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
外语
If Japan’s economy has been pulled steadily out of the slough into which it had fallen for more than a decade, Japan’s corporate
If Japan’s economy has been pulled steadily out of the slough into which it had fallen for more than a decade, Japan’s corporate
admin
2017-03-15
41
问题
If Japan’s economy has been pulled steadily out of the slough into which it had fallen for more than a decade, Japan’s corporate sector has been doing almost all the pulling. Ever since the recovery that began tentatively in 2003 started to look solid, economists have predicted that households would soon take over the running, by starting to spend again after years of deflation and tightened belts. Yet every prediction of a consumption boom has proved premature, causing some to question the sustainability of the recovery as a whole. In February deflation, which last year had been declared vanquished, even made an unwelcome return.
The corporate recovery, at least, has been remarkable. Companies have repaid huge amounts of debt incurred during the 1980s and 1990s. Demand for Japanese goods from overseas, notably China, gave the initial boost to company profits, which have grown for four consecutive years to record levels. Companies have ploughed back much of the cash they have earned into investment to replace neglected capital stock, from factory machines to computers to buildings. The latest quarterly Tankan survey of business prospects carried out by the central bank, the Bank of Japan, suggests that the recovery in capital expenditure is now spreading from big manufacturing companies to smaller ones, and from manufacturing into services. But sooner or later Japanese companies will have finished most of their upgrading, and worries about the American economy are growing among Japanese exporters, led by carmakers. The government also wants to cut its huge fiscal deficits: wise, perhaps, but this will dampen overall demand. All reasons to hope households will spend more.
The oddity is that they have not so far, at a time when companies have been eager hirers: unemployment has fallen to just 4%. The scramble among companies for the new graduates who began work this month made a stark contrast with the fate of unemployed graduates a few years ago. But flat consumption is explained by stagnant wages—indeed, in January and February total cash wages per worker actually fell by 1.1% compared with a year earlier.
Globalisation, combined with technological change, exerts downward pressure on wages. But other explanations are plausible. Jobs are shifting from manufacturing to lower-paid services. And younger workers, replacing a huge cohort of baby-boomers due to retire over the next three or four years, cannot command the salaries of their well-paid, portlier elders.
But wages—and hence consumption—must now be likely to grow. A further fall in the unemployment rate would bring it closer to the point where wage pressures accelerate. Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, puts that critical point at unemployment of 2.5-3.5%, a range it expects to be reached towards the end of the year. Many newly hired workers were people who earlier this decade gave up hope of finding a job and who cannot afford to be too fussy now. But this return of "discouraged" workers may nearly have run its course.
What is more, companies have since 2005 once again been hiring more permanent workers than those on part-time contracts. Permanent workers get paid more. For instance, they are eligible for annual bonuses, which typically account for one-fifth of income. Bonuses are on the rise.
Moreover, thanks to those baby-boomers, retirement payments by companies, including traditional lump sums to the newly retired, are set to jump—from around¥10 trillion ($84 billion) last year to¥13.5 trillion in the fiscal year that began this month. Goldman Sachs guesses that will boost consumption by 0.3 percentage points a year. Camera shops, sellers of weekend fishing-boats and even restaurants report brisk business. Baby-boomers want to enjoy their coming leisure.
As for the return of deflation, there may be little cause for alarm. Prices fell in February by 0.1% compared with a year earlier, when measured by "core" consumer prices that include energy but exclude fresh food. But the fall was chiefly thanks to a drop in the price of oil-related goods and mobile-phone costs—hardly unwelcome trends to consumers. Besides, the official inflation measure is skewed downward by an unrepresentative calculation of housing costs. Elsewhere, price increases are spreading through service industries as demand slowly grows. Japan’s newly confident consumers may at last be about to make their presence felt.
Which of the following is NOT a reason why the author believes wages will rise?
选项
A、Unemployment rate is about to rebound.
B、Retired workers will receive a higher pension, which is expected to pull up consumption.
C、People are more likely to be hired permanently, which means they will get more revenue.
D、Inflation will continue, which means people will save more than invest.
答案
D
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/gNSO777K
本试题收录于:
NAETI高级口译笔试题库外语翻译证书(NAETI)分类
0
NAETI高级口译笔试
外语翻译证书(NAETI)
相关试题推荐
ItwasnotlongbeforeSkinners,thefamousbehaviorist,realizedthelimitationsofhispsychologicalresearchthananotherpsy
Sincethedawnofcivilization,peoplehavebeencuriousabouttheageofEarth.Inaddition,wehavenotbeensatisfiedinbein
Socialcontrolreferstosocialprocesses,plannedorunplanned,bywhichpeoplearetaught,persuaded,orforcedtoconformto
U.S.jobgrowthwassurprisinglystrongin2018,butdon’texpectthattohappenagainthisyear,witheconomicheadwindsintens
Thegrowthrateoftheregion’seconomyhas________thenationalaverageforsixyears.
主席先生,女士们、先生们:目前,国际形势正处于深刻变化之中。和平与发展仍然是当今时代的主题,总体和平的国际环境为世界经济发展提供了有利条件;科技进步日新月异并孕育着新的重大突破,前所未有地提高了人类认识、把握宏观和微观世界的能力,展现了新的发展
Thankyou,PrimeMinister,forthatremarkableintroduction.YouhaveverylucidlyprovidedthecontextforwhatIamaboutto
下面你将听到的是一段有关海洋的讲话。海洋是全球生命支持系统的一个不可缺少的组成部分。海洋不仅是自然资源的宝库,同时也是我们人类居住环境的重要调节器。中国政府高度重视海洋的开发和保护,不断加强海洋综合管理,促进海洋产业的协调发展。中国已经
TheUniversityintransformation,editedbyAustralianfuturistsSohailInayatullahandJenniferGidley,presentssome20highly
上海合作组织的成功经验,归结到一点,就是坚定不移地倡导和实践互信、互利、平等、协商、尊重多样文明、谋求共同发展的“上海精神”。“上海精神”已植根于各成员国的对外政策、价值观念和行为准则之中,越来越具有普遍的国际意义。纵观当今世界,和平、发展、合作已
随机试题
关于左冠状动脉的描述错误的是
A、疼痛B、父母与子女间的角色期望冲突C、陌生的环境D、巩固弹性防线E、增强抵抗新根据纽曼健康系统模式,以上属于个体内的压力源的是
下列哪一个是逆转录的遗传信息流向
在房屋建筑工程质量保修期内,因房屋建筑工程质量缺陷造成房屋所有人、使用人或者第三方人身、财产损害的,受害人应当向()提出赔偿要求。
描述前馈控制系统不正确的是()。
现拟建某工业建设项目,各项数据如下:1、主要生产项目7400万元(其中:建筑工程费2800万元,设备购置费3900万元,安装工程费700万元);2、辅助生产项目4900万元(其中:建筑工程费1900万元,设备购置费2600万元,安装工程费4
盈余公积金的用途主要有()。
证券的产权性是指有价证券记载着权利人的财产权内容,代表着一定的财产所有权,.拥有证券就意味着享有财产的()的权利。
统计表明,大多数医疗事故出在大医院,因此去小医院看病比较安全。以下哪项最能反驳上述论证?
下列关于二叉树的叙述中,正确的是()。
最新回复
(
0
)