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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  105
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 underlined word "parsimonious" (Para. 2) is closest in meaning to________.
选项 A、slack
B、stable
C、tight
D、ambiguous
答案C
解析 词义题。根据题干可定位至第二段。第二句说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 (随着年度消费者价格通胀率达到40年来的最高点……美联储已经发出信号，打算很快提高利率)。接下来，第三句提出经济学家的预测：今年最多会有四次加息。综合以上信息可知，财政政策会变得更加收紧，故C项正确。其他三个选项均与文意不符，故排除。故本题答案为C项。
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