首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
Bill Clinton wrestles with the complexities of his economic plan, a surprising trend that could ultimately make life a lot easie
Bill Clinton wrestles with the complexities of his economic plan, a surprising trend that could ultimately make life a lot easie
admin
2012-01-05
39
问题
Bill Clinton wrestles with the complexities of his economic plan, a surprising trend that could ultimately make life a lot easier for the new president may be developing. A handful of analysts believe that technology is beginning to help improve productivity in the service sector, If they are right, middle-class living standards which have stagnated for the past 20 years could start to improve.
The service sector gets little attention in most popular discussions of America’s economic problems. Manufacturing, where US workers go head-to-head with foreign competitors, is supposed to be the crucial area; services, which are mostly sheltered from international competition, are regarded as secondary at best. If anything, the growth of the service sector is seen as a symptom of our manufacturing decline, as steelworkers lose their high-paying jobs and become minimum-wage hamburger flippers. But serious analysts know that it is our performance in services not manufacturing that is the bigger economic problem.
In fact, US manufacturing performed reasonably well during the 1980s, with productivity growing at 2.9% per year. That was almost as fast as manufacturing productivity grew during the "good years" in 1950s and 1960s, and it was taster than productivity growth in most other advanced countries. So why didn’t we feel better? Because near stagnation in service productivity-growth at only about 1.0% annually-held our living standard down.
Dominant service sector. The truth is that modern America is primarily a service economy. Currently, 70% of US workers are in the service sector, versus only 20% in manufacturing. If we could eliminate our persistent trade deficits in manufacturing, the prosperity would shift, but only slightly: A rough estimate is that completely eliminating our current trade deficit would raise the share of manufacturing in employment by only about 0.5%. In other word, like it or not, most Americans will work in the service sector for the foreseeable future. That means, in turn, that the productivity of the US work force as a whole depends mostly on the productivity of service workers.
But it is really possible to raise service productivity? Some service jobs, like housecleaning and hair cutting, seem resistant to technological change at least until we learn to build robot maids and barbers. In the past, however, we have seen major improvements in service productivity. During the 1950s and 1960s, for example, a linked set of technological and social changes-widespread availability Of private ears and home refrigerators, the growth of supermarkets and an improved road system-led to huge increases in retail productivity. An earlier era saw a surge in office productivity because of such revolutionary innovations as typewriters, carbon paper and vertical file cabinets. Indeed the most significant American business success story of the late 20th century may well be Wal-Mart, which has applied extensive computerization and home-grown version of Japan’s "just-in-time" inventory methods to revolutionize retailing.
Analysts like Stephen Roach of Morgan Stanley now believe that additional productivity gains in the office are possible. Computers, it seems, are finally being used to eliminate paperwork: back offices are shrinking, and corporate hierarchies are getting flatter. If you squint, you can see these micro changes starting to show up in the macro numbers. We are now officially a year and a half into an economic recovery, yet unemployment remains stubbornly high. One of the reasons for this lingering joblessness is that productivity is rising faster than expected, primarily in the service sector. If America eventually returns to full employment, the total economy could be bigger and more productive.
Technology investment is helping to fuel these changes. Preliminary data show that while overall investment in this recovery is weak by historical standards, computer-related investment is soaring. It looks as if the service sector has decided that it now really knows how to make information technology work.
Like any radical change, the coming revolution in service productivity will have its victims. Skilled weavers were impoverished by the power loom, and small food stores were savaged by the rise of the supermarket. This time, it’s the middle managers who will lose. The past recession took an unprecedented toll of skilled, white-collar workers, and many of these jobs may never come back. But most of America could benefit from rising service productivity in the 1990s and that would be welcome news for Bill Clinton.
Which of the following statements illustrates that modern America is primarily a service economy?
选项
A、Service technology is developing fast.
B、The demand of modern people for various services promotes the development of a service economy.
C、The significance of manufacturing to the national economy has declined.
D、High employment mainly depends on the development of the service industry.
答案
D
解析
从文章第四段“most Americans will work in the service sector for the foreseeable future.”可以得知,服务业的发展可以带来高就业率,从而成为美国经济的重要组成部分。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/1Nua777K
本试题收录于:
翻译硕士(翻译硕士英语)题库专业硕士分类
0
翻译硕士(翻译硕士英语)
专业硕士
相关试题推荐
PresidentObama’srecenttriptoChinareflectsasymbioticrelationshipattheheartoftheglobaleconomy:ChinausesAmerica
ANationofHypochondriacsThemainimpressiongrowingoutoftwelveyearsonthefacultyofamedicalschoolisthattheNo.1
Thecompactdictionariespublishedinrecentyearsarenotasunwieldyassomeoftheoldereditions.
She______thousandsofdollarsfromthecharitywhileappearingtobeitsbestfundraiser.
Australia’sfrogsarehavingtroublefindinglove.Trafficnoiseandothersoundsofcitylife,suchasairconditionersandcon
Oneimportantoutcomeoftheworkontheexpressionofgenesindevelopingembryosissuretobeknowledgethatcanhelpp
BillClintonwrestleswiththecomplexitiesofhiseconomicplan,asurprisingtrendthatcouldultimatelymakelifealoteasie
Itcanbearguedthatmuchconsumerdissatisfactionwithmarketingstrategiesarisesfromaninabilitytoaimadvertisingatonl
______ghostexistsintheworld.That’syourillusion.
ThefollowingpassagehasfiveparagraphsI—V.Choosethecorrectheadingforeachparagraphfromthelistofheadingsbelow.
随机试题
文小雨加入了学校的旅游社团组织,正在参加与组织暑期到台湾日月潭的夏令营活动,现在需要制作一份关于日月潭的演示文稿。根据以下要求,并参考“参考图片.docx”文件中的样例效果,完成演示文稿的制作。在第1张幻灯片中,参考样例将考生文件夹下的“图片1.png
治疗滴虫阴道炎最常用的药物是( )。
某项目设计生产能力8000台,每台销售价格为300元,单件产品变动成本150元,年固定成本32万元,每台产品销售税金50元,则该项目的产量盈亏平衡点为()台。
巡视是监理人员针对现场()等情况进行的检查工作。
航行目的地是( )的出境船舶,船方在口岸检验检疫机构办理出境检疫手续时,应提供船上所有人员的黄热病预防接种证书。
外源性动机是指人为了获得物质或社会报酬,或为了避免惩罚而完成某种行为。完成该行为是为了行为的结果,而不是行为本身。以下各项中,不属于外源性动机的一项是()。
关于概念,正确的说法包括()。
中国东汉张衡是第一架观测地震方位仪的发明家,请问他的地震仪是根据什么原理运作的?
将两个形状相同的三角板放置在一张矩形纸片上,按图示画线得到四边形ABCD,则四边形ABCD的形状是()。
Чтокасаетсягородскоготранспорта,тоздесьяпредпочелездитьметро,чем____.
最新回复
(
0
)