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  3. Much of continental Europe is in poor shape. True, the aggregate wealth of people is little changed and the social capital in mu

Much of continental Europe is in poor shape. True, the aggregate wealth of people is little changed and the social capital in mu

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问题     Much of continental Europe is in poor shape. True, the aggregate wealth of people is little changed and the social capital in museums, parks and other amenities is still intact. Yet, in the western part, the economy is failing society. Inclusion of ethnic minorities and youth in the economy is more lacking than ever. Among those who do participate, fewer are prospering. It is a measure of the decline that, in almost every country, the growth of wage rates has steadily slowed since 1995. What has gone wrong?
    European economists speak of a loss of competitiveness in southern Europe. They suggest that output and employment are down, relative to the past trend, because wages leapt ahead of productivity, making labour too expensive and forcing employers to cut back. Taking this perspective, some German economists argue that wages need to fall in the affected economies. Others argue instead for monetary stimulus—for instance, asset purchases by central banks—to raise prices and make current wage rates affordable.
    Economists of a classical bent lay a large part of the decline of employment, and thus lagging output, to a contraction of labour supply. And they lay that contraction largely to outbreaks of fiscal profligacy—as happened in Europe from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Disciples of Keynes, who focus on aggregate demand, view any increase in household wealth as raising employment because they say it adds to consumer demand. They say Europe needs a lot more fiscal "profligacy" if it is to bring unemployment down. Some evidence favours the classics.
    Yet both sides of this debate miss the critical force at work. The main cause of Europe’s deep fall—the losses of inclusion, job satisfaction and wage growth—is the devastating slowdown of productivity that began in the late 1990s and struck large swathes of the continent. It holds down the growth of wages rates and it depresses employment.
    That slowdown resulted from narrowing innovation. Even in the postwar years, innovation in Europe was feeble by past standards. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, much of Europe is still suffering a slump on top of its post-1990s fall. The slump will pass but the fall will not be easily overcome. The continent is losing its best talent. It needs to fight for an economic life worth living.
The critical factor of Europe’ s deep fall neglected by both sides of the debate is______.
选项 A、the rapid slowdown of productivity
B、the decline of wage growth
C、the depression of employment
D、the decrease of job satisfaction
答案A
解析 根据题干关键词定位到第四段Yet both sides of this debate miss the critical forceat work．The main cause of Europe’s deep fall—the losses of inclusion，job satisfaction andwage growth--is the devastating slowdown of productivity that began in the late 1990s andstruck large swathes of the continent．(然而这场辩论的双方都忽略了一个发挥关键作用的因素。欧洲深度衰落——体现在包容度、就业满足感以及工资增长等方面——的主要原因是生产率的剧烈放缓．这始于20世纪90年代末，影响到欧洲大陆很多地区。)故A项“生产率的快速放缓”为正确答案。B项“工资增长率的降低”，C项“就业的衰落”，D项“就业满足感的降低”，均与题意不符，故排除。
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