Unit5passage1But are today's economic times actually worse?One way to measure that is the misery index.That was a gauge of economic trouble developed in the late1970s and 1980s that was supposed to be a more accurate measure of how bad the economy was for the average Joe.The misery index combines the inflation rate with the unemployment rate to come.And indeed those twin fears of joblessness and souring food and gas prices are what seems to be sapping confidence in the economy these days as well.So how does the economy measure up to the1970s based on the misery index. Actually pretty well.The misery index hit19.3at the end of1974,the year I was born. In1980,the index pare that to now and the economy looks positively rosy.Today the misery index would stand at11.Good times,right.Maybe not.But while the misery index may have been a good gauge of economic health in the1970s,it isn't the best measure of economic health at all times and misses the point today.One example,deflation is one of the worse things that can happen to the economy.Wages and income and asset values tumble,while debts stay the same. Bankruptcies galore.Yet,by the misery index,deflation would be a good thing, bringing the index down.And too little inflation,and the fear of deflation,has been one of the things that Bernanke has worried about.That's why Kathleen Madigan,over at the Wall Street Journal,has devised a new misery index that may do a better job of actually comparing today's economic times to back then.While inflation is low,many think it will soon rise,and that along housing prices and the lack of jobs could be what is holding back the economy.So Madigan's new misery index looks at the one year change in the jobless rate,gas prices and home prices.Based on those calculations,Madigan's new misery index scores in at20, up from8.3a year ago.She also finds that Phoenix is not the most miserable place, economy-wise,in the nation to live.So how does our current economic times measure up to the1970s?The earliest I could find for gas price data was1979.At the end of that year,the new misery index would actually stand at-8.So a rating of positively groovy.That's mostly due to the fact that housing prices rose12that year.The reading for1980would be13.2%.So now we are talking some economic pain.But still that's significantly less than Madigan's misery index reads now.So I guess it's time for me to recalibrate what I think the worst of economic times are.And I thought it was just the music that was better back then.至少对20世纪70年代出生的我们这一代人，那十年仍然是最糟糕的时代。
或许因为那时候我们只是婴儿，所以没有真正亲自体验那个时代的生活，但是通过父母的讲述以及电影《出租车司机》所反映出的逼真世界，我们了解到那时候物价和燃气价格飞涨，犯罪率急剧上升，这些都清晰地向我们展现出经济灾难的真实面目。
现在的经济状况是不是更糟糕呢？一个度量方式就是“痛苦指数”，这是20世纪七八十年代出现的测量经济困难的方法，应该可以准确度量经济对普通美国人影响的糟糕程度。
“痛苦指数”是将通货膨胀率和失业率结合起来计算而得的。
事实上，失业及食物和油价飞涨的双重恐惧好像正是削弱了我们对当前经济信心的因素。
用“痛苦指数”测量得出的经济状况符合20世纪70年代的真实情况吗？非常符合！1974年末，也就是我出生的那年，“痛苦指数”达到19.3。
1980年，平均“痛苦指数”为21。
把这些数字与现在的情况相比，当前的经济看起来相当乐观，因为现在的“痛苦指数”只有11。
经济繁荣时期，是吗？或许不是。
虽然“痛苦指数”是测量20世纪70年代经济情况健全程度的很好的方式，但它不是适合所有时代的，它对于现在的经济状况的测量就没有抓住核心。
例如，通货紧缩是当前经济中最糟糕的问题。
工资收入及资产价值暴跌，而债务却不变，这导致了大量的破产事件。
但是，用“痛苦指数”度量经济状况的话，通货紧缩反而是件好事，它会降低该指数的值。
极低的通货膨胀率加上通货紧缩的恐惧，一直是伯南克非常担心的事。
鉴于此，凯思琳。
麦迪甘在《华尔街日报》上设计了一个新的“痛苦指数”，或许能够真正地将今天和以前的经济状况进行比较。
虽然通货膨胀率低，但很多人认为它很快会上升，同时也认为制约经济的可能就是房价和失业。
因此，麦迪甘设计的新“痛苦指数”会考查一年当中失业率、油价及房价的变化。
按照麦迪甘的这种新的计算方法，现在的“痛苦指数”会达到20，一年前为8.3.她也发现，菲尼克斯不是美国经济最惨淡的地方。
那么现在的经济状况跟20世纪70年代差不多吗？我能找到的最早的油价数据是1979年的。
在那年年末计算得出的新“痛苦指数”为-8，这绝对是个极好的数据，主要是因为那年房价上涨了12个百分点。
1980年的数据为13.2%。
现在，我们谈的是经济困难问题，但是那仍然远远小于现阶段的麦迪甘“痛苦指数”。
因此，我想我该重新校准一下我心目中的经济困难时期。
我认为还是过去的乐曲更悦耳些。
Unit5passage2Weak dollar gives British tourists reason to smileA plummeting dollar is giving Britons a better reason to look across the Atlantic for their holidays than they’ve had since2009,with a steadily gaining euro making the continent a pricey option.美元飙升给英国人更好的理由，看看大西洋的假期比2009年以来，欧洲稳定增长使欧洲成为一个昂贵的选择。
Unit5passage3Wall Street is back华尔街卷土重来American investment banks dominate global finance once more.That’s not necessarily good for America美国投行再次占据全球金融主导地位,对美国未必好May11th2013|From the print editionFOR a few tense weeks in2008,as investment-bank executives huddled behind the imposing doors of the New York Federal Reserve,Wall Street seemed to be collapsing around them.Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy,Merrill Lynch collapsed into the arms of Bank of America.American International Group(AIG) and Citigroup had to be bailed out and the rot seemed to be spreading.Hank Paulson,the treasury secretary at the time,recalled in his memoir that:“Lose Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs would be next in line—if they fell thefinancial system might vaporise.”2008年投行高层挤在纽约联储局里的那几个月，华尔街摇摇欲坠。