Many countries face a somewhat more serious economic problems in the form of an unfavorable wade balance (贸易逆差) with other nations. Such an imbalance exists when the total value of a country’ s imports exceeds that of its exports. For example, if a country buys $ 250 billion of products from other countries, yet sells only $ 100 billion of its own products overseas, its trade deficit is $ 150 billion. Many underdeveloped nations find themselves in this position because they lack natural resources or the industrial capacity to use these resources, and thus have to import raw materials or manufactured goods.
One effect of a trade deficit is the flow of currency (贷币) out of a country. In the case of an underdeveloped nation, this can cause many financial difficulties, including failure to meet debt payments and obstacles to creation of an industrial base. Even in the case of a fully developed nation such as the United States, a large trade deficit is reason for
A. Several worldwide economic problems.
B. The causes and consequences of trade deficit.
C. Lack of resources in underdeveloped countries.
D. The value of exports against imports.
You hear the refrain all the time: the U.S. economy looks good statistically, but it doesn’t feel good. Why doesn’t ever-greater wealth promote ever-greater happiness It is a question that dates at least to the appearance in 1958 of The Affluent (富裕的) Society by John Kenneth Galbraith, who died recently at 97.
The Affluent Society is a modern classic because it helped define a new moment in the human condition. For most of history, “hunger, sickness, and cold” threatened nearly everyone, Galbraith wrote. “Poverty was found everywhere in that world. Obviously it is not of ours.” After World War II, the dread of another Great Depression gave way to an economic boom. In the 1930s unemployment had averaged 18.2 percent; in the 1950s it was 4.5 percent.
To Galbraith, materialism had gone mad and would breed discontent. Through advertising, companies conditioned consumers to buy things they didn’t really want or need. Because so
A. Their material pursuits have gone far ahead of their earnings.
B. Their purchasing power has dropped markedly with inflation.
C. The distribution of wealth is uneven between the rich and the poor.
D. Health care and educational costs have somehow gone out of control.
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