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  3. It was a merry Christmas for Sharper Image and Neiman Marcus, which reported big sales increases over last year’s holiday season

It was a merry Christmas for Sharper Image and Neiman Marcus, which reported big sales increases over last year’s holiday season

admin2012-01-27  53
问题     It was a merry Christmas for Sharper Image and Neiman Marcus, which reported big sales increases over last year’s holiday season. It was considerably less cheery at Wal-Mart and other lowpriced chains. We don’t know the final sales figures yet, but it’s clear that high-end stores did very well, while stores catering to middle- and low-income families achieved only modest gains.
    Based on these reports, you may be tempted to speculate that the economic recovery is an exclusive party, and most people weren’t invited. You’d be right. Commerce Department figures reveal a startling disconnect between overall economic growth and the incomes of a great majority of Americans. In the third quarter, real G. D. P. rose at an annual rate of 8. 2%. But wage and salary income, adjusted for inflation, rose at an annual rate of only 0. 8%. Why aren’t workers sharing in the so-called boom?
    Start with jobs. Employment began rising in August, but the pace of job growth remains modest, averaging less than 90 000 per month. But if the number of jobs isn’t rising much, aren’t workers at least earning more? You may have thought so. After all, companies have been able to increase output without hiring more workers, thanks to the rapidly rising output per worker.  Historically, higher productivity has translated into rising wages.  But not this time: thanks to a weak labor market, employers have felt no pressure to share productivity gains.  Calculations by the Economic Policy Institute show real wages for most workers flat or falling even as the economy expands.
    So who’s benefiting from the economy’s expansion? The direct gains are going largely to corporate profits. Indirectly, that means that gains are going to the big stockholders, who are the ultimate owners of corporate profits.
    For most Americans,  current economic growth is something interesting, that is, however, happening to other people. This may change if serious job creation ever kicks in, but it hasn’t so far. The big question is whether a recovery that does so little for most Americans can really be sustained. Can an economy thrive on sales of luxury goods alone? We may soon find out.
According to the author, who has benefited most from the current economic recovery?
选项 A、Low-income families.
B、Middle-class families.
C、Upper-class families.
D、Immigration families.
答案C
解析
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