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
Economics is all about consumption. A healthy economy is largely a result of a reasonable balance between consumption today and
Economics is all about consumption. A healthy economy is largely a result of a reasonable balance between consumption today and
admin
2014-10-24
57
问题
Economics is all about consumption. A healthy economy is largely a result of a reasonable balance between consumption today and consumption deferred. To figure out what our buying behavior says about the U. S. economy’s future, my colleagues and I at NPR’s "Planet Money" went searching for as many shopping-based indicators as we could find, hoping some would unlock a hidden story about what Americans are feeling and where the country is headed.
The results were mixed, but we did uncover some ominous signs. Lipstick sales used to go up when the economy went down, perhaps because women were searching for a cheap pick-me-up or an edge in a job interview—and sales of lipsticks are way up right now. Women’s underwear sales are down, which historically suggests intense frugality and more rough times ahead. But there are also some optimistic indicators. Sales of men’s underwear, one of Alan Greenspan’s favorite metrics for predicting growth, are also up. Sales of cheap spirits, which soared during the worst of the recession(people need an affordable way to self-medicate), have now stabilized, meaning, at the very least, that people can now afford better liquor.
Of all the indicators we looked at, one of the most consistently accurate was Champagne sales. The amount of French Champagne that Americans consume has predicted—with nearly 90 percent accuracy— the average American income one year later. Apparently, when we pop a Champagne cork, we know that good times are ahead. Champagne sales hurtled upward twice in recent history—at the peak of the Internet bubble in 1999 and the housing bubble in 2007. These were both followed by slowdowns as fewer people found reason to celebrate.
There are so many indicators to choose from that you could glean just about anything regarding our economic future. In fact, the most telling indicator appears to be the sheer number of indicators themselves. Americans now have so many seductive things they can buy that there are ample consumer options no matter what we feel. Partly as a result, savings—known in economics as deferred consumption—have fallen steadily for more than 30 years. The decline of the savings rate is particularly troubling because it is consistent through busts and booms. During the fast growth of the late 1990s and mid-2000s, and the dark times that followed, people have been choosing to spend more and save less than ever before. Paradoxically, this happened just as pensions have been disappearing and life spans have been increasing. It suggests that Americans are so caught up in every short-term enthusiasm or agony that they haven’t thought enough about long-term fiscal health.
America will, most likely, need to find a more normal, sustainable level of consumption, and that’s exactly the problem. What does a reasonable balance between consumption now and consumption deferred actually look like? That’s what we need to figure out.
选项
答案
E
解析
文章第三段提到了一种经济指向性很强的消费品,那就是香槟。因为人们往往只在经济形势好、赚到钱的时候才会开香槟庆祝,因此香槟就成为了指示经济情况的一种很好的指标。作者在第三段中用实例说明了香槟指标的准确性。在美国历史上,香槟销售数据最好的两年分别是在1999年互联网泡沫鼎盛的时期和2007年房地产泡沫鼎盛的时期。当泡沫破裂的时候,香槟销售数量也跟着急速下滑。题干问香槟销售在2007年急速上升的历史背景,正确答案应该是[E]the American economy is booming in its hey day。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/p3K4777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Almosteverydayweseesomethinginthepapersaboutthelatestexcitingdevelopmentsinthespacerace.Photographsareregula
ItisonlyinrecentyearsthatwehaverecognizedthatAccordingtotheauthor,whichofthefollowingisthemostimportantr
PresidentBush’sre-electionalreadyhasresultedinmorefundsforoneoftheelection’spivotal"moralvalues"issues—abstinen
Lowlevelsofliteracyandnumeracyhaveadamagingimpactonalmosteveryaspectofadults,accordingtoasurveypublishedyes
Lowlevelsofliteracyandnumeracyhaveadamagingimpactonalmosteveryaspectofadults,accordingtoasurveypublishedyes
Forthepast250years,politiciansandhard-headedmenofbusinesshavediligentlyignoredwhateconomics,hastosayaboutthe
Afieldissimplyasocialsystemofrelationsbetweenindividualsorinstitutionswhoarecompetingforthesamestake.Anexam
Consumersandproducersobviouslymakedecisionsthatmoldtheeconomy,butthereisathirdmajor【C1】______toconsidertherole
Researchonanimalintelligencealwaysmakesmewonderjusthowsmarthumansare.【C1】______thefruit-flyexperimentsdescribedi
Researchonanimalintelligencealwaysmakesmewonderjusthowsmarthumansare.【C1】______thefruit-flyexperimentsdescribedi
随机试题
含碳、氢的化合物往往都是有机化合物,而尿素的分子式为CO(NH2)2,所以尿素生产是有机化工。 ()
下列描述正确的是
治愈后不易复发的皮肤病是
增值税专用发票只限于()使用。
下列选项中,不适合作为“现代媒体艺术”教学活动的是()。
InCanadacitizens,______theirbackgrounds,arefreetokeepandpromotetheirculturalheritages.
西方近代科学的发展,很大程度上建立在对客观对象的分析以及认识手段不断更新的基础之上,中国传统思维方式注重直观判断与综合,强调对客观世界的整体性认识;在对具体对象的细究与深层次分析方面,中国传统思维方式不具有近代以来西方思维方式的优势,从而限制了近代科学技术
内容效度主要用于考查______的有效性。()
在关系数据库设计理论中,如果一个关系R满足1NF,但R的某个非码属性传递函数依赖于码,则关系R至多属于
--Thisis______usefulbook,Ithink.--Soitis,andit’s______unusualone.
最新回复
(
0
)