人们对电子产品的需求增加，只是例子本身的内容，不是其要证明的内容，故排除该选项。B项属于以偏概全，将例子中的细节内容当作论点，故排除。C项属于偷换概念，将人们需求的差异说成是消费的差异，故排除。故本题答案为D项。
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